How Tired Are You After Riding?

I'm wondering how tired you are after doing a moderate to hard ride? For me moderate to hard is about 2 hrs with an avg. computer speed of 15.5 or more. I ride on T,Th, and Sat and do a "boot camp" style workout on M,W,F. Sundays I usually don't work out. On Saturday mornings after a moderate to hard ride I am just completely wiped out. I get home, eat something, take a shower, and then I am just wiped out the rest of the day. Most times I take a nap for a few hours and even then I'm too tired to go and do anything. I just lay around the house and watch tv. I feel exhausted! All my other rides/workouts are in the evening so I go to bed within a few hours of getting home. Is this common?

I started riding road regularly last spring. Before that I was doing little work outs on my own at home, weight lifting videos, etc. Walking on the treadmill. in October, I started a boot camp thing MWF in the mornings.

All last year I was always wiped out by all the stuff I was doing. Just like you described. Couldn't operate, had to nap. That kind of ended in February. I still go to boot camp, and yesterday was only my second real ride this year (the first one was in early March, group ride--it's been cold and windy and rainy all through April and until now).

I don't get that tired feeling anymore. It took me a while to notice that I wasn't vegging out every afternoon by 2:00. I got home from BC this morning and dug trees and boxwoods out of the landscape. We've started running more in BC, and I think that's helping my stamina a lot. I haven't been watching my diet much lately because I'm busy with youth baseball, so I don't think that's much of a factor.

I've recently crossed the 40 lbs lost threshold, so maybe it's the weight loss that has given me the pep, but I don't think so. I think my body has just adapted, finally.

Anyway, hope that gives you some hope that it should be better. Have your iron checked, too.

Karen

I'm not a doctor, but my level of tiredness seems to vary depending on the ride, how much riding I've done that week, and how much sleep I'm getting. Most people don't realize that hard exercise is also a form of stress and that your body can't differentiate between being buried in too much work at the office or taking a long, hard ride. So, there's a thin line between overdoing it and not when you're stressed out anyway.

Other than that, I make sure to eat right after a ride (4:1 or 3:1 carb to protein ratio), stay hydrated, and make myself stay up and doing stuff because the couch feels way too inviting sometimes!

My theory is that by working to just exactly under the "really stressing" exhaustion level, I can get the strength and endurance gains and not the breakdown stuff. A good chunk of that could be mental. I know that I've caught myself in a "they're faster than me" paceline thinking "I know I can't keep up with this, I know it" and... I ride differently and I'm breathing differently and it isn't as effective and ... I can't keep up. Sometimes I have succeeded in telling myself "Of course you can't keep up with them! YOu're just not this fast! But just have a really good mile or two and then you can drop off." And I was more efficient and breathing better and I could keep up. But I don't even try if I don't feel 100% and haven't been riding much. That's the advantage of *not* racing - I can set my schedule. So people think I'm faster than I am, because when I ride all out it's on *my* peak day, not some race day that somebody else picked :)
If I'm exhausted, usually it's been hot, or I haven't had enough sleep.

Anytime I increase my hours of working out per week even by about an hour, I'm more tired. I know this because I was trying to move from 3 to about 5 hours/week of exercise all this term (since about Feb) for my summer tris and I was pooped. I'm still a bit tired, but it's getting better. That's not much compared to what you're doing, but any increase over an hour I reallly feel for awhile.

Tri training programs have cut-back weeks in them. That works for me!

For me that means extra sleep.

Lately, I'm tired most of the time. This is our third year on daylight savings time, and it has really messed with my sleep patterns. Or I should say that it really messes with my cats sleep patterns, who then really mess with me. They typically start acting up around 5 each morning so I more or less lose the last 1 1/2 hours of sleep.

Typically, I ride hard on Tuesdays and Thursday for 25 miles. I ride long--60-75 miles--on Saturday and again on Sunday. Depending on the group, those might be a fast clip or a kinder, gentler pace, but lately it seems like it's more the former than the latter. I usually do a slow recovery 20-mile ride on Monday and/or Wednesday depending on the weather. I fit yoga in when I can, and I usually take Friday off.

