Ok so here’s the history and granted it’s not really scientific but is there really any quantifiable way to measure a “feeling.”
In March of this year I raced at Ralph’s 1/2 IM and did fairly well, 4:30-ish. Although initially dissapointed I realized that wasnt that bad at all when considering that the result was off of just base and strength work over the winter and zero speed or tempo work. I then took a couple weeks at moderate effort to account for my moving and the Easter Holidays, before beginning the final ramp up to CdA in early April. This was when things got good… real good. First couple of workouts were going well and I could feel myself getting stronger and stronger everytime I got on the bike. My increases in power on the bike were seriously like crack… I had to keep going back to get more… i just wanted to see my numbers go higher and higher. And the best part was that i was feeling good and never hurting too much aerobically or muscularly. It was about this time that I developed a stress fracture in my heel which then allowed for more riding time, but caused me to throw any hopes out about what I might be able to accomplish at CdA. Okay now for some data from some april w/o’s… FYI… I weigh 75kg 4x15min @ PE LT watts 302, 297, 298, 289 64 mile 3x55min brick in strong winds 280, 282, 270… hammered an 80 mile group ride the next day… felt great got sick took a week and a half off easy CP60 at 302 watts on the CT and feeling great… two days later… 130 miles w/2x30 min at 302 and 297 watts thrown in and hit 112 @ 5:14 week later… 120 miles hitting 112 at 5:12 with 4x30 on 5 min rest holding over 300 watts for all four
Okay so then the next week was more hammering more long hard stuff the weekend ride was long and rough… then it seemed like i got back on track with… 55 mile TT 2.5 hours into the long ride… avg 250 watts
But then things started to deteriorate… the next weekend I blew to pieces as well as the weekend after that… things during the week werent much better. I had a job finally and that made me very happy but i was also sleeping very little and living on a friend’s couch and just riding and swimming about everyday… and it was starting to wear me down. My weekday speed workouts became neuromuscular explosive sessions where i would go all out 400-450 watts for 45-60 seconds. Then one day i just cracked on the bike… it was 12 days out from CdA and I could just no longer press the pedals, I couldnt sleep at all that night I was so tired (funny but true)… i didnt want to go to the pool or try anything fun. Work was great but things were still just off. The next night i filtered the Power Tap graphed the data and realized that i was staring at a bell curve with the peak in late april/early may and me now way down on the slope from that. I then completely rested the next 11 days in to the race. Had fun with some pals in Idaho but as for the race… it was a drag as I KNOW i could have done better. So then took about 2.5 weeks off… nearly completely off I might add. Then started to get back into the swing of things thinking that I would come back feeling rested and ready to rip. Funny… I really didnt feel that rested just more of an avg feeling… not tired but not great. Hmmm??? Have slowly got into doing some more speed running and swimming… both of which have been going pretty well and i have been able to see some nice steady improvements in my abilities in those two disciplines in regards to speed. Doing the same on the bike in regards to speed and “roadie racing” but still feeling as though I am “not all there” It just makes me wonder… how do i get back to the Mark that could go out and do 112 on a training ride and hold 300 watts for 4x30 min intervals and bust it at 5:10 untapered??? Am I doomed to never return to that ability as I am still in fact overtrained and should actually take MORE time off? I want to gear up big time for Ralph’s next March and figure that if i need more time off NOW is the time to do it. but is that in fact the answer to where I am… or is it more likely that 4 weeks of doing nothing was cause for enough de-training to put me into this position? I just dont feel like I did back “then” when i would do a major push w/o and leave it feeling great and stoked and ready for the next one. To add a note to this i still have not been sleeping much more than 6 hrs a night when i need between 7-8.
Basically i am just panicked right now as I dont know if I should take more time off to further heal or if i am just needing to work harder and harder. Thanks for your input everyone… my appreciation in advance…
First off, you live in Austin,TX “Center of the Triathlon Universe” and that’s reason enough to feel like you’re doing crack when you work out.
Seriously, I’m like you that when I over do it, it shows up in my inability to sleep. I’m very conscious of my heart beating in my chest, and I cannot sleep well and sometimes at all. Also I get real cranky. My solution has been to ramp waaay back. This tendency has been a drag especially b/c it’s happened before my “A” races. I would do these awesome workouts and it was like I left my best stuff on the veloway, trail, or whatever.
This year has been learning how to pay attention to my body, etc. instead of the speed freak in my brain who loves to hammer.
That said, you kicked my ass and a lot of other people’s asses all over the place at Marble Falls, and for someone who hadn’t been doing anything, you’re doing pretty good.
If my experience is any kind of guide, I would suggest using sleep/inability to sleep as your barometer as well as over all energy level during the day. I wouldn’t worry about any kind of detraining effect especially for next year.
I’m curious what everyone else has to say. Hang in there, Mark.
