Why I'm I feeling so wasted?

Hi,

I've been training all winter on a 500TSS block training weekly regimen. For the first time this weekend I went for a ride :

3 hours
248TSS
0.91IF

Before this weekend's ride, I had completed a 3 week block and was due for a recovery week.

I took a day off the day after my outside ride and I tried to resume block training on the trainer yesterday. The result was a nightmare: It took the hell out of me to simply complete 5 minutes @ 90%FTP

Is this to be expected? From what I read, a day of recovery after a 250TSS ride is supposed to be enough!

From what you have said I assume CTL is at around 65 ?

You should not need a week off every 4 when riding 500TSS per week - this is quite a moderate level and with a day or two off this should be sustainable week in / week out.

The other point of note is that your ride either looks to have been very hard (race effort) or your FTP may be understated.

That having been said, a 250TSS ride should not leave you feeling this blown after 2 days.

Look for another reason - are you getting sick ?

What does the rest of your rest week look like?

It's usually 4 to 5 days of rest with 2 easy 1 hour sessions not exceeding 50-60TSS.

Well I was sick last week (cold) but was getting much better by the weekend. I was able to complete 85% of my workouts during my sick week.

Maybe the simple fact that my workouts never really exceeded 110TSS (0.87-0.92 range) during the winter and then all of a sudden I throw in a 245TSS ride could cause some sort of a shock.

I'll take a day off today and see what I can do on Wednesday.

A 245 TSS ride is nothing to sneeze at, especially since you only been riding under 110.

what's your CTL and TSB?

CTL is 68
TSB was -8 yersterday

I'm not sure that doing anything while you're sick is a good idea. Your body can take up to 2 weeks after illness to be back to "normal". The concensus is that you should wait untill the symptoms have all gone.

I would think that's the cause of your problems during the workout.

If you're worried about loosing form;

I was sick myself a week an a half ago for 10 days. I decided to wait untill symptoms were all gone (hence the 10 days). The next day I did an easy 1.5hrs and the next I raced and finished with the first 15 so I wouldn't say it had a big impact on fitness at all. The rest probably did me well.......

Hmm....that's pretty much my average weeky TSS. Instead of taking a rest week for every 3 week, I take them for every 6 week. The reason is that my weekly TSS isn't high enough (lack of time). I would in fact detrain if I take a rest for every 3 week cycle. If you are doing block training, those 3 hours SST ride at 90% of FT may actually prevent you from fully recovered. 3 hours at 90% of FT?? That's borderline SST.

Concerning about your CTL number? Mine peaks at 64 for two consecutive 6 week cycles. I am using a 6 week cycle with 1 week rest. You must have been racking up huge TSS on each ride to have a CTL of 68 using a 3 week training cycle with 1 week rest.

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I do not take a full week of rest every 3 weeks. I take 4 days off and then back on the saddle.

My training schedule is 3 days « on » and 2 days « off ». I add 2-3 days to the « off » days every three weeks.

Recovery guidelines are .. well. Guidelines

Your recovery to a certain training load is going to be based on that TSS's relation to your CTL ( which makes it ATL (or... fatigue) )

If you have a high ATL in comparison to CTL, you're going to be more fatigued. The absolute numbers don't tell the whole story.

You did a day 4 times your CTL. My guess is your TSB plummeted and ATL skyrocketed. Until your ATL comes down to a spot closer to your CTL, you shouldn't expect to be so fresh.

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