Hi all
I just did a 1 hour zone 2 workout on the trainer. The first 40 minutes I felt like I was pedaling at near threshold, despite being in low zone 2 (60% FTP). My breathing felt like threshold as well, open mouthed and all. Then suddenly, at around the 40 minute mark my RPE dropped like a stone and 70% FTP felt like I was doing a recovery ride. My breathing also changed and I was nose breathing through the rest of the workout. Strangely my HR remained pretty stable through the whole workout.
I didn’t take in any nutrition during the ride (my lack of preparation in fact) and this has been a relatively stressful week, training and everything else included. Any idea why my RPE would be so high for 40 minutes and then just plummet? If I can prepare for that I think I could plan out my workouts better.
Thanks!
What time of day?
When was your last meal prior to the workout?
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This has happened to me the day after a hard race. I try not to read into it and usually just chalk it up to fatigue.
- Note: My heart rate / breathing is still fine, just sometimes takes longer for my legs to unlock.
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It was around 4PM, last meal was lunch a few hours ago.
My garmin shows my performance condition negative for first 40-60 minutes in the morning until then it shoots into the plus very consistently. Think body takes a while to balance hormone levels upon waking.
I kind of figured as much because I have a similar problem around the same time of day.
End of day slump, blood sugar possibly low, etc.
40 min of Z2 to get the body going isn’t the worst thing in the world. Keep it in your bag of tricks while you figure out how to optimize your lunch menu, meal timing, etc. For a 4PM workout, I’d probably be eating lunch around 1:00-1:30, plus a caffeine gel a few minutes before the workout.