exhaustion

i've been putting in solid 800-900 TSS weeks since mid-january, with a few 3-4day rest periods scattered throughout, usually every 2.5-3 weeks. I went a little big, maybe too big over spring break and really put myself in a hole. Did 25hrs, 1300 TSS Thurs-Wed and think I overreached a little too far.

This was after a 3 day rest period that followed a 2.5week block where I did 900TSS/week. I've been playing around with looking at TSS/week, depending on where I start the block (i.e. Thursday, vs. Monday vs. Sunday) and have some different results. Starting Sunday, I've done 4 weeks of 950 TSS, starting Monday, its a little different. Obviously, the PMC should clear this up. I went from 95 to 110 CTL in a week, and this past week has seen me exhausted. Should I keep trying to go out and do workouts (yest and today were the first days I tried, and just felt smoked), or should I set a longer rest period and stick with it. My CTL is back to about 96.

Anyway, long post, sorry. Just curious what people do when they dig themselves a hole, realize it, and go from there.

 

You rest. That's what you do. If you have any doubts at all about your condition, rest. It could cetainly be that you've overreached on your break, and aren't recovered. It can take weeks to fully recover after a tough effort with TSS numbers like you posted.

Are you monitoring our resting heart-rate? How about hours of sleep? Take a couple good relaxing naps over the next days, and make sure to get at least 9 hours of sleep in addition to that. Also keep up with the carbs at meals, and distract yourself with something non-cycling related. Start a new book or something.

When are you looking to peak, and what's your target CTL? Also, have you been varying your workouts? Too much SST or base training (especially indoors like I have to deal with) can wear you thin really fast mentally.

This is pretty early season to be worrying about overtraining, so take it easy. Seriously, an entire week off could do wonders. Don't worry about big TSS numbers in the mean time. Power data isn't the end-all, be-all of training. Listen to your body, even consider going on percieved effort for a couple rides just to gauge where you're at. Read up on overtraining, and REST. You already said it yourelf, you're torched. Take it REALLY easy for a bit.

I'll say it once more. REST. Screwing up your parasympathetic (and eventually sympathetic) nervous systems are not worth a high CTL and getting exercise.

 

So, what is your average CTL increase per week (ramp rate) from mid-Jan until now? For that length of time, about 5-6 CTL per week increase is a good upper limit.

Agree that if you are feeling "exhausted" then a couple scaled back (500-600 TSS) weeks might be appropriate to let your recovery systems catch up.

 

trying to peak for a 100miler mtb race on May 31. would like to start my 2week taper at about 130-150CTL. I have been doing a lot of SST, and did so on the break.

I guess I'm mostly concerned with the guessing game. Is it better to say, "Ok, easy riding until next week, which would put me at a roughly 10 day rest period, or keep trying until I'm not feeling spanked when i go out and try to do efforts?

 

on avg. about 10, as low as 7, as high as 12. my spring break week of riding was a 15point jump.

 

Ok, ~8wks at 10/wk is about 80, and your currently CTL is 96, so that means you were around 16 when you started training in Jan. Close?

Goals are great, but you just do not go from a 16 CTL in mid-Jan to 130+ by mid-May. People reach those levels through seasons of consistency.

There are a couple PMC spreadsheets out there that will help you with future planning, but here's a head start: if your CTL is 96 today and you do 150 TSS/day (1050 TSS/wk) every day starting tomorrow until May 17th when you begin your taper, you will just reach 134.7 CTL.

Honestly, I think a little moderation is in order if you want to reach May 31st in top condition.

 

hm, do you start every season at zero? i started at about 60, based on off season riding and some cross training. do you have a link to any spreadsheets? would posting a pic of my pmc help at all?

 

Is your FTP correct?

 

i'm almost positive. it might be a little low, but not too much. if anything wouldn't a higher FTP make my current fatigue more curious because I should have technically accumulated less stress over the course of recent riding?

 

No, you don't restart at zero each season. If you started at 60 in mid-Jan and you are at 96 now, then that's a change of 36 CTL in 8-9 wks, or 4.0 to 4.5 CTL rise per week. I guess I got thrown off when you said you were averaging ~10/wk.

Probably would help with the number crunching, but I think the previous advice is still good -- scale back the workload temporarily until you're feeling better. I don't think I would go completely off the bike, but I would definitely cut back (shorter, less frequent rides) until the exhaustion subsides.

 

Was the weekly ~10 avg increase maybe ATL, not CTL?

 

Ok, you sound like you've got it planned well. I'd say aim for that lower CTL limit when you begin your taper, given the current situation. You may not have to ride super easy for an entire week, perhaps 2-3 days off, followed by a trial ride (just see how you're feeling) will be enough. Again, don't worry about TSS during this time - go by how you feel. You can obviously boost TSS and CTL pretty quickly, so do yourself a favor and take couple days off if you are feeling tired.

With races, the power data and numbers for CTL only go so far... You may taper perfectly from your high (150) CTL and still feel washed come race day if you're overtrained. Just take a few days off and get back to us. You may have to adjust your taper accordingly.

 

True - just trying to eliminate the variables, as is Frenchyge.

If FTP is underestimated then the TSS will be inflated. It's just that CTL ramps so high are pretty unusual for anyone to be able to sustain for more than a few weeks.

To go from say 60 to 140 CTL in 8 weeks at a CTL ramp of 10 TSS/day/week needs a weekly TSS ramp up something like:
875
940
1010
1080
1150
1220
1290
1360

Now if you really are doing those sort of TSS (FTP is correct) then it is no surprise you're knackered. Get some rest. You might need a fair bit.