Burnout.
I knew it was going to happen. I was planning on it. The whole goal was to have my fitness peak and then crash spectacularly.
Mission accomplished.
I could already see the signs of it happening in Mississippi. My energy on the bike was waning. My enthusiasm on longer rides wasn't there. My kick during short, intense efforts was gone. On group rides, I kept turning to my companions and saying, "let's just ride easy, OK?"
Now that I'm on the trainer, it's even more plainly obvious. There's nowhere to hide. No tailwinds to push you home.
In a relatively short amount of time I doubled my weekly hours and mileage. My Chronic Training Load climbed steadily from around 70 to 105. Usually this time of year it's around 65, so obviously I peaked a bit late.
With the broken collarbone and no Tour of Anchorage, the second half of the season was a wash. The Mississippi trip gave me an excuse to ride. Now that I'm home and on the trainer, I have a couple months to back off and recover before I start slowly building for next season. I foresee a lot of easier rides in my future.
This morning I weighed less than I did during my best season to date. My Zwift avatar doesn't reflect it, because I haven't entered the data. I'm afraid to, because I'll likely just regain the weight in the next two months. I really don't want to, and will try not to, but I always sabotage myself.
Saw Joey on Zwift. Messaged back and forth (clumsily on my side because I don't usually do that sort of thing). Couldn't hang with him, which isn't unusual. He wasn't doing a pace that I couldn't normally sustain, but seeing how I'm in free-fall at the moment, it wasn't in the cards.
I have to let my body rest and rebuild. I've done enough damage for one year.
Mission accomplished.
I could already see the signs of it happening in Mississippi. My energy on the bike was waning. My enthusiasm on longer rides wasn't there. My kick during short, intense efforts was gone. On group rides, I kept turning to my companions and saying, "let's just ride easy, OK?"
Now that I'm on the trainer, it's even more plainly obvious. There's nowhere to hide. No tailwinds to push you home.
In a relatively short amount of time I doubled my weekly hours and mileage. My Chronic Training Load climbed steadily from around 70 to 105. Usually this time of year it's around 65, so obviously I peaked a bit late.
With the broken collarbone and no Tour of Anchorage, the second half of the season was a wash. The Mississippi trip gave me an excuse to ride. Now that I'm home and on the trainer, I have a couple months to back off and recover before I start slowly building for next season. I foresee a lot of easier rides in my future.
This morning I weighed less than I did during my best season to date. My Zwift avatar doesn't reflect it, because I haven't entered the data. I'm afraid to, because I'll likely just regain the weight in the next two months. I really don't want to, and will try not to, but I always sabotage myself.
Saw Joey on Zwift. Messaged back and forth (clumsily on my side because I don't usually do that sort of thing). Couldn't hang with him, which isn't unusual. He wasn't doing a pace that I couldn't normally sustain, but seeing how I'm in free-fall at the moment, it wasn't in the cards.
I have to let my body rest and rebuild. I've done enough damage for one year.
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