I had a 2 months break in my road biking (broken forearm, surgery). I started riding 1 month after the surgery, first 2 weeks I did almost 1000km (Z2/Z3, my heartrate was 10% higher than usual, I suspect toll from the surgery), later mainly distance and Z3/Z4 - for gran fondo, also my hand was not 100% to do intervals and 2.5 month after the surgery 170km 3700m elevation gran fondo without problems. My FTP and vo2max is still a bit lower than before (lower than in January in fact ) , but Iām not able to do intervals like before: 4x12 minutes at 105%FTP (my FTP is updated - lower, my HR throughout interval is similar). First interval goes for well (second half >90%HRmax, at the end 90-92, unless I push hard and can be 92ā94), but on the second I feel weaker from the start and canāt keep the power after 2 minutes.
Before (I was doing 800-1000TSS/week quite often) I was able to do 4 intervals like this (with 6-7 mins rest in-between), and quite often second interval felt easier/better than first! Looks like my body doesnāt recover so fast as before? Is it because my base is worse now? Or because lack of intervals in my training?
Cut yourself some slack Lucas! You are not a robot (im guilty of the same self depricating mindset). The adaptations you gained prior to surgery (sustained sweet spot work) will have subsided somewhat but much of their endurance enhancing benefits such as increased mitochondrial density, capillary volume/plasma volume will still be high, hence your fondo crushing ability. The slight reductions will have reduced your resilience at a given percentage of FTP/VO2 which would indicate the reduced time of those intervals.
You appear to be at the pointy end with that TSS per week, and the gains yielded as you do more and more become more specialised and harder to sustain, a period without a specific bout of intervals/training targeting the āspecialistā end of any energy system will result in declining adaption to the demands of that system. (Ie. the gains between 20 hour weeks and 40 hour weeks in terms of volume related adaptions will not be as big as between 0 and 20hrs per week, but they will drop away much faster going from 40hrs to 20s than from 20hr to off). The rate of return is much higher in those with substantial adaptations from previous training.
Do not fret! Enjoy the process of honing your desired energy systems and accept that these adaptations are slow and hard won, especially at that high level and especially after any surgical procedure.
You had 2 months with no training. Your top end is in essence gone. Itāll take about another 4 months to get back to where you were. Be patient Grasshopper. Itās takes a while to build back after such a long break as youāve had.
Yes. Not āorā, but āandā. Probably more the later (since it goes away quicker).
Iām pretty much always in that mode this time of year since I shut down most interval training in early summer. I find that I can still do well in steady/hard long stuff and my TTE for tempo and endurance doesnāt drop that much, but the sharper stuff suffers until I get back into intervals next season. For any long races I do in the off season, that typically means letting the punchy groups go early and getting into TT mode where I can still ride tempo for 5+ hours and have a decent day.
The longest I was of the bike was the 5wks after my bowel/colon op 6 years ago. Undoubtedly, I lost top end stuff back then , but my base was still there and I came back stronger eventually and Iām sure you will too.
I had ~3 months off the bike for a surgery (from a bike crash that was my own fault) and significantly reduced training/riding between crash and surgery (it was a 14 month wait); fitness was horrendous when I started up again.
About 18 months after I started again, I hit my lifetime 20min power best (which Iām still quite proud of and really wish I was a lot closer to right now ). Donāt fret.
So this means you were a mutant. It might be awhile to get back to mutant status but once a mutant, always a mutant so (try to) be patient, it will come back for sure.
yep. MTB. Iām back to it, in fact yesterday I bought Santa Cruz V10
thx for advices, Iāll return to my intervals or just loops I can do around my place, which have a lot of 5-15 mins climbs. itās just very demotivating when you feel so āweakā comparing to the past.
Make sure youāre doing the right intervals for your fitness levels, and youāll be back before you know it. This is a great example of a solid use case for something like TR. We could help you get the right workouts in place right away and build you back up with confidence!
) , but Iām not able to do intervals like before: 4x12 minutes at 105%FTP (my FTP is updated - lower, my HR throughout interval is similar). First interval goes for well (second half >90%HRmax, at the end 90-92, unless I push hard and can be 92ā94), but on the second I feel weaker from the start and canāt keep the power after 2 minutes.
). Donāt fret.
or just loops I can do around my place, which have a lot of 5-15 mins climbs. itās just very demotivating when you feel so āweakā comparing to the past.
(according to GoldenCheetah)