Quote Originally Posted by nscrbug View Post
This is only my 3rd year of riding, so I'm no expert by any means. Overtraining? Possibly. But for the most part, these rides are not what I would consider "training rides". I'm not going "all out" for 80+ miles...I would be dead, for sure. My average speed on most of my rides usually falls between 14-15mph, so a fairly casual pace, IMO. Sure there may be instances where we will push the pace up a bit for a short stretch, but then we back down to our normal pace. Today, my DH and I rode a nice and casual 40 miles and I felt fine...and that was AFTER I had gone to the gym for cardio & weights early this morning. So, somedays I have lots of energy (today), and then other days when I just ride longer distances my body seems to give up earlier than my brain wants to.
Honestly, Linda, I think you're wholly undestimating the toll the miles you typically do can take. You don't need to go all out to wear yourself out. The mileage itself (and if I remember correctly, you had almost 7k miles last year which, for Chicagoland, is amazing) is certainly enough to lead to overtraining. Add in all the other gym workouts you do and the fact that you have some bike fit issues and, frankly, I'm sort of surprised you don't feel "disconnected" more often than you do. Add, further, the stress of your sister's illness and I'd be inclined to tell you take it easy more often than you do.

In fact, I am going to go out on a limb and encourage you to take it easy. Bodies and brains need rest and recovery to be at their best.