It's gone....

[betagirl]

My fitness level has been obliterated in the past month. I don't know exactly what's going on, but I suspect it's the lovely crohn's disease or one of the medications I'm on for it.

I went from averaging 19-20 mph, able to ride up to 30 mph (though really temporarily and/or with some serious drafting), and riding my bike 159 miles in a flippin day to bonking at about mile 5, and really struggling to break 17mph. I was able to ride up small hills without losing much speed, now I drop to 12 mph. As some of you know, i was considering racing in what, July? Today I had to really work to do 20 miles. There was a headwing for half of it which kept my pace around 15. I felt bad for my ride buddy, who's much faster than I am on a good day. But he was cool and stayed with me. He commented that the change in me was pretty dramatic. Great.

This is really messing with me psychologically. I don't know if you guys have had this happen to you, but it sucks. I'm so close to just hanging my bike up in the garage for the winter and taking a break. I told myself I wouldn't stop riding in the winter because it was so tough to get back into shape in the spring and I want to race next year. I was planning on doing a century on Sunday but now I'm really not so sure. I haven't been riding as much in the past month, probably twice a week. Mostly because practically every ride I find myself struggling where I know I shouldn't be.

It's just so incredibly frustrating! I don't know if I should be depressed or angry.

Thanks for letting me b*tch!

[JanT]

Sorry to hear of your struggles. Yes, I can identify with your frustration. I used to run half-marathons at a decent pace, until cancer treatment nuked my lungs. For several years I worked hard trying to come back, envious of people flying by, and embarrassed by my presence in the back of the pack. Eventually I accepted that my competitive days were over, and I took up cycling. I now enjoy riding so much that it doesn't matter that I'll never be fast. That's what I tell myself, and then I see or hear of women riding fast, and I still envy them. Once you've been fast, it's hard to accept slow. But when I'm riding, I love it, no matter what.

I hope you get to a doctor, or doctors, who can find the source of your slowdown. Perhaps there is an easy "fix" for your problem, and you can get back to your old self. It's only been a month, so don't despair, and definitely don't give up. Pursue the cause of the decline, because something is going on with your body. The sooner you get in to the doctor, the sooner you're on the road to recovery.

Best wishes for good health and good riding.
Jan

[Trekhawk]

My fitness level has been obliterated in the past month. I don't know exactly what's going on, but I suspect it's the lovely crohn's disease or one of the medications I'm on for it.

betagirl - JanT is right you should go and discuss this with your doctor. You might find out the medication is the cause and although this wont help with speed it will psychologically if you can point the finger at a cause. Dont let your drop in speed kill your love for cycling just view it as a chance to ride slower and enjoy other aspects of your ride.

Sending all my positive vibes your way.

[Nanci]

I can sympathize. I've had that happen to me with running, too, going from always getting faster, setting PR's, winning my age group once, actually winning a women's masters once at a race, to now almost always coming in last. (I blame weight gain and MTBing taking all my attention for a couple years!)

Have you considered the possibility that you might have been over-training, or that, after your 159 mile ride, you needed a really good rest? It's easy to _say_ we understand periodization, where you go through phases of preparedness, building up to a peak, then coming back down, then building up again, but it's another thing to actually do it, because you feel like your fitness level should be constantly increasing, so it gets really hard to cut back or take days off or taper for a hard event or rest adequately after that event. (For example, I am doing what will be the hardest ride of my life next Sunday, a ride in Georgia over three mountain passes {the good riders are doing six!} for 50 miles, and I should be tapering this week, but oh no, I have planned rides of 60-80 miles for today and tomorrow because I can't stay off my bike and because I don't want to lose the long-ride-leads-to-weight-loss days.)

Or maybe there's something else going on that your doc hasn't found out yet, such as anemia, thyroid issues, who knows what. (I went to the doc once because I suspected I had a heart problem, {dangerous for the level of cave diving I was doing, but not really relevent to every-day living} and found out that not only did I have that, but a totally unsuspected lung defect, too! Nice!!)

Or maybe, at longer distances, are you getting adequate nutrition during the ride?

Just some things to think about, that you probably already thought of, but maybe not...There's nothing wrong with taking a break, though, and coming back refreshed.

Nanci

[betagirl]

Thanks guys for the ideas and well wishes. I have a good GI that I work pretty closely with. He already has an email from me. After the 159 mile ride, I took the whole week off the bike except for 1 recovery ride. Then I proceeded to ride RAGBRAI the following week, which was about 550 miles over 7 days. After that, I took a couple days off then cut back on my riding a bit. I use bike journal and I'm averaging about 2 rides a week now. I've stopped riding with my club altogether because there's no way I'd keep up and it'd just wear me down psychologically.

I know I need to get over the need to go fast, but you're right. It is hard once you can. I get so much enjoyment out of riding that to let this sap that out of me is stupid. But right now I'm just angry and want to know why

I'll let you know if my doc figures anything out. In the interim I'll do my best to stay in the saddle.

[doc]

Nanci and the others have really said it all so I'll just add one thought.

Hang in there, stay positive, refocus (temporarily) your biking goals so you can continue to enjoy, and I wish you a quick return to your normal self.