Anyway, by the time I get home in the evening, do some chores and eat, I'm beat. It's not ususual for me to fall asleep on my couch by 9 or 9:30. I really need to just get in my bed but it's become a bad habit. I'm usually okay Saturday afternoon and evening to do something productive or fun, but by Sunday afternoon, I almost always take a nap for an hour or two. After the Horsey Hundred this weekend in Kentucky, I'm pulling back for a week or two to give my body some rest. I also need to drink more water. I think I'm chronically dehydrated.

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Originally Posted by Geonz

My theory is that by working to just exactly under the "really stressing" exhaustion level, I can get the strength and endurance gains and not the breakdown stuff. A good chunk of that could be mental. I know that I've caught myself in a "they're faster than me" paceline thinking "I know I can't keep up with this, I know it" and... I ride differently and I'm breathing differently and it isn't as effective and ... I can't keep up. Sometimes I have succeeded in telling myself "Of course you can't keep up with them! YOu're just not this fast! But just have a really good mile or two and then you can drop off." And I was more efficient and breathing better and I could keep up. But I don't even try if I don't feel 100% and haven't been riding much.

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+1 most certainly agree at riding just under the "really stressing" exhaustion level, so that you aren't wasted for the next 2-3 days. Of course, that's not totally possible on a self-loaded touring ride where you are under the gun to complete distance ...to make sure you have a place to eat and sleep by the end of each day! ;)

Recently I've noticed myself yawning occasionally during a ride. I never did that during the f first, few years of cycling where I was cycling more mileage annually. Much of that is due to the fact I probably don't get enough sleep now. During the week when I have to wake up so early (4:30 am) for my work commute during the work week. Then the weekend s,I have annoying problem of getting my body NOT to naturally wakeup so early. (I don't need alarm clocks to wakeup. My body does condition itself to set wakeup times very naturally.)

I don't think I would make a much of randonneur, pulling in nights of riding in the dark. After 2-3 days of back-to-back cycling of 80-100 kms. per day, during a self-loaded touring ride, I want to fall into bed and nap for an hr. in the middle of the afternoon...even when it's blazing gorgeous sun out there.

However it helps, that I do some slow stretching a few hrs. after riding, it seems to prevent me from feeling too tired all over and relieves muscle tension, which partially causes feeling of depletion.

I seem to cycle-function best if I take 1 day off bike every 6-12 days of consecutive cycling where of those days, would be cycling 16-30 kms. for work commuting (latter distance was done when I lived in different city), with weekends of 40-80/100 kms. each day.

How tired am I? See my pathetic, sympathy-seeking thread in the Newbie forum. :D Heck, I got exhausted just reading li10up's workout schedule. :D :D

Seriously, though, some days I react the same way (just want to flop down on the couch and stay there forever) and other days I have lots of energy leftover after a ride. I haven't yet figured out the why's of that, though; it seems quite random.

So you are working out 6 days a week at a high intensity? No wonder you are pooped. You may need to back off a little and factor in another day of rest. Rest will bring gains, not losses. Otherwise you could be on the fast track to overtraining.

wow,y'all are reminding me of my deep appreciation for my lifestyle that allows me to get a good night's sleep just about all the time.
when I was a schoolteacher, it was late-nighters and then recovery on the weekends and holidays. (Snow days were sleep days.) Heck, that had been true my whole entire life. I was one of those people who could get by on 3-4 hours of sleep on the short term - less if I had to.
Snork... unemployment meant I could sleep. I believe riding the bike kept me from simply drifting into depression. I started riding more - and doing more, which shocked me, because getting focused wtihout deadlines was simply a notness for the first 40 years of my life. I made an educational website, added to it regularly, got a freelance writing job and kept up with it (despite no clear deadlines!!!)...
And now that I"m back working full time, I"ve worked hard to keep that sleep and exercise thing happening. I am *much* more effective and functional. I am notorious for being able to ride *forever* - but I b'lieve it's mainly because I *do* get enough sleep and eat and drink kinda sorta sometimes right.
...but still prone to distraction. Back to that software project, now!!!

