These past few months I’ve been putting in the work and trying to improve. However, the last two times I tried an over-under workout I’ve had to stop it around halfway through because my heart rate just keeps rising and it feels more like a VO2max workout. I used to be able to feel the overs loading up my legs and then recovering a bit during the unders, but lately it just feels like dying with my heart pounding and I’m unable to keep my legs moving. On 17th January I completed Emerson+1 (hr around 168-170 during the intervals) which was pretty easy at the time. A week later I tried McAdie+4 (hr around 175-177 during the intervals) and that’s when I first felt like dying and had to quit the workout.
After that I completed Galena +3, a 2hr long sweet spot workout without any issues, which kind of proved to me that I was not overly fatigued. Heart rate was normal and level of fatigue didn’t seem elevated. I felt strong and good.
Then I went on a short trip, no cycling for 9 days, after which I tried to get back in the training with a threshold workout(the one that seemed easy just a few weeks ago), Emerson +1, but surprisingly I could feel the same issue as before, level of fatigue rising very quickly with heart rate rising to unsustainable level and legs just not moving. I had to catch my breath on the floor and then did some endurance to at least do something useful.
So that makes me think, what could be causing this sort of decrease in performance? Has anyone ever had a similar issue with one aspect of fitness decreasing while others seem fine?
The first thing that happens when you stop cycling for some time, is that your blood volume decreases. This leads to an elevated heart rate. You will also loose some of your mitochondria.
These are some of the factors behind the rule of thumb that you should expect twice the time to get back in shape after being away from your bike some time.
This is somewhat individual but if I take more than a couple (say, 5) days off, it takes me two or three harder workouts to get things rolling again. I usually drop the power target a bit and cut the length about 30%.
So no need to worry, at least now. Get couple of workouts done, give yourself some slack and you’ll be smashing the workouts sooner than later.
For the past two months nothing above FTP, just sticking to my TR base plan. Starting from next week I can see that my plan has one VO2max workout per week, so we’ll see if that helps
I don’t know your training history but sometimes when you are too fresh what you are describing happens.
Over unders can be deceiving a lot of the time the pain and pressure mounts up until a point where it actually stops and stays fairly flat as long as you continue to drink carbs during the rest part of the intervals. This can be difficult mentally because if you never get there it feels like it’s going to just keep getting worse.
I agree with you on that, the mental component is important for getting through these.
I would like to believe I’m pretty good at digging deep and the mental work due to riding a fair amount of ultras, randonneuring etc, but the kind of fatigue/block I’m experiencing during these failed over-under workouts is not the kind you can push through. The body is the limiter, but I’m not sure what exactly. It’s feels like it gets really hard for my brain to send the signal to move to my legs Maybe I do need some VO2 work during the next block.
Nutrition wise I think I’m good, had lots of carbs a few hours before the workout and drank carbs throughout.
Yeah I recommend getting out of the saddle, a lot of the TR guided stuff tries to get you to focus on cadence and staying seated but there is a limit to how much power you can spin for the type of build you have. Sometimes you just have to stand up and get the power out however you can.
Also don’t rule out wear on your trainer setup, chain, cassette, chainring, wax buildup, bottom bracket wear. These can sneak in at end of a long winter and make you feel like you are totally flat when the reality is that most people feel like absolute garbage when their bike is breaking down on them.
For now, I think it might be worth considering these workout struggles as “one-off” incidents. That first tough workout sounds like it was the first one you had some trouble with in a while, and the second came after taking a 9 day break away from training.
I’d agree with the other athletes saying not to worry for now. Try to get back into the swing of things, and I think you’ll probably find yourself back on track. If you continue to have difficulties, then I think it would be worth stopping and reassessing things… But for now, just try to get back into a consistent rhythm.
Maybe I do need some VO2 work during the next block.
