Originally Posted by
rousseau
Last year I got shingles, case in point.
Shingles is caused by stress (as I am sure you know). 8-12 hours a week dosn't sound that bad. I think most fit cyclists could handle it.
Originally Posted by
rousseau
Yeah, I eventually came to realize that. I thought I was watching that this past year, but obviously I didn't do a good job. I'm starting to wonder if I did such a number on myself last summer and now, that I need a serious plan of very light exercise for a whole year or more. At least, my preliminary reading on overtraining suggests that more serious cases can result in setbacks of many months.
Yea, but I'm not sure that's your problem. From what you have posted I think it's more likely to be the stress. But the stress and your body's response to it will make it easier for you to overreach/overtrain.
Originally Posted by
rousseau
Define rest week
An easy week. For me, that depends on how much rest I think I need. At one point it was most of the week off the bike. Now it is usually an extra day off, and replacing a hard group ride with an easy solo ride.
Originally Posted by
rousseau
What about waking up and checking your heart rate to see if you're in danger of overtraining?
That's only useful if you have a good baseline of when you are rested and healthy to compare to, and if your RHR responds. Not everyone's does.