Signs that it’s time for a recovery week

I am literally at the same point of SSB2, did the same things and had the same failures. Pushed Leconte to this past Sunday and was done after 1.5 intervals.

My conclusion was I’m smoked and need a recovery week and looking forward to it. My level of watching the news versus bike related material has flip flopped and I can’t ignore the fact that I’m carrying, like most, a lot of internal stress and anxiety. How can you not be? To further that my sleep has been worse over the last week or two so I’m sure I’m not recovering as well either.

So like me, take and enjoy some much needed rest and recovery. Try and limit the amount of news you expose yourself to. Also, Be compassionate to yourself and find ways to make you smile, laugh and enjoy parts of your life you can control during these tough times. If you’re not meditating daily it’s never been a better time to start. Lastly, be easier on yourself and listen to you body and mind. More recovery days may be needed than your training in the past. Your fitness won’t suffer and what does it matter in the bigger scheme of things, your next group ride/event/race is a long ways out.

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i 100% think the stress could be a big part. To relate, I’ve been dealing with canceling my wedding and all the $#!T that goes along with trying to maneuver vendors, family, etc. I just felt OFF on the bike.

We had to cancel the reception, and literally the next day I felt a huge weight lifted and my ride was STELLAR.

take some rest, regroup, and come back crushing.

let us know how it goes!

Brendan

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Sorry to hear about your wedding, but I’m sure in the end, you will end up with a phenomenal day to remember for the rest of your lives.

Thanks for the positive reply. I’ll be sure to check back in to give an update!

is that your ride quality or your wife’s name/

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Same here! All that reception money went towards a much lighter bike!

Nah, I kid.

What really happened was I cut that ball and chain!! 50+ watts right there.

Nah…

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Follow up post. Began sustained power build this week. Today, completed Carpathian Peak, and found it to be challenging, but always felt manageable. With the mental scarring from 12 days ago, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but felt great.!

Ramp test on Tuesday:

So what does this all mean? My perpetual quest to continue learning (inspired by David Goggins…”if you think you’ve arrived, and you’re work is done…you’re dead”. -paraphrased), has me considering many ideas. With the intention of helping others within our community, I thought I’d pass on my observations.

  1. Doing SSBLV 2 with an inflated FTP (even only slightly inflated, as I believe I was only 2% too high) will eventually catch up to you. As more and more sessions pile up, and TSS accumulates, you will complete sessions, but not be able to recover properly, nor obtain the proper physiological adaptations. In time (for me it was the last week), you will crash and burn. Lesson: do the ramp test when prescribed, and heed the results,

  2. I added an extra week of “high” TSS to a five week block. This was done to have the recovery week coincide with spring break week. (With Covid-19, spring break as a moot point). The extra week of TSS must have contributed to my crash and burn in the final week is SSBLV2. Which leads me to age.

  3. I’m not old, but not young either. At 49 years old, I think most athletes need to remind themselves that they aren’t in their 20’s anymore. They must be more cognizant o f when their body is demanding recovery.

  4. Sadly, all of the above are lessons that I thought I had learned from past mistakes. I’m a student of the “you live and learn” school, but apparently not a model pupil. I get caught up in numbers, competitive nature, Strava posts, and simply get used to beating myself up like I’m 25 again. Sadly, I’m not, and my only hope is that perhaps, maybe, just maybe, I can prevent someone else from making the same mistakes.

Hopefully that someone else will be me.

Take care all, and happy training!

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