I agree with the mental game, too. I have a severe dread of squat thrusts and jumping jacks, but I know if I just start doing them, they'll be over in no time, and I'll wonder what I was stressing over.

I didn't have that kind of mental tenacity when I was younger.

Karen

Bootcamp is fun and I took it for awhile last summer. Then I strained my good knee on the carpeted floor. Cripes! End of Season 1. :o

funny you should post this b/c I am wasted today and wondering why... :rolleyes: I'm almost 55 y/o and am riding about 100 miles a week, and sometimes - I don't know why - just dropping after a ride. I do a lot of major hills (live on a super-hilly island) so the mileage isn't all of it - I can do a brutal 20-mile ride with 6 substantial hills... At any rate, I did five consecutive days of 20-20-20-20-30, and today I'm empty. How much does age factor in?

I am lucky to be able to sleep when I want, too. That's a biggie. I go to sleep around 10:00 and sleep until the birds wake me at dawn. I'm always up by 7:00, but Saturday morning I slept until 7:20. Very unusual. But no alarm clock ever if I can help it.

(I'm thankful for my husband and my choices which allow my life to be so good!)

I've made sleep a priority in my life. I think that helps.

Karen

it seems to me that some people seem to equate fewer hours sleeping to somehow being smarter or busier or just better (?) - I have never understood this, for I need sleep! When I run a lot and bike a lot I sleep more. This is how my body recharges and how I manage not to hurt myself. When I lose my precious sleep, I tend to get sick. Though having said that, six days a week of high intensity work outs is just begging to get hurt or sick! Your body needs time to recover. Even when I'm doing crazy miles running, my daily runs are kept pretty short (4-6 miles), and of fairly low intensity. Same goes for riding for me - If I'm going to do a century on the weekend in the hills, I keep my daily rides/runs pretty easy. Listen to your body and rest as needed - take two pieces of chocolate and let us know how you feel in the morning :D

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Originally Posted by CatSilver

funny you should post this b/c I am wasted today and wondering why... :rolleyes: I'm almost 55 y/o and am riding about 100 miles a week, and sometimes - I don't know why - just dropping after a ride. I do a lot of major hills (live on a super-hilly island) so the mileage isn't all of it - I can do a brutal 20-mile ride with 6 substantial hills... At any rate, I did five consecutive days of 20-20-20-20-30, and today I'm empty. How much does age factor in?

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Cat, i'm your age and live across the water in hilly Seattle .. 5 days of hard riding in a row would wear out a 20 year old. Do figure in days off.
Last year about this time i was riding every day and my legs were starting to hurt. Wise women here told me to cut back for 1 week and not do ANY vigorous riding. helped immensely.

I have found that I need more rest every year. It's just not worth the extra time I end up taking off because I get sick, when I push myself too hard. I do something 5-6 days a week. I can't ride more than 4-5 days unless I've really prepared for it. I find that if I change my activities, including some weight work and yoga 2-3 times a week, I feel better and am stronger for riding.
Of course, I don't do the mileage that some of you do, but I do ride about 3,000 miles a year. But I am not doing centuries every week! For example, I did a metric yesterday and I took a rest day today. Tomorrow I am commuting, but I have a feeling I will be tired.

Are you sure you're not overtraining? Have you checked your resting heart rate and looked at yourself honestly for other signs of overtraining?

Overtraining has to do with your life as a whole - it doesn't just happen to elite athletes. It has everything to do with the quality and quantity of your recovery.

Also, are you getting enough protein?

Cat - I live not too far from you in super-hilly land. I can't ride any more than 4 days a week, or else I'm just wiped, then get a cold. I don't know why, just the way my body is. I do weights and some yoga classes at the gym 2 days a week, then just walk on my "rest" day. Even during the winter, I can't do more than 4 hard work-outs a week without getting sick. My mind wants to do more, but my body just can't do it. And I'm in my late 30's, so I don't know how much age really has to do with it. Maybe it's more genetics?

I read in another forum about a study done in Australia that said a 20-yr-old will take 6 hours to recover from a hard effort, while a 40-yr-old will take two days to recover from the same effort!

