I went through a struggle at the beginning of the year. I complained to my doctor something was off and we had bloodwork done. I had next to no iron. Had an iron infusion to deal with how low it was. So my lack of motivation and struggle to go hard related to my health. Good luck on seeing what is up.
It was 6-7 years ago now, but when I had a chronic Iron shortage, I don’t think my HR was rising at all (it just hit a proverbial wall (around 75% of norm), the opposite of what @OldManOnABike is describing, @Brennus is probably more correct in OMOABike’s case. I had two infusions and an operation to remove what was blocking my iron absorption. I hope you never had to go through that and are better now!
Very sad to hear..
At 58yrs my motivation thrives, been riding on higer level over 15yrs compeating around 5-8 trs ago..!
For me my bikes as Madone / Domane/ Checkpoint gives me a strong motivation, and our Wahoo cave doing TR training and brilliant nature for Road-Gravel ant MTB close by that said i am amazed how to keep up my motivation year after year after… would love to invite you for a couple of days riding on Bestcoast (west) of Sweden ![]()
This ^ is usually how it manifests for me. Some depression meds block the dopamine response I get from riding too. I actually just went through this, took some time off, but it didn’t help. Took about a month of easy riding what I could get in and started coming back to normal. I also was taking a bunch of naps and had normal depression symptoms but one thing I never lost was my love for cycling, I wanted to ride, just after 20min or so I was toast mentally.
Lots of good advice here. I know this is TR and I subscribe, but 99% of my rides are outside. Even if it is 15 degrees F I would rather ride outside, so if much of your training is inside-get outside. Look at the birds and the trees. Take it in. Stop training and enjoy riding. Stop for coffee or a favorite snack on EVERY ride. Try something new like cyclocross and ignore the results-just do something new on the bike. Maybe ditch the head unit, HR monitor and just ride. Also, seriously, therapy is a wonderful exploration, so if you are depressed find a smart psychologist and commit for 8 sessions or so and see if it is worthwhile. Find the joy again in whatever you do.
Dude, totally classic signs of overtraining… IMHO (which is quite frankly, probably not worth the bytes I just wasted), you need some serious time off off the bike and I also highly suggest finding a coach who can help you get your mojo back. It will be very hard to work through this on your own. Not saying you can’t, but that’s what good coaches are for.
I wish you success, friend.
I posted this in another similar thread:
What type of riding are you doing - Road, gravel, MTB?
Try a different discipline. It may bring the excitement back.
My primary riding is MTB. With the right planning, it opens up a lot of adventures. New trails. New challenges. New destinations. Bike packing into a the middle of nowhere.
