We're not afraid, just frankly skeptical. Take our skepticism in the spirit it is offered; I squandered a lot of fitness in my first few years of training out of a terror of "overtraining," and we'd like to save you that wasted effort.
- Read this (and while I'm at it, anything else you can find by Rushall): Institutionalized Overtraining
- In my, and many of my friends' personal experiences, when performances are suffering, we're not looking forward to training, maybe even feeling a little septic, a few days off is a sure cure. I.e., "overreaching" is indistinguishable from "overtraining" in terms of signs and symptoms. In both cases, the prescription is the same: reduced load until enthusiasm to train returns.
- Many coaches who have worked intensively with hundreds of athletes have never seen a case of classic "overtraining", where the athlete does not bounce back given a few days of rest and perhaps a few weeks of reduced load, barring occasional endocrine problems (e.g., thyroid or testosterone deficiencies). See Friel: "When I do a talk I often ask the audience how many have been overtrained. Almost everyone raises their hands. My guess is that fewer than 5% in any such athletic audience, even with mostly very serious athletes, has truly achieved overtraining." Joe Friel's Blog: Thought on Overtraining
Regardless, reduce load a bit and see where it gets you, and don't think too hard about whether or not you're "overtrained." You're obviously sick of the sight of your bike right now, and that's no state in which to make progress. Whether or not you're "overtrained," per se, you need a break, so take it. Just don't worry you'll "overtrain" again once your desire to train returns.