This year has been kind of a bummer. Had plans to race, did my second year of TR over winter and got to 310w FTP and 4w/kg, but just feeling blah. No group rides because COVID, no races because COVID, working a ton of overtime because COVID impacted our business. Looking at my Strava fitness/freshness chart (which I’m not sure if I should even pay attention to) shows me hanging out in the 60s all year, whereas last year I had a steady climb to the 100s.
What do I do to get out of this mental rut? Some days I get out and just feel blah. I’m thinking to spend this whole week indoors doing some TR stuff to shake me up but not sure if that will really help. I’m still able to do long and fast rides, but just need a mental boost. I’m sure I’m not alone going through this, anyone got any words of wisdom?
Calendar for reference, not sure if I’m just burning out, but i feel like I have no reason to since my intensity this year is lower than last: - TrainerRoad
I set a goal of 400 hours for the year, but am 34 hours behind at this point so its seems hopeless to even catch it. I’ve done a few centuries, but not on track to do as many as last year. I used to do a century by riding to a group ride, doing the grouper, then riding home. Had 30 KOMs last year, this year I got 19 so far, so maybe I can shoot for that. This year, theres barely any group rides, and going out and doing 100 myself is just a chore because I can’t even refill drinks all over because some places are closed, and going solo means I have to worry about someone stealing my bike from outside of WAWA when I go into grab something. Probably sounds like a lot of excuses, and I think it is. Not sure what my deal is
A lot of us are in the same boat. Because of Covid19 I’m faced with home schooling my child this fall and probably through next summer.
We just moved 1500 miles to a new city and I’m all out of sorts without even knowing where to ride. My wife is working M-F (moved for her job) so it looks like I can’t even sneak in a ride mid-week as days are getting shorter. With Covid19 I can’t even hire a babysitter.
So, I’m not feeling motivated to ride the trainer M-F and then just get 1-2 real rides in on the weekend. Maybe I should immerse myself in TR for the winter just for the experience. I’m currently not subscribing because where we used to live, I could ride outside almost 355 days per year.
Just a very quick blip to say, “I totally feel you” and after reading your first sentence, it’s me. I also got up to 310 FTP this year and a new w/Kg of 4.2 but with no racing and pulling the plug on my big A race, I have let myself de-train for 3 weeks now. Doh! I think I found some new motivation to train again with a new MTB but still it’s a bummer working so hard for… no racing. But - back to build for me I go…
Good luck! I hope you find something that lights you up again!
Their races are a sort of crapshoot. Zwift is nice for free riding and having fun, but I still prefer to be outside when I can. Between having to use Zwiftpower and theres still a bunch of sandbaggers, its just not even worth the hassle to me. However I don’t live in a particularly mountainous area so being able to do 1000-5000 foot climbs is not something I can do in the real world so I love it for that, or rainy days like today.
I’m thinking of subbing in some TR workouts for the days I do indoors, instead of just free riding zwift, just not sure what. Might do some Tempo/SS today to get some fatigue out of my legs from the 100 miler on Saturday and move into some stuff like Avalanche Spire next week to get the juices flowing again
Hey dude, right there with you. I was even supposed to have a new bike by now!
This time if year I should be putting the finishing touches on my build for cross season, looking forward to around three months of racing every weekend. I always consider the fall CX season my reward for training so hard all year. I know it sounds silly but the actual racing season is somehow easier in my mind. Fewer killer workouts, get to see a bunch of friends every weekend, if I have a bad race I only have to wait five or six days to redeem myself, etc, etc. Not this year, and the idea of continuing my current training schedule until my next ‘scheduled’ break (should be in December at the end of cross season) is not sitting well with me right now.
I played around with the zwift idea, but after reading about it I’m not too excited. My current plan is to set up a few TT courses around here and really smash them a couple of times per week. I don’t really have the right bike for such a thing, but I’m only competing against myself, so I’ll have to deal. Then when the weather gets bad and I’m tired of suffering outside alone I’ll switch to a killer TR workout, maybe something like HOUR RECORD. So I might make a little ‘season’ out of that and then take my normal December break.
Or my company will fold and I’ll be on full time home schooling duty while my wife works.
Got sick late 2019 so three months off the bike with lung problems. Got over it just before Covid-19 hit the UK.
Working in the NHS so basically flogged myself in work for another three months During lockdown. ZERO motivation ZERO exercise. Eating and drinking too much after work to de stress.
Tried a bit of exercise but no motivation and just frustration at being so slow compared to early 2019.
Made a snap decision to treat myself to a coach, a young local pro who needs a bit of a financial top up I guess (Perfectly fine by me as we made a deliberate choice to support local businesses and people through the lockdown as we were obviously still earning) and it’s kicked my ass into gear. Six weeks in of high volume work and I’m killing it, haven’t missed a session and am super motivated.
