fatigue for ten days after a hard day, anyone else?

A light bike doesn't replace good fitness.

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tigoose
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Joined: Fri Nov 21, 2008 11:23 pm
Location: Mal Born, Oz.

by tigoose

I'm preparing for the audax alpine classic 250 in January 2016. It is approximately 4.5k metres of vertical over 250km. I did 2k metres on a 10% hill 7 days ago and still feel flat. I've commuted to work 3 days this week and kinda forced myself to do 2.5 hours yesterday on the mtb. Also threw in a swim.
I used to get somewhat depressed in this phase but accept the tiredness now. I plan for a couple rides this coming week then I should be fine for a big ride again next weekend.
Anyone else feel taxed as long as I do after a hard ride ?

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prendrefeu
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by prendrefeu

How long have you been riding?
How old are you?
Have you seen a doctor about this?

tigoose wrote:Anyone else feel taxed as long as I do after a hard ride ?


Short answer: no, I do not. I do rides that are around 320km and 5km ascent and usually just feel sore for one day, but never tired or exhausted.

You may have some other issues going on in your health.
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Rick
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by Rick

As above...
Hard to assess without knowing your background.
If you are a beginner, and went exceptionally hard...then, yes, it could take 10 days to recover.

But recovery speed shortens with fitness. Most times no matter how hard I go I feel better after 2 days.

tigoose
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by tigoose

Thanks. I've been riding for nearly 20 years and am 46. Busy family life and work can get physical. However whenever I have a hard ride I seem to get a little run down with slight cold symptoms. I may get checked out by the dr.
Thanks again

Jmdesignz2
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by Jmdesignz2

What's your normal recovery time?
Slight cold symptoms can be histamine related.
What's your diet

KH
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by KH

I find this very interesting as I have experienced similar to this at times.

Possibly the most frustrating thing is that it seems to be completely random as to how I recover. Absolutely no pattern at all...

I stopped racing at age 30 because I would often still be destroyed mid week after a Sunday road race, which wasn't the case in my early twenties.

And then at times I would feel great on the Monday after a tough elite race the day before.

Will watch this thread with interest.

dmulligan
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by dmulligan

How much sleep are you getting?

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grover
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by grover

Assuming you are otherwise healthy and your life off the bike has been constant in terms of work/family/sleep then fatigue and recovery is all about how hard the ride was in comparison to your last 4-6 weeks on the bike and the preceeding few days.

This is where using a powermeter and software like TrainingPeaks is so valuable even for those not racing.
The metrics talked about are TSS (training stress score), ATL (acute training load), CTL (chronic training load) and TSB (training stress balance).

An example. Your ride was hard. Let's say a TSS of 250. If you've only been averaging 3 rides a week of 2 hours for the last 6 weeks then your CTL is probably about 50 and you're used to hovering around 0 for your TSB. That one ride is going to shoot your TSB very negative and that will take days to get back close to 0 and start to not feel run down/lethargic.

I personally found that my body was very susceptible to getting slight cold symptoms similar to you if I raised my CTL by more than 7 points a week. It could happen overnight if I did a huge ride on the back of a poor CTL (like you've potentially done here). It's not an absolute science because your life off the bike effects your fatigue so poor sleep or increased stress at work could run you down as well.

If you're going to go to the doctor you need to know your history. Can you outline how many days a week you've ridden in the last 6 weeks, how many hours a week that was and what the longest ride each week was? That starts to build a picture of what your body was used to before you embarked on this long ride. You need to be able to show that this single ride is something your body is used to or the doctor will just say it's general fatigue. If you want them to actually test something (eg. thyroid, iron, etc) then you need to convince them that something's actually wrong.

It may be worth picking up a cheap second hand powermeter. Not so much for on the bike training. But for monitoring your fatigue. There's no point doing one big ride a fortnight and barely riding in between because it takes you ten days to recover. You'll be much better off for your event by building your CTL through consistent shorter rides through the week then start throwing in longer rides that are not such a big shock to your system and drains it of so much.

tigoose
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by tigoose

Grover
This is excellent information thanx. I'll report back when I have my previous hours on the bike prior to that day.
Thanks again

tigoose
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by tigoose

KH
Sounds like me. It's inconsistent with me as well. Some days I can back it up with a similar effort and some days I'm toast. I have a feeling I don't eat enough on the bike/day of the ride.
Thanks for your input.

warsteiner
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by warsteiner

Do u take in a lot of sugars (energy drink, gels) and caffeine during your long hard rides? If yes try cutting down and use none during training, only for race days. Worked for me


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tigoose
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by tigoose

Warsteiner
Thanks. I use bananas for sugar on rides and a can of coke if hot and I'm feeling rebellious. Water is the main hydration. I really think I didn't eat enough a week ago and I don't usually follow up with a protein shake, , maybei should? ?
I've had some other good info from my question too. I do let my ego drive me at times around my friends. Before I became a dad I was 73kg and was extremely comfortable on climbs and when the pace was up. However now the twins are 6 I'm a 'trim' 80kg if there is such a thing. I struggle to drop the weight now even though my clothes are the same fit as at the lighter weight ??? Painful !
Thanks :-)

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PSM
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by PSM

I usually need one day to recover from 200-300 km.

A few years back I sometimes felt a bit "low" after hard rides. I remember after climbing Sa Calobra for the first time and I cryed afterwards.

I think that you release "chemicals" when you exert yourself extremely hard. It is problably great for you int the long run but at the time, I felt like a little boy longing for mum.

(Alcohol might bring you down mentally aswell...)

grover
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by grover

Ah yep, forgot nutrition.

On the ride. If it's something extra long for you then try and incorporate some protein whilst riding. If the intensity is not super high then stay away from sports nutrition. Just eat real food. Bananas are great, Skratch Labs recipes for rice cakes are fantastic. Otherwise just a jam sandwich, peanut butter sandwich cut into little pieces. Fast energy, easy on the stomach and you can get a bit of protein. Stop for a ham and cheese croissant etc.

Fluids, you need to replace the electrolytes. If you're drinking mostly water you're probably diluting your salts. This can make people feel very fatigued, lethargic, wiped out until replaced. Buy a tube of the effervescent electrolyte tabs (shots, high five, nuun etc). Use them in your bottles the whole day on your next long ride and see if you feel any better.

by Weenie


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Jmdesignz2
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by Jmdesignz2

If you are not ingesting protein and electrolytes every hour on hard rides while training then you are depleting your glycogen

When riding hard training or otherwise, I use Perpetuem mixed with gatorade powder. I carry this mix in zip loc bags and mix as needed.

Usually one bottle per hard hour and 1/2 bottle per hour if cruising.

On the other hand, I have found that hill intervals at near max power output do more for overall training in less time than anything else.
Assuming a good cardio base.

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