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Question on regaining fitness

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  • December 21, 2014 at 9:53 pm #22890
    notfastenough

    Hey folks, I’m looking for some advice. I realise that there is a wide spectrum of knowledge here, from lots to not a lot, but here goes!

    Since the kids were born, this year has seen merely mediocre fitness for me. 50-ish miles no problem, average speed (including traffic lights etc) of 15mph. 20 miles at average of maybe 16.5mph. So in October I figured I want to build back to good fitness by spring, so I started to include some sufferfest and sessions with a bit of weight-training (2-3 times a week). Then a few weeks went by where for one reason or another I didn’t manage to get out for my long rides (still got into the gym and on the trainer though). Then illness in the kids and a cold for me kept me off the bike altogether for another few weeks.

    Fast forward a little, and I’ve been back on the bike for a few weeks, but I feel different. Normally when I come back after a lay-off, a few rides and a I good, but not now. Shorter rides are ok speed-wise, but just a bit more (35 miles +) and my average speed is more like 14mph, and hard work. So it was today on a 40 mile trip. Strangely, right near the end (when I sometimes struggle after a hard ride), I was still good for 20-23mph. There’s a local climb that Strava says I’ve climbed 30 times, and today I rode up it in my slowest ever time.

    So, I can only conclude that the spell (only a month or so) of short hard rides with no longer outings has resulted in me changing my muscle such that I’m duff on a longer course. Now, my natural inclination is just to get the miles in on longer rides as often as I can, but is it as simple as that? Is there more to it? I don’t even feel up to a club run with this pace.

    Thanks all.

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  • December 23, 2014 at 5:13 pm #824029
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    notfastenough

    Well the climb I mentioned is
    Well the climb I mentioned is a common one for me, and I know that when I’m fitter, under 5 minutes is doable. On Sunday it took me 6:14.

    Having said that, I suppose you have all got a point re the other factors. The thing is, if someone else had posted this, I would have been among the first to say the same thing!

    As it happens, I had the bike stripped and serviced (you try doing it yourself when you have 1-year-old twins!) and the mechanic must have removed the Garmin mount when cleaning everything, as it’s now 90 degrees out, so I can’t really use the Garmin anyway. Maybe he knew the secret truth and this was his samurai way of making me ride through winter without numbers…!

    Anyway, I’ll crack on and try to stay motivated. Maybe I’ll dangle the carrot of a treat when my time on that climb goes back under 5 minutes.

    Thanks all.

    December 22, 2014 at 11:50 pm #824027
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    Quince

    As people have said, there
    As people have said, there seem to be a whole load of possible (and probable) factors, so it’s hard to narrow things down.

    I can sympathise with the above post about the weather. I’ve felt pretty battered about by the wind in recent weeks, and I think if I’d taken a cycle computer out it would have just depressed me. I used to use one all the time, and I don’t think I used it particularly wisely. I’d just want to the screen to give me a nice ego-friendly number, all the time. This could mean I’d waste all my energy (for example) fighting too hard against a headwind, and then be too exhausted to ride properly when it died down, resulting in an even lower average speed, which in turn would made me sad and discourage me from going out again.

    I think other comments about the residual effects of illness might contain pearls of truth as well.

    Either way, getting out more and putting in some less stressful miles sounds like a good idea. Maybe you could leave the speedo at home for the odd ride and look more at the numbers when the conditions are less variable. Either on the turbo, or on particular climbs (as another poster has said).

    Do go and ride though, even if the only way you can happily do it is to dump the all-knowing gadgets. Not every ride has to be a competition. Sometimes there is honour in going slowly and purposefully – safe in the knowledge that it’ll show through the next time you’re challenged by the clock, or even another person.

    December 22, 2014 at 9:44 pm #824025
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    unistriker

    Using avg speed to measure
    Using avg speed to measure you ability is a bad idea. There are way too many variables. I wont go into them hear but a google search will sure explain this properly to you.

    If your in the UK anywhere near birmingham it has been seriously windy.. any training out side now would be slower way slower than my summer speeds.

    If you are going to measure using Avg speed find a long climb and measure your times up it. that way wind is less influential cos your not going as fast and its a constant effort.

    December 22, 2014 at 8:25 pm #824023
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    Simon E

    Is it perhaps less about your
    Is it perhaps less about your endurance per se and more about other factors? I suspect some residual fatigue from the virus coupled with the changing seasons, lower temperatures and poorer weather. You might have underestimated how much these things can affect you.

    If you decide to clock up some mileage then I’d spin an easier gear and not watch the numbers. Otherwise you could end up digging yourself a deeper hole. I would choose what to do each day (but not every day) based on how I felt and the weather conditions.

    I certainly wouldn’t set any store by average speeds or Strava times in midwinter after a layoff, particularly if as a result of illness.

    December 22, 2014 at 6:35 pm #824021
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    CXR94Di2

    Having spent a week off the
    Having spent a week off the bike with a chest infection. I will start light training mid xmas period with my new power meter and heart rate sensor to try a build a base for ftp training in the new year

    December 22, 2014 at 5:37 pm #824019
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    Bedfordshire Clanger

    I’m not sure that I would
    I’m not sure that I would read too much into it. It is cold and windy, you have been ill and you probably aren’t getting as much sleep as you used to. All these things make riding a bike harder than usual. Stick it out, I’m feeling horribly slow at the moment but I’m expecting the time that I am managing to spend on the bike to pay off in the Spring.

    December 21, 2014 at 10:40 pm #824017
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    OnTheRopes

    Yes it is simply that you
    Yes it is simply that you have lost endurance. Just start upping the miles at an aerobic pace and you will soon get it back. I could tell you to buy a heart rate monitor and work out your zones and then ride for 1000 miles plus at an aerobic endurance level gradually building up the distance over a few weeks.

    However you don’t need to get technical, ride at ‘The Gossip Threshold’ which means you are just capable of holding a conversation, I’m sure you can figure how this feels even if you are riding alone.
    Do this and slowly build up the distance over a few weeks until you have covered a minimum of 1000 miles, and then over the next 1000 you can start to increase the intensity a bit and introduce some hills.

    At the end of the day, just ride your bike lots and your endurance will increase, it is that simple

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