Have you actually read back over your own post. Your over reached. All the signs are there and you worte them out. Looks like you hit your peak too early. This would suggest that you may have been training at a too higher intensity. This has peaked your fitness and you have tried to hold onto that fitness, which can’t be done for a long period of time. Even though you said you rode a 5.10 in training, in base it would suggest that and by looking at some of your sessions you have really not resisted the temptation to test yourself (test yourself in the build peak period) For example, you rode a BT workout one day and then backed it up again with another BT type workout the next day. Why??? Even though you said you felt great, you need to grow during your recovery.
By late base you should be feeling awesome in terms of fitness and strength. Where you have fallen apart, I think, is that you have brought in late build phase type sessions without allowing for sufficent recovery. You have overcooked yourself by doing workouts, even though you think your ready for, you should of done later on in your program. Put on top of that the stresses of base volume and your left training on a knifes edge. You took that chance by the sounds of it and as a result fell off the wagon.
Its good to be hitting PB in late base, but you need to really focus on extending your recover if you can’t resist the urge to keep testing your fitness, especially with such long TT that you did. Its fine to do them but you’ll need to at least cut back on your volume. looking at what you are doing in late base. Ican’t imagine whatsort of sessions you would have planned to peak your fitness during late build/peak period??
Mark, it sounds like you should focus on getting all your personal life/job issues settled and get your sleep. Lack of sleep will really wear you down. You have a long triathlon career ahead of you, my suggestion after reading this would be to keep your training easy/aerobic in nature through September then reasess how you’re feeling. You will certainly get back to top level fitness and then some. How did that heel fracture develop? Try to avoid that and keep your intense sessions specific and perhaps a bit more spaced out with adequate recovery as someone else has already mentioned. Recovery and sleep are just as important as training and should be considered such.
Martyg summed things up pretty well, I’ll add just a couple of points:
You never mention planning regeneration weeks/periods. Even if you’re self-coached, like you appear to be, you need to plan not only your week, but also the whole cycle. You can’t just wing it because that way you can’t see the big picture. The small picture is how you feel from day to day, the big picture is how you feel from week to week, month to month.
You talk too much about single workouts. You should realize that consistency over time is more important than mega workouts. So you’re better of doing 4 times something like 3x15min LT during a month, than doing 4-5x15min and then not recover and crash.
Thank you all for your responses. I have a follow up question here… Is it prudent to still move forward with my swimming and running programs while backing off on the bike? I.e. is it possible to recover on the bike while still slowly working on the swim and run? Thanks, I really appreciate the input.
Nothing in your post talks of how long you’ve been competitive. Being overtrained is easier for those who’ve been competing for fewer years.
It takes years to build the kind of fitness that one can put a ton of speed on top of. In bike racing, it can take a person 3-5 years to develop the muscle memory and base fitness that allows one to build enough speed on to be competitive.
started doing two a days in the pool at age 10 through to age 20… now 25 and have been on the bike for 3 years… but only the last 18 months or so seriously.
This never gets old and still brings a grin every time i read it… Austin,TX “Center of the Triathlon Universe”
Anyway… thanks for the words… it looks like ill be hitting up some LSD and low HR and WATTS to pull myself out of this mess. As for the Marble falls race… thanks for the thought but the year prior i went 7 minutes faster so that was another nail in the coffin when that happened.
Seems like sleep appears to be a good barometer… will try that and the LSD to see if that gets me somewhere.
Robert… tentatively thinking that we do another Austin - ST gathering when the Vuelta is shown on Sept 18th… thoughts?
I would love to do a 9/18 get together for the Vuelta. I’m also thinking about going out to Ft Davis for Cyclefest which includes riding the “big loop” around the Mountains and the Mt Locke hill climb. I’m undecided, however. If I’m in town, I’m there. Are you still planning to go for the Big Races or are you going to keep on keeping it local. I was thinking about doing Dilloman for grins.
Going to go for the big ones… Nat’l level 1/2 IM stuff etc… but first need to focus on getting healthy. I’ll post more about 9/18 as it gets closer. cheers
tentatively thinking that we do another Austin - ST gathering when the Vuelta is shown on Sept 18th… thoughts?
Of course, that’s a great day!!! I’ll be in San Antonio doing Splash.
I understand how you feel… Seem like you peaked too early, even though 112 miles in 5:12 felt great, that probably should be saved for race day. Those kind of efforts take a while to recover from. I am a yo-yo myself. so good one week, so down the next. i know what you mean by too tired to sleep or just can’t train. Do you make your own plans? Train with zones? pushing yourself is dangerous when doen at the wrong period… I would consider having a coach. Hang in there, you have a long career ahead of you and such great potential. I should say amazing potential and sleeping is definitly an issue. I can tell you from experience, especially these days:-) nap, nap, nap…
thanks for the thought but the year prior i went 7 minutes faster so that was another nail in the coffin when that happened. 