feeling crap for no reason why?

[Blonde]

Ah that might be yer answer then - sleep deprivation or lack of sufficient rest will get you every time. It makes your body ache, quite apart from any mental fatigue or low mood and irritability. Dehydration at night might be the problem if you sleep more than 9 hours - I can't think of any other reason you'd get a heachache after sleeping.

You could try a 20 minute to hour long nap in t'afternoon to make up those sleep-hours if needed. I love an afternoon nap on Saturdays. I have been known to nap for half an hour to an hour in the evening, on getting in from work as well, before I make tea, go out etc. Makes a big difference to energy levels that evening and really helps if you are going to be out late that night. My Wednesday track sessions don't finish till 10pm, so I don't get home again afterwards until after 11pm, then have to eat somerthing, having not had any tea (unless you count muesli which is all I can manage before the session). I get to bed about 11:30-midnight then have to get up again at about 6am, to cycle to work, which is all pretty tiring, so, on Wednesdays after work I often have a lie down for half an hour to an hour (even if I don't actually go to sleep) before I get up and go back out again. It really helps.

BTW, I too do about 200-250 miles a week (as I have done for several years) but these days I do a bit more commuitng and track work and a bit less at weekends, so the overal load is more evenly spread over the week, which I find is easier/faster to recoever from, than doing just one or two ultra-long rides a week. Long rides really do take it out of you and take a long time to recover from. I used to do long audax events and ended up going slower and slower and feeling shattered all the time, so I have a fair idea about this. It doesn't mean you shouldn't do them, just that you should allow proper recovery time afterwards. This may mean not cycling at all for several days or even a week after a long ride. I now don't usually ride to work on the Monday if I have done a`100+ miler the day before. I don't ride if I feel tired. I also take the odd weekend off, perhaps every couple of months and do not go out on the bike, to give me a chance to get a lie-in and get some recovery time. This rest also makes a big difference to your speed (if you care about such things) . You'll almost certainly find you are much faster after a proper rest which is a sign that you have recovered. I can hugely reccommend scheduling the odd weekend off and just sitting about reading the weekend papers in the garden (or something)! You won't lose any fitness either - quite the opposite, you'll be refreshed; faster, stronger and more mentally motivated when you get back on the bike.

 

[yello]

You speak a lot of sense there Blonde. So much of what you say is applicable to the situation I found myself in not too many weeks ago. I was trying to do too much too often and had to back off a bit. Not so much a case of 'less is more' but of recognising the benefits of lesser but consistent, regular, steady miles... and rest. The body is a bit of a machine and does like routine - hammering it with periodic big rides was not the way forward!

 

[willhub]

I find short naps kill me, I wake up drained of energy and sometimes aching from an afternoon nap and just want to lay there on the bed forever.

My body is kind of odd it's swings of round abouts and I feel I'm never going to learn how to best go around keeping it happy, so yesterday, my legs where aching and I was shattered, you'd have thought doing a chaingang was a real bad idea, I was just going to the meeting place to try see if anyone had a route for the ride I as doing, no one turned up and I got roped into the chaingang which I loved, and today my legs are not aching and I feel I want to go for a ride, don't think I am going to though.

 

[Blonde]

Doh! I'm no expert, but from own experience this does sound familiar and like it could well be a bit of over training to me. Feeling lethargic and tired could be more of a mental thing rather than physical - but again, it could be a sign of overtraining, or of stress overload/mind elsewhere engaged. Take it easier for a bit.

 

[zacklaws]

Lack of sleep maybe a cause. The same happened to me on Friday. I've not been out for just over a week due to family commitments and have been finding it hard to sleep and forced myself out of bed on friday morning. Found the ride very hard and at one point become aware that I was not totally there, all my senses and awareness had gone and I was all over the road feeling very light headed and giddy. Fluids I had plenty so ruled that out.

Anyway for love or money I could not get my self motivated to ride again all weekend as I just felt physically sick and mentally disturbed to the effect of giving up cycling all together.

Anyway feel a bit better now and hopefully after work I plan on a quick 20 before dark

 

[willhub]

Thanks all, I'll try taking it easy, I might go for a short 45ish mile ride tomoz if I feel ok and then on thursday have a chaingang, thats all I'll do untill sunday.

I just had a nap, could not resist, I woke up, I felt soooo tired, I felt weak and my legs felt uber crap and sort of odd stingy mild pains or something going through them, I wish I felt better after a nap!!

