Cyclocross race, can not breath

Racing
1

Hi , i am 6 races in now , for some reason this season i just feel like i cant breath , starved of oxygen somehow . Legs feel good .
Any ideas

2

Asthma? Hyperventilating? Maybe sinus drainage going down the back of your throat?

3

Maybe you’re just going out too hard? Have you been doing any VO2 efforts? How have those gone?

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4

Cross is hard, the start is harder, and when you have a good 60 seconds of anaerobic power everything is a nail. It’s possible you’re starting too hard and need to dial it back a bit, combined with the air being cold and shocking your lungs. Can you provide a bit more detail on what’s going on here? Do you feel like you have a hard time actually breathing, or just that your breath is out of control, or light-headed?

6

As noted, coming out too hard can make you suffer the whole race, never catching your breath.

That said, it is entirely possible you have Exercise Induced Asthma…mine is rarely triggered unless I am racing / going hard in the cold. Then it is almost impossible for me to catch my breath.

7

Hi, i have eased off slightly at the start , just feel
Off maybe 5-10 % down from breathing capacity to previous years, training has tapered down due to family/winter etc , not sure if i should rest and its fatigue or try more vo2 workouts, i dont think its a health issue

8

I used to feel something similar to the first part of any type of race that went hell for leather straight from the gun.
Then instead of looking at a taper I looked atthe build up to the race. Previously I used to take two days off straight but the downside was the start of a race I was literally being sick and shaking due to the zero to high work load.
So now I dont actually taper, but thats just because it suits me but the two things that did make a huge difference the morning of the day before Ill do a primers session like tallac and then on the actual morning of the race before I even eat breakfast I do my race warm up (I actually made it and listed it as BC warmup on trainerroad), this will get my HR up to race levels. Then at the race I gently spin my legs to get them moving, but during the manic start I now never have the previous problems, my hr is very quickly up to speed and I can control the race a lot better.

Ive also used the same ‘system’ for evening track league races, for me at least it seems that getting my hr up earlier in the day means I get up to pace a lot quicker and easier.

9

The nature of cyclocross puts a huge tax on your ventilatory system. This in turn manifests in a high ventilation rate (how many breaths you take per minute). As you become more fit you’ll become more efficient at breathing. In any given race it usually takes me around 2 laps (10-15 min) to settle down and get my breathing under control. Heart rate is within 95% of max all race.

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10

@Nicktaylor, are you warming up properly? i find using a Turbo gets the HR a lot higher than just riding around the course. Are you riding in the NWCCA league by any chance ? Also recommend doing “openers” as the optimum pre race day workout, sort of mini race effort.

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11

Hi ray,hope your well , for some reason i seem to be lacking on the breathing this year !! i can not warm up on the turbo due to silly bolt through rat axles, although i do warm up on the road and try to get in the red , before the race.
I take it openers means the day before ride , whats your recommendation there ray.
Cheers

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12

Perhaps MvdP is taking your breath away? :man_shrugging:

13

Can’t breath? It’s CX, you’re doing it right!:stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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14

Nick, I do a TR workout about 40 mins long that includes the main energy systems, endurance for the warm up, sweet spot, threshold, VO2 and sprints but for short durations. I’ll send you a link to our NWCCA team and you’ll see the custom workouts in there.

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15

@Nicktaylor, happy birthday for yesterday. Hows the training going?

16

Hi ray , thanks, good but worked all day the took phoebes to racing , some trapped nerve or something from working in my shoulder this weeks injury, so had a break from the bike, just jogging. Tried the tips pre warm up etc at the Ulverston race , breathing a lot better but legs went last two laps . Always find it hard training this time of year, seems so much easier in summer, how are you

17

Fine. Just had a CX skills session with the NCC Youths. Keeps me going even though I can’t stay with them. I’m doing 6-8 hrs a week, 450+ TSS regularly. Having to travel to keep racing but the NW picks up after Xmas.