Hi, My event is happening 30 days from now and I am panicking!
I have been off the bike for a week now following a minor surgery (I&D in the groin area).
I feel I am ready to pickup training again, but when i tried yesterday like easy zone2 around 63-65% FTP. I cannot even hold for 15mins. Its very hard. My HR is through the roof, sitting is uncomfortable. had to change the setup, etc. Did I lose that much fitness in just a week? is it even feasible to race or finish the race at this point?
To give a background, i have been doing base for the last 12 weeks and the week of surgery is my easy week. I feel this 12weeks base really boost my fitness. +16% FTP based on my last test.
Need advice on how to restart my training? should I pickup where I left off? adjust everything?
Your fitness is still there… But when you go in and cut things it takes time to heal. Is sitting difficult and did you make adjustments in position due to pain from the sugary? If you haven’t already I’d call the doctor and let them know.
Did the doctor give you the ok to go back to full on training?
Yes, I believe the pain is from the surgery as the incision is getting pressed when sitting. I did some minor adjustment and I feel its OK. The doctor told I need to rest for at least 2 weeks. but that will be too close to the event that is why I want to start a week early.
I’d follow your Doctors advice rather than risking at minimum breaking down and not making the race or being out for the season or longer. You’ve put the work in prior so you won’t lose much fitness so its perfectly feasible to race if you rest. Maybe don’t expect to make the podium but rest and race. Good luck
Totally understand the panic/frustration that this has happened so close to your event – but you should really listen to your doctor’s advice and take some time off to fully recover. If your doctor told you to rest for at least 2 weeks, you should rest for at least 2 weeks.
You probably haven’t lost much fitness from a week off, but pain when riding is your body telling you that it’s not ready to get back at it yet.
Give yourself the time to heal back up to 100% before getting back into training. Trying to rush things can make your recovery go more slowly or even worsen your injury.
Thansk for the advise. Given I will wait for another week. Once I resume my training. Should I do more tempo/threshold? Or i should stick with the plan? Currently the plan is showing vo2+ threshold
I’d recommend starting out easy – think more Zone 1/2. Ease into some harder workouts (like Tempo/Sweet Spot) as you feel comfortable. It may be tough to jump back into where your plan left off after some time off recovering from a surgery – depending on how you feel, it may be worth considering scrapping your current plan for a new one.
This varies from athlete to athlete, though – listening to how your body is feeling will be super key here!
One time I was down with some sort of infection for practically the whole week. I limped back into the office on Friday. On Saturday and Sunday I had Charm City Cyclocross.
I actually did pretty well on Saturday and a bit better on Sunday. So, your body may surprise you - but you can’t compromise the recovery.
I had surgery in mid May. Was told no riding for a month, and likely the next month too. I was devastated, but at the first followup was declared good enough to ride INDOORS, and LOW and SLOW. Yeah, getting back on was tough, and my heart rate was a bit elevated. The surgery I had involved the urethra, and the danger was that riding could separate necessitating more surgery. So I tried to walk the line between more riding and a future with even more surgery. You can’t fake it, if you have an incision in that area, you run the very real risk of it opening up, and potential infection, and you do not want it to be infected.
Since you will be riding outdoors, the chances for that happening seem pretty great, to me. Your best choice might be to sit this one out, and maybe see if you can copy someones ride data and but it into a workout and crank that ride when you feel better, and are more sufficiently healed.
I was told by the nurses no riding for at least 6w after my op in 2019. Lol, I had am Oncology appointment at 5wk and the Oncology doc told me I should have been riding already, to basically to see what level I would get back to post chemo. I’ve never actually got back to that level, I’ve been building ever since. But I started back with Z1/2 stuff.
