Training vs. Overdoing

[Seajay]

I'm wondering about your bike fit too, if maybe you might still need to tweak it a bit?

+10 !! Good call, Slash.

[tulip]

Rest is part of training. Take it as seriously as your "active" part of training.

[Catrin]

Rest is part of training. Take it as seriously as your "active" part of training.

What Tulip said, that got me into a lot of trouble last year On the other hand, I had no signs that I was doing too much - no soreness, no nothing - until I went too far. I really didn't have all that much fatigue, considering all that I was doing...

Also make certain that you are drinking enough - my new physical therapist thinks that not drinking enough made me more prone to injury. Thankfully he is a cyclist...

[redrhodie]

Bluebug, how long are you on the trainer for?

[KnottedYet]

Bluebug, how long are you on the trainer for?

One of the things a sports psychologist can help with is getting out of the "numbers rut." Not to worry about time, or repetitions, or pounds, or wattage, or heart-rate.

To instead listen to the body. Not to look at graphs, "averages", or charts.

Not to get caught up in "I should be going THIS fast. I should ride THIS long. I should meet THIS goal. I only did THAT much, I can't be tired yet, so I'll keep going no matter how I feel."

[Becky]

One of the things a sports psychologist can help with is getting out of the "numbers rut." Not to worry about time, or repetitions, or pounds, or wattage, or heart-rate.

To instead listen to the body. Not to look at graphs, "averages", or charts.

Not to get caught up in "I should be going THIS fast. I should ride THIS long. I should meet THIS goal. I only did THAT much, I can't be tired yet, so I'll keep going no matter how I feel."

Get out of my head, Knott

No, seriously, I could have written that. I'm a data junkie with a competitive streak, and it's a tough habit to break.

One thing that has been helpful has been yoga. In addition to all of the good core and flexibility work, there's a strong focus on being in the moment, in tune with your body, and "not hurting you" (to quote my fav instructor). My brain needs that....

Bug, it sure sounds like you're overdoing it. Only you can decide why, and what you can do to fix it. Take care of yourself, okay?

[bluebug32]

Thanks for the insights, everyone. You definitely brought up some spot-on suggestions. I think every time I start to feel better (recovered and loose), I go all out, instead of slowly progressing.

To answer your questions, I'm riding probably an average of 3 hours a week on the trainer, at an hour a session. The intensity is fairly high however, lots of work pushing big gears at low cadence, sprints, etc as I do the Train Right dvds. Other than that, I might sub. a day with XC skiing and I do upper body weights and core 1 or 2 times a week and occasionally yoga too.

Other intense exercises (like jogging) cause the same delayed muscle soreness. Sometimes I feel sore shortly after the activity, but more likely I'll develop pain after 24 hours.

My bike fit looks good and I check it periodically with my fitter.

I am going to try some compression tights to see if they help, but not to give me an excuse to overdo (I promise!).

It's definitely time to back off once again and ease into more difficult intensities in the future.

Any tips for helping my muscles with this deep healing in the meantime? I tend to stretch and use the foam roller regularly. One doctor said to try an elimination diet to see if gluten is an issue or if something else was causing extra inflammation. Any thoughts on this?