Signs of Overtraining?

Originally Posted by Strumpetto

Hi:

Wondering what the tell tale signs of overtraining are. I know fatigue etc, but is there another major indication that you're doing too much?

I'm just getting back into cycling, and I did a major climb today of about 4 miles at an extreme gradient in the top two rings. I was generally going too fast, as I hate going slow and looking like a little girl. My legs were throbbing with lactic, my lungs were bursting, and my heart was pounding visibly through my jersey. I stopped at one point and felt mildly ill. I know, not good signs. Not to mention, that I've only been riding for about a week and I hardly have a substantial base at this point. To make is worse, I was riding a heavy-as-hell trek 6500 with cages. Anyway, enough bs. It was cathartic as hell, and I will do what I need to to get fast again.

Should I take tomorrow off? Just listen to my body? Thanks

Originally Posted by Strumpetto

P.S. I know 4 miles is absolutely nothingn to ride, and overtraining is almost laughable here, but my body is like a little girl.

Originally Posted by imoff

First of all, doing one ride above your current fitness level would be hard to determine being "overtrained." Usually over a longer training period can you then determine if you are overtrained.

What I would do is a recovery ride (i.e. very low output below your zone 1 HR) maybe 1 hour at this level. Also, if you are getting back into ride/racing, start doing rides, but not killing yourself in the process - usually does you no good beat yourself up.

Tim

Originally Posted by Strumpetto

Thanks for the advice. I will take it slow tomorrow.

Also, I am looking to move up and race sport because begginer wasn't much of a challenge for me. I really want to get my ass kicked to motivate me From what I've seen, sport is right around 14 miles for a lot of my local races. If I do most of my training on the road with my xc bike, what should my longest ride of the week be? In other words, what would equvialent to 14 off-road miles. Also, would it not make sense to go beyond the equivalent so that my fitness level will be higher and the race will be easier? Thanks again.

Originally Posted by imoff

You're racing MTB XC...? Normally, you want to get into a traditional training plan early before the race season, but since you are starting toward the middle to end of the season you could do a (fairly aggressive - you can modify as you need) modified base such as this:

Day 1 - [font=&quot]2h 1m 30s [/font][font=&quot]SP 9 x 10s Zone 5 [/font][font=&quot]3 set of 3 reps- 10 sec accelerations. 1 min between reps- 5-10 min between sets[/font][font=&quot] ER 2h Zone 1[/font]

Day 2 - [font=&quot]2h 45m [/font][font=&quot]TE 5 x 7m Zone 3 [/font][font=&quot]251-270 watt[/font][font=&quot] TE 40m Zone 2 z2 heart rate ER 1h 30m Zone 1 2-3 hr ride time

Day 3 - [/font][font=&quot]2h 30m [/font][font=&quot]ER 2h 30m Zone 1-2 [/font][font=&quot]2-3 hrs z 1-2

Day 4 - [/font][font=&quot]1h 30m [/font][font=&quot]AR 1h 30m Zone < 1 [/font][font=&quot]1-2 hrs sub z1 or rest

Day 5 -[/font]2h ER 2h Zone 1

Day 6 - [font=&quot]3h 30m [/font][font=&quot]CL 4 x 15m Zone 3 [/font][font=&quot]251-270 watt[/font][font=&quot] CL 1h Zone 2 z2 heart rate ER 1h 30m Zone 1 3-4 hr ride time

Day 7 - Rest

If your body tells you you're tired, rest or do less than the example above. I'm assuming you know your HR zones? This above example will change over the weeks (several weeks doing the above plan, then adjusting as your fitness level increases - this would be base 1, 2, 3, then build 1, 2, 3.... to peak for a given period).

Most important - Have a plan!!! You don't want to do a bunch of training with no plan (i.e. "A" race, "B" race, etc...). What's your goal - get a goal, train to it.

Tim
[/font]

Originally Posted by Strumpetto

Thanks for the info. Greatly appreciated! What do you mean when you say " 9 x 10s"? "ER", "AR"?

Whenever I've trained for a race, I've gone out and ridden as hard as I could for as long as I could. If I didn't feel too well the next day, I'd take it easy. I was pretty much listening to my body. As far as this season goes, I'd like to get at least one race in. I'm really looking to get into shape for next season. Thanks again!