I posted over in the road forums about being chronically fatigued and thought it was about diet and there were tons of replies on what to eat. But now I'm thinking that's not my main problem. Googling has led me to the term "over-training" so I thought I'd ask about it over in this section.

I've been averaging 30mi a day/4 times a week for a some months now. I'm 39 and in pretty good shape. Recently we had another child so now there's more pressure on me to go faster since I have both drop off and pick up our other son from daycare.

I thought to myself - no problem and about a couple months ago I got on Strava and decided to challenge myself to start getting faster. Well I read this tidbit today from an old post: "Training by riding as hard as you can every ride is not only overly stressful, it's not effective training." I think that sums up my situation.

My legs these days are always pretty sore. After a morning ride my legs still ache going up stairs at 3.30pm .. and my mood has definitely been off. My times on Strava have fallen pretty good - some times I feel like - I used to be able to go a little faster - now I feel like I'm constantly trying to get myself to move and not really enjoying the ride.

This has been going on for quite some time: once I get home in the evening I have to slam some coffee and not sit down for a while - cause I know if I do it'll be hard to get back up.

So I'm assuming I need to get more knowledgeable about this biking stuff. I need a plan to recover and I need a proper training plan.

120 miles per week is not huge volume, however you should absolutely vary your intensity and not ride it all as hard as you can. Rule of thumb for most people is to ride about 80% easy and 20% hard. One week out of four (for someone your age) should be a light week- less volume and mostly mellow- ie a "rest week".

As far as daily things the most important onYs to aid recovery:
1. Post ride recovery drink- consume carbs and protein within 30 min of completing your ride. This drink replaces fluid losses, replenishes glycogen and prevents your body from going into an catabolic (ie protein burning) state. Hugely important. Carb to protein ratio should be 3:1. I weigh 130 pounds and make a drink that is 340 cal, 60 gm carb, and 22 gm protein that I consume post workout, you might need to scale this up if you're larger. Continue to eat small amounts of protein and carb scattered throughout the day, while be mindful of total calories.
2. Get adequate sleep. Don't drink coffee when you get home at night. Start relaxing. Do not neglect this or think you can power through life without sleep. Hugely important.
3. Stretch frequently- calves, hamstrings, quads, back
4. Consider trying to decrease inflammation by consuming foods with anti-inflammatory properties. Tart cherry juice specifically has been shown to decrease muscle soreness post workout. My latest recovery drink which I love the taste of is Cherry Vanilla flavored. I make it from skim milk, whey protein isolate, vanilla syrup and ice cubes made of tart cherry juice. Did I mention this is delicious?
5. Hydrate adequately.
6. Use a foam roller on sore muscles- time better spent doing this than drinking coffee.
7. Stay off your feet when your legs are tired.

Other things that are recommended but impractical for me personally- consume a small amt of protein pre-workout, cold/ice baths post workout, compression garments.

Good luck.

^^ All excellent suggestions. What are your goals? That determines how you'll train. But certainly going hard for 120 miles/week won't accomplish any of them.

Rockin thanks for the advice!

Well I'm not sure what my goals are. When I went to the physical therapist - she said I was getting out of balance - that my glutes were way weak for what I ride.

I'm finding that my quads are always crazy tight and I have a hard time going up stairs.

My goal used to be getting faster. Now my goal is getting healthy and being able to keep this commute - I cannot imagine having to make this trip in a car it would suck my soul to nothing.

OK. Well, maybe you need not a proper training plan, but more a lifestyle plan.

You've been riding hard for quite a while. At this point, just speaking about the cycling, I suggest not riding hard at all for a while. Take your normal cruising speed down to where you can breathe easily and somewhat slowly. OK to go a little harder on the hills, but keep it down. For a speed reference, I ride about a 16 average on hilly rides, and cruise in that easy-breathing zone on the flat at 17-18, though that's after a good bit of base training.

Try that for a month and then try going hard on two rides/week.

Thanks for posting this as I am feeling the same thing. I'm 61 and for the past few weeks riding 100+ per week with the last two over 200. That is a lot of time in the saddle for me. Anyway, I'm hitting a wall. My legs feel weak. I guess I should take a day or two off but I enjoy riding - but I don't enjoy how hard it is feeling.

Recovery is very simple. Just take time off. Not a day, but a week. Or two weeks. Or a month if necessary! Sure, it might feel like you're going through withdrawal the first day or two, but when you actually rest up and recover you notice a profound difference.

Try going for a walk or something if you need to get out and do something. But time off the bike (not one or two days, significant time) is a nice cure-all for feeling consistently run down.