Originally Posted by
Dreww10
As always, appreciate your insight.
Honestly, the more I think about it, the less inclined I am to think it's de-training, no matter how much I wish it were. After riding off the cliff, I ignorantly continued to ride, but trimmed back volume by 50-75% and eliminated intensity entirely. 90% of my rides over these 9 months have been 20 miles or less and so my endurance would have of course dwindled for that reason, but nevertheless, I continued to ride and reap some form of health benefit. As recently as the last week of December, I was able to make it 45 (slow) miles, but after that, I parked the bike and have only been out twice in the ensuing two months. A few years back, I would take the entire winter off, 4-5 months solid on the couch, and wouldn't lose much fitness...I could still average 18-20 mph without fault. But now I'm working myself to the bone to go 16 mph. Even on the first day I picked up a bicycle, having never exercised in my life, I was significantly faster than I am now. Just doesn't seem like de-training, particularly as my body doesn't just get sore, but completely shuts down/feels depleted and cramps up after ~15 very slow miles.
It's been an interesting (and extremely unpleasant) experience as some of the common markers aren't there, while some others are: no rise in resting HR, no illness, no loss of sex drive, no weight gain or loss of appetite, no rise or fall in cortisol, no suppressed active HR...but have had a complete loss of power and endurance, poor sleep, low T, daily fatigue, and achy legs.
Glad I asked about the legs! Get thee to a doctor, have the doc look at auto-immune markers, sedimentation rate, that kind of thing, the doc will know. Then if things aren't entirely kosher, to a rheumatologist. Decent chance it's what I and a biking buddy of mine came down with last summer: polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR).
This is a difficult to diagnose disease, but your complaints do fit it. How old are you? Hardly anyone under 50 every gets it, it's most common in those over 70, but my buddy is 62. Low T fits. Achy legs fit. When you hold your arms by your sides and raise them in front of you to over your head, do your shoulders hurt? Is it difficult to make a fist? Are your hands swollen? Does your pain keep you awake at night, make it hard to roll over? Is the worst time of your day by far the first hour after rising? These are all PMR symptoms. Then there's also thyroid and a variety of other hormonal things which can go wrong. Doctor anyway, full blood work with a PMR suspicion if you fit those symptoms.