I used to feel really wiped out from my weekend rides (usually 3+ hours) and need a nap. Then all of a sudden that stopped. About that same time (okay, exactly that same time) I started drinking Cytomax on my rides instead of Accelerade. I'd like to think it's coincidence, and that really my fitness took a big jump, but I don't want to give up the Cytomax to find out.

Jenn

Yesterday (Sun), we rode 57 miles of mostly intense hills and I felt great today. I was a little tired after the ride but not wiped out, like I have been before. I started using Recoverite from Hammer almost immediately after my longer rides this year and it seems to make a difference. I also drink Cytomax and take glucose tablets during the rides. Every now and then I'll have a clif shot blox (mostly 'cause their fun to eat !)

I started doing 30 minutes of yoga after my last couple rides, and I think it helps to relax my muscles, my sleep has been very good lately.

I rode to work (30 miles RT) twice during the week, Tu and Th (BTW) and took a couple days off, so Sunday I felt pretty refreshed.

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Originally Posted by jennrod12

About that same time (okay, exactly that same time) I started drinking Cytomax on my rides instead of Accelerade.

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Hmmm. Accelerade has whey protein and Cytomax has no protein. Could it be you're allergic to milk? Fatigue (both mental and muscular) is really the #1 symptom I get with allergies, particularly food allergies.

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Originally Posted by ginny

it seems to me that some people seem to equate fewer hours sleeping to somehow being smarter or busier or just better (?) - I have never understood this, for I need sleep! When I run a lot and bike a lot I sleep more. This is how my body recharges and how I manage not to hurt myself. When I lose my precious sleep, I tend to get sick. Though having said that, six days a week of high intensity work outs is just begging to get hurt or sick! Your body needs time to recover. Even when I'm doing crazy miles running, my daily runs are kept pretty short (4-6 miles), and of fairly low intensity. Same goes for riding for me - If I'm going to do a century on the weekend in the hills, I keep my daily rides/runs pretty easy. Listen to your body and rest as needed - take two pieces of chocolate and let us know how you feel in the morning :D

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60 Minutes recently aired a piece about sleep and the very strong misconception--especially in the U.S.--that being able to "survive" on less sleep is an indication of good health. The report essentially said that just the opposite is true. Even a modest amount of sleep deprivation can lead to a plethora of health problems and that we should, therefore, strive to get the recommended amount of sleep every night, i.e., 7 to 9 hours. The report also said that as we age, our sleep becomes less restful. Thus, even if we get the same number of hours of sleep, we may still feel sleep deprived. I dont' recall that they offered much of a solution to that. :o

I provided a link to a New York time article a few months ago about the effect of aging on endurance activities. I'll try to find that again. One comment that stood out is that older folks can and should strive to maintain the intensity of their workouts but should do fewer of them. In other words, you can handle the same intensity but need longer recovery times.

Here's the link to my previous thread re: the NYT article.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...hlight=article

Wow, I never thought about the whey protein in Accelerade. I use it because I think the protein is important for endurance, along with carbs, but I am allergic to it! No wonder my stomach hurts sometimes when I use it... Maybe I will try Cytomax.
I ride in a hilly area, too and think that takes it toll on my aging body. I can't imagine what it would be like to ride on flats all of the time. I have a treat when I start my ride somewhere other than my house and don't have to ride up my my street and driveway. Just like someone else posted, I want to ride more, longer, etc. but my body doesn't let me. I often walk on my rest day (s), along with stretching and yoga. I think some of this is the Fibromyalgia, but truthfully, I have always been this way, since I was in my 20's. Overtraining is not just for elite athletes. When I was about 34 and I was just starting to teach aerobics, I developed palpitations, and was a wreck because I was teaching 5 classes a week, 2 of them at 5 AM, not getting enough sleep, teaching high school, and caring for 2 little kids, when my husband was traveling for business all of the time. I got down to 92 pounds even though I was eating fine. Believe me, I learned my lesson!

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Hmmm. Accelerade has whey protein and Cytomax has no protein. Could it be you're allergic to milk? Fatigue (both mental and muscular) is really the #1 symptom I get with allergies, particularly food allergies.

