Hello fellow people, I hope at least parts of 2020 is treating you well.
I just completed Sweetspot Base 1 LV with some added rides (Sunday ride + gym work on wednesdays), completed all TR workouts 100% without any problems except for two where my Diabetes got in the way and I had to add extra sugar in the middle.
Enter rest week and I follow the plan, except switching the saturday ride for an outdoor ride with a friend, 0.75ish IF 2h noodeling about saying good bye to the leaves.
Out of restweek, ramp test time! I had really looked forward to this since that at the end of base1 I felt fatigued but strong.
Ramp test result: 10% loss of FTP and me almost throwing up on the bike at the 17min mark with heartrate already hitting my max. Not joking about the throwing up part, had to run to the toilet.
I kept my old FTP when questioned by TR because I felt so off on the bike during the test.
Did a Pettit the day after, and my usual Z2 HR of 130 Ā± a few beats is now 150+, hitting threshold levels of 160+ at times. I canāt take a walk outside without having my HR hit 120+ bpm where it usually sits around 80-90 for the same activity.
WHAT has happened!? I was perfectly fine if tired pre-recovery so is this recovery week legs/lungs or didnāt I recover enough? But if the latter, why so high heart rate instead of low? is this anything any of you recognize? For what it is worth my legs feels like cement but Iām just fine otherwise.
Information about me:
36 yo, type1 diabetic for 30+ years
Had a bad crash this year in april with broken clavicle and all of my ribs resulting in collapsed ribcage. Mostly feeling fine today but my arm and shoulder hurt 24/7 which might add some stress.
Been riding for a long time but relatively new to structure
My TR rides (and others) can be found: here however I just started with strava this spring. 2019 was very similiar to 2020 summer.
Sounds like youāre getting sick or fighting something off, and your heart is acting like an early warning system. How do you feel? How did you feel during the ride on Saturday? Has there been much stress/anxiety/excitement in your life in the past couple days?
Interesting remarks, i am a Type1 too, have similar episodes of super fatigueness once in a while. Did you encounter any considerable changes in your insuline demand during these fatigued days? I needed almost twice as much insuline some days
I feel mostly fine and sleep well, Iām fatigued but not really tired. No aches and pains, no sniffling, sore throat or anything else. Anxiety/Stress wise it is hard to tell - Iām a social creature doing my 9th month working from home so I chalk a lot of small mental niggles down to that. Nothing really changed last couple of months.
That saturday ride was bad, sitting at Z2 pace had me grasping for breath barely being able to talk properly. I would usually just take a break if that happens, but the week before, when I rode more I felt strong - so Iām connecting this to the recovery week.
Iām not so sure I can connect increased insulin demand to the fatigue alone, however fatigue often comes together with something else that increases insulin demand for me: Infection, rest (ie. not training for a day), mental stress and sharp changes in temperature (not to a great extent).
Ie. when I have the Flu, i require more than twice my regular Bolus however Iām barely eating.
Now that you say it, I have noticed an increase in nightly blood sugar levels for a week, but apart from that it is the same as always.
I has something very similar a few years ago (I am Type 1 as well but donāt think that it related), heart rate would be high all the time, going for a walk and it would be 120+, couldnāt do anything about SS on the turbo, but I didnāt feel ill, so just kept going
Ended up in hospital, with chest pains, on meds for a short period, they expect it was a swollen heart due to a virus, had to have a stress test (horrible experiance), but it was pointed out to me that all the warning signs were there, I didnāt listern to them, and I was lucky to get away scott free
Not trying to scare you, but these things donāt get better without a little rest
Iām trying to figure out if I need to rest, or if this is something I can power through. Reading your comment Iām leaning towards the following:
Continue my workouts as prescribed until tuesday, add a ramp test and look at results together with how I feel - IF I feel like sh*t and the ramp test is yet again appalling THEN rest for 1 week off the bike ELSE continue as normal.
And a side note: Feeling bad is a bit of conundrum to me, as you might well know as a Type 1, getting used to a certain amount of discomfort is almost a requirement. And that is all it is, some joint pain here, some stomach ache there - It will not kill you, just deal with it - and this is NOT a positive thing, but it would explain why many of us do not listen to warning signs.
Without going through all of your pas rides, what were you doing prior to TR?
I had something similar happen to me about 5 weeks ago, although Iām not diabetic. Halfway through Build phase fitness disappeared. Was wary of possible illness at the time, but nothing showed and lost over 20 watts overnight.
Iāve since put it down to a VO2 block Iād done earlier in the year, bringing brittle fitness. I could be massively wrong - tried searching the subject but really struggled to find similar instances.
This all occurred days after test which brought biggest FTP since returning to TR. There was little sign of trouble before hand.
I dropped the build phase, re-tested and have started SSB again.
One other suggestion, just based on my own personal experience, is to have a blood test done- specifically with regard to electrolyte levels. Iāve had a similar thing happen where Iāve seen a significant increase in my HR at lower power levels and a reduced capacity for work above threshold, and each time it was related to electrolyte deficiency- specifically potassium in my case, but I imagine the same symptoms would probably apply across the board.
Either way, iād absolutely recommend seeing a doctor if this continues for more than a couple of days, especially considering current circumstances.
I agree, I often wake up feeling āall type 1ā, and feel a big boost to actually getting up of my Ā£$Ā£ and going for a bike ride, which cleans the cob webs out, the skill is know when itās something more serious (which is hard as T1 also trains us to hypocondriacs (and to not to care about spelling)), T1 and this sport both benefit from listerning to out bodies
Donāt say sorry, all input is appreciated input!
To answer your question (for 2020): In short a lot of fastāish group rides (Z3-4) with solo rides sprinkled in, mainly Z2 longer rides. I spent a few weeks on my own plan in the summer which consisted of SS and group rides.
It might very well be that I had residual fitness on the top end from those fast groups, no unusual to see spikes of 1000+w in those rides, or 40s + of 400+w (with an FTP at the time of 240ish). Since starting TR SSBLV I barely went above 210w.
That is interesting, what you describe is spot on what Iām feeling here.
Iāll contact my GP (or what we have here that corresponds to it, canāt translate it to English) and see if they will actually take any tests at this time that is not corona related Had not really thought about it since it has never been a problem so far - But it be great to have it ruled out (or the cause!).
Iām experiencing the same thing currently you seemed to experience. Even with the walking around having a higher than normal heart rate. What ended up causing your issue and how long did it take to recover?
I have had a couple of close friends who intermittently experienced what you described (although not diabetic) for about 6 months post COVID/booster. Seems to be a condition that has shown more prevalence lately (according to three cardiologists) and seems to settle out. The other condition that could be happening is afib which means your upper heart isnāt pumping properly and it reduces the efficiency of your heart quite significantly. (you can pick this up often with a watch and certainly with a proper ECG at a doctors office)
You know you, if this isnāt something you have experienced before, it might be worthwhile getting it looked at more closely especially if it reoccurs.
Good luck. I hope you are able to get some answers, itās unnerving when these sorts of things happen.
Had not really thought about it since it has never been a problem so far - But it be great to have it ruled out (or the cause!).