Started as a recreation runner, was gifted a bike and got into triathlon. Did triathlon for about 2.5 seasons before taking a break due to newborn. Resumed triathlon for about half a year before focusing on running. I then spent the last two years/seasons focusing on running to qualify for Boston.
That was the end of last year (2018)… By then my feet were quite tired and really missed my bike… So I did what any other normal person would do… I bought another bike.
Bought a roadie and planned to race crits this year. This was my way of forcing me to focus on the bike. I’m glad to report that it has done just that as I have made significant improvements.
Crit season has come to end and I’m signed up for a half ironman at the end of October. All year I’ve been riding my new roadie and completely neglected my tt bike. Now I’m struggling to hold power on the tt.
I know this quite common so I’ve pushed through the first two weeks of the HIM plan hoping maybe it would just take a few weeks to re-acclimate to my tt position but have had to drop the bias quite a bit on almost every workout.
In addition to this, I’ve had the most stressful two/three months I have ever experienced. In the past working out has helped me deal with stress but it’s never been this severe… For this same reason I cant imagine not working out… It’s my primary stress reliever and without the outlet I’m not sure how I would be able to deal with stress… I should note I still have energy but lack focus.
My struggles on the tt and lack of focus is demoralizing. I am having a hard time trying to find the motivation to keep going.
I’ve struggled with over training (2 years of trying to dig myself out of it, another story) and lack of motivation this past year. Training for PRs and seeing them disappear for various reasons led me to where I am at now. I decided to quit chasing PRs (for now) and focus on what makes me happy, running and cycling. I haven’t been swimming since December and I couldn’t be happier. I run 5-6 days a week and bike 3-5 days per week. I started doing events that will challenge me. I know I won’t PR these events, that is not what I am looking for. I want to push myself and enjoy the experience.
A few weeks ago I did the Pikes Peak Ascent Half Marathon. First trail race I have done and boy did it push my limits. I was doing reasonably well until mile 9 when the elevation got to over 10.5K ft. My pace went from 12-15min/mile to 20min/mile with the last mile at 28 minutes. At 14,115ft above sea level it was fantastic. I couldn’t breathe, but the view from the mountain was something I will never forget.
So now I am considering something else, I’ve got an idea of what I want to do next, so we shall see. Find something you like to do and just do focus on that. One of these days I may go for a PR on the road again, but I’m getting older and may never see a sub 2:50 marathon again.
The HIM wasn’t unplanned as I initially started the season with it as my A race… Crit racing and just a way to force me to focus on cycling given my lack of time in saddle. I had no performance/results goals other than just improve and get as strong as possible before returning to triathlon.
In hindsight, I should have transitioned back to the tt much sooner, but I’ll be the first to admit I quite enjoyed the roadie much more than expected.
Riding the roadie is definitely an option. It is an aero road bike. I will need to input my info on Best Bike Split to see if there’s a significant difference.
I don’t think it’s over training but more so the piles of mental/emotional stress I’ve been dealing with. And I am struggling with balancing the want of training while not training so much that I’m piling on more stress that I’m currently dealing with.
Have you had a difference between TT and road power in the past? Has your position changed? My general experience is that with a decent position and a reasonable amount of time to adapt to it there shouldn’t be big differences between the 2, at least not for sustained power (anaerobic and sprinting efforts will always favour the road bike). Sounds like you’ve spent enough time that you should have adapted, so maybe worth getting a fitter to take a look.
Re motivation, then failing or toning down workouts on a regular basis is certainly demoralising, so I would just reduce your FTP in line with what you’re currently capable of on the TT bike rather than persevering with a road FTP that you can’t sustain on TT. I’m with you that training is a great outlet for stress when work and life is hard. I do find that for me sometimes it helps at these times to get away from structured training and just ride. At least some of the time.