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Good point, Oakleaf. You're on the ball! :)

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Hmmm. Accelerade has whey protein and Cytomax has no protein. Could it be you're allergic to milk? Fatigue (both mental and muscular) is really the #1 symptom I get with allergies, particularly food allergies.

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Hmmm, I second what Sundial said. I don't stomach milk well and have been having protein drinks after my long rides. My tummy has been hurting and I didn't even consider that is might be MILK related. Hello???? Anyone home???

Is there a non milk based protein drink?

I also wanted to add that cycling is fun. It sometimes takes me awhile to figure out why I need a nap or am so fatigued and then it dawns on me "you are tired because you rode X# of miles and of course you need to give your body some extra rest." Riding is so fun that it seems like it shouldn't wipe me out!

When I was in my mid-twenties I did a lot of centuries, 100K - 100 miles. I would come home, shower, drink coffee, and go on with my day. After I hit 30, I'd come home after one of these, shower, drink coffee, stretch out on the couch and go right to sleep!

When I started riding again a couple of years ago, I got all gung-ho and ended up eating too much before rides. My breakfast normally includes some good carbs anyway, so I realized I didn't need to eat anything extra.

These days, at 52, the balance is getting out there regularly - either riding or going to the gym, but including one or two days a week for rest. There's no way I could "work out" 7 days a week.

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Originally Posted by dachshund

When I was in my mid-twenties I did a lot of centuries, 100K - 100 miles. I would come home, shower, drink coffee, and go on with my day. After I hit 30, I'd come home after one of these, shower, drink coffee, stretch out on the couch and go right to sleep!

When I started riding again a couple of years ago, I got all gung-ho and ended up eating too much before rides. My breakfast normally includes some good carbs anyway, so I realized I didn't need to eat anything extra.

These days, at 52, the balance is getting out there regularly - either riding or going to the gym, but including one or two days a week for rest. There's no way I could "work out" 7 days a week.

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Interesting to read your experience over a long time period. I have nothing to compare prior to cycling return at 31 yrs. Prior to that I had not cycled for 12 years.

In my early 30's, I used eat less food prior to an early morning cycle : ie. be able to jump onto bike in 80-85F degree, humid summer day at least 80-85% humidity and cycle for 25 kms. in blazing sun, without stopping ..on just 1 c. of tea with abit of milk.

I can't quite do that anymore. I have to eat abit more for that same distance before I start cycling.


Flybye:
Agree that some rides are such fun/enjoyable that ...for me, I literally forget how dehydrated I get which probably contributes to my feelings of depletion. I will drink more fluid at the end and at supper, not during ride. Then next day after waking up, I wonder why I still feel abit dehydrated.

I'm only 30 ... the last several years I've found that after anything strenuous, I would just sack out on the couch the rest of the day. Could barely lift a finger to feed myself. I thought maybe it was just part of having Crohn's and that's how it would always be.

This year, I started seeing a nutrition counselor, and I am eating a lot more whole foods, and eliminated gluten and several other suspected allergens for me (soy, egg). I'm a lot more careful about random chemicals in my food. And I've noticed that I'm not nearly as tired as I used to be. Tired, yes. Useless, no.

So I'm definitely on board with the "take a look at what you're ingesting" camp.

I think looking at protein consumption is really important too. I was a vegetarian for several years before I started seriously riding. When I started eating meat again, I noticed a real shift in energy levels. I was doing a decent job of getting protein through soy and beans, but now I'm getting the right amount every day and I never realized how much my energy level depended on it.

I guess overtraining is a possibility. I took a week off to go to NYC recently and when I got back my first few workouts seemed easier. I get between 8 and 9 hours of sleep a night so it just doesn't seem like I should be so tired. I also have year round allergies but I don't know what I'm allergic too. They aren't very bad...just enough to keep me congested most of the time. My doc has never suggested finding out what the cause is...I guess because they aren't severe. I don't want to give up the boot camp 'cause it's actually helping me lose weight. WooHoo! 8 pounds so far! And I sure don't want to give up cycling. One of my cycling friends tells me, "You're supposed to be tired!" but I just can't see being totally wiped out for a full day...that just seems a bit much.