I am not going to chime in too much on the training aspect because other have already done so and Dave pretty much has it nailed. In fact in was Dave, RDO and the it's killing me thread that had me come to the
crossroads of a big decision and that is more to what I want to say. Your post brings back a very vivid flashback of where I was at a few years ago riding with the group on Saturday's. I trained a little during the week, tried to rest up some and then be ready to participate with fairly mature cyclists that treated a 60 mile route like it was a short crit sprinting every hill. It was a vicious cycle as mentioned by Dave. Since I was burning a lot of matches in those rides it left me absolutely exhausted and unable to train in following days and then I felt a need to rest up before Saturday to hit it again and hope to survive. I did improve for a while, but then I started seeing a decline in performance and started getting dropped more instead of getting better.
What I am about to state I am not suggesting that you do. It is a personal choice and it was a very hard choice for me to make. In fact in took me more than a year to change from this cycle to a more structured routine over a period of a year (2010). I have evolved to actually training mostly solo this year now and really enjoy it.
Here is a look back at the transition with the change in direction coming in the year 2010. At the crossroad of decision that I wanted to improve more so than participating as a
weekend warrior.
September 14, 2010 - Training Evolution - understanding the path to take, which was similar in relation to what you would see in the
its killing me thread.
November 28, 2010 - Pursuit of Success - understanding that consitency is key
December 12, 2010 - Reflection of the Year - a reflection and seeing progress play out by training with a structured plan.
September 7, 2011 - Fall into Place - simply confirming November 28, 2010 thoughts
January 17, 2012 - Forward Thinking Training - finding structure that allows for consistency or considering those things that can be disruptive to consistent training
This all started because part of me wanted to continue riding with friends, but not being able to keep up with them and a part of me that wanted to improve regardless of group rides.
I understand where you are coming from on the sentiments of coming home feeling fatigued, but many of us feel that way. I don't stand and lift all day, but I do come home feeling stressed out and that stress makes me feel physically worn out, but the desire to improve rises above that feeling. My wife will often comment, "I don't know how you find the energy to come home and train with kind of intensity", but again the desire to improve rises above. To be honest after the first 10 minutes into the first interval I start feeling really good and when I am done I am actually feeling even better.
Many of us are also time crunched. Week day evenings I have about 90 minutes at maximum to train (60 minutes of actual interval time), but I trusted in what the guys here have stated that getting on a steady diet of 20 minute intervals works and it has worked for me compared to the old haphazard way that I used to train. One thing about this structure though it does leave me too fatigued to go out and hit those crit like group rides. I do ride with the group once in a while, but if I feel like it is going to hurt following days of training or interrupt the schedule I will drop off the back and ride the remaining miles at a lower intensity. I have improved enough now though that when I ride with them and I am fresh I can stay up front and pull them for many miles or I can sit in at an aerobic pace and watch their antics of sprinting hills and burning matches and just stay at my pace. So things have certainly improved for me on this path.
Is it for you? I don't know. It comes back to making a personal choice as to how you want to proceed and if you really want to improve. One thing is for sure is the phrase,
"If you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you are getting." That phrase brought me to a point of making a tough choice, but I feel it was the right choice.
Best wishes
Jesse