Originally Posted by
rapwithtom
I have a question about peaking/racing fatigue.
In general, January - mid April were hard training months, with some base and a couple of build cycles. Every week during this time did include at least one day of Vo2 intervals. By April my CTL was ~80.
Since mid-April, the routine has been race on the weekend (sometimes both days, sometimes not), with maybe a hard day during the week, but in general with more emphasis on recovery and rest than during the pre-season. My CTL has pretty much stayed constant at 75-80 throughout the race season. I did have one easy week after I fell and hurt my shoulder.
It seems, both by subjective feel and by power meter data, that my peak power was approximately April 15 to May 15. Since then, my power seems to have fallen off a bit, maybe 3-5%.
So my 2 questions are:
- Is this consistent with others' experience?
- what do folks do, mid-season, for a second peak, and should I expect to get to the same level as before, or even surpass it? I'm looking for a general answer...like rest for a bit, or have another build cycle, or what?
PS - I have a coach that I deeply respect, but I'm still interested in other masters' experiences.
How old are you? Your schedule and numbers are similar to mine, and so is your experience in general. Based on RPE in races, my fitness peaked around the beginning of May and has been going slowly backwards ever since. I came into this season expecting to race through mid-June, basically right about now, and then take a real break and then reassess whether it's worth trying to regain some fitness by the end of the summer.
Last year I had a life-events-related enforced hiatus in July, did almost no training for a month, just riding for fun, and then did manage to regain some form for an event in October. I don't know what your fitness background is, but for myself, the last couple of years I have found it realistic not to expect to be on best form for more than about 3 months at a time.
I will be curious to hear how your coach recommends handling your situation.