 

[dodgy]

Some of your symptoms aren't readily explainable by simply being tired, the stingy pains you're talking about especially.

Might be worth discussing with a doctor, that's what I'd be doing anyway. I hope it's nothing more serious than tiredeness, and it probably is just that but you never know.

 

[willhub]

I'll just live with the weirdness from waking up after a nap I think, cant be going to the doctors about that they'll think I'm a weirdo I've being enough already!!

 

[Blonde]

I agree that if you are at all worried that you might actually be ill, go see the GP. Must admit that mine was useless and couldn't help with an 18 month spell of stress/overtaining related illness I had, so eventually went private, but it might be a good place to start. The tiredness could be down to something fairly benign such as a vitamin or mineral deficiency (which will still need treating) but we used to tease a mate for being a lazy so and so, till he/we discovered the reason he was always sleeping was actually 'cos he had Leukemia, so don't put off seeing the GP if you think you might be ill.
How old are you btw?

 

[willhub]

I am 19.

 

[Blonde]

Aw, so young! Have you been cycling long? I just wonder, 'cos the old audax guys I used to do a lot of riding with probably didn't need as much rest and post ride recovery as I did, because most of them had been doing long audax rides for 20 years and some for 40+ years, so their bodies were really well were adapted to long rides. If you've only been cycling a few weeks or a few months, it's to be expected that you will need longer to recover between rides than someone who has been cycling for longer. Adaptation to exercise is why people who have been cycling many years and then take a significant amount of time off, say, 6-10 weeks off after breaking a bone, can regain their fitness a lot quicker than those who had only been cycling a few weeks or months before they took time off from cycling. (Adaptation also explains the reason for the plateu effect, people complain of, where, for instance they find they can't lose any more weight, or can't get any faster etc. unless they change their training). You can speed up the process of adaptation by following a specific training programme, and doing what is known as "over-reaching" (rather than over training) but such a programme will still need to ensure adequate rest periods, to prevent over training. If you are in a road club, talk to a coach, or to some of the more experienced guys (particularly anyone who raced/rode a lot when they were under 20), or contact British Cycling for advice. If you have a college sports facility, ask for advice from the coaches there.

You should still go to your GP if you are worried about your health!

 

[willhub]

I started commuting to college in october 07, 10 miles there 15 back, feb 08 I got my first road bike, started commuting to college on it, 10 ther 15 back, april I joined a club, first club run was 72 miles, within about a month of that I started doing sunday club runs, my first one was 117 miles, then regular like every sunday I was doing over 100 mile club run, one of which was 160 miles and I've done 3 Audaxes, 1 was 146 miles long, other 150 very hilly.

Then I did not need much recovery but since september last year I've found that has changed, september is also the time I moved to Manchester, so it happened at the same time.

couple of weeks ago I did 128 miles and quite a while before that I did 128 miles back at home, average liked 18mph and it went into the yorkshire dales.

Did 71 miles today hilly, after 65 miles I'm getting slower allthough I still manage to do chaingangs fine.

I think I might try and take one week off again see if it restores me back to full potential, got a 60odd mile chaingang on thursday and 80 mile hilly on sunday.


Yea that sounds similar to me, I cant get any faster really and I cant loose anymore weight, not that I want to loose more weight though.

 

[Blonde]

Tsince september last year I've found that has changed, september is also the time I moved to Manchester, so it happened at the same time.

couple of weeks ago I did 128 miles and quite a while before that I did 128 miles back at home, average liked 18mph and it went into the yorkshire dales.

Did 71 miles today hilly, after 65 miles I'm getting slower allthough I still manage to do chaingangs fine.

I think I might try and take one week off again see if it restores me back to full potential, got a 60odd mile chaingang on thursday and 80 mile hilly on sunday

Getting slower and slower is defntely a sign that something is wrong. The fact that it started when you moved house is significant. Stress affects the amount of adrenaline as well as other hormones that your endocrine system produces. High stress hormone levels can lead to a build up of unpleasant chemicals such as ethanol (in your liver) which will defintely make you feel sluggish and tired. Don't underestimate the effects of stress - it can cause physical illness! Rest, tailored relaxation teachniques and good diet (to give your body the best chance of recovery) are a good idea. Go to the GP as well, to rule out anything else. Bear in mind that if you are actually over trained a period of a few days to a week of rest may not initially make any difference, as you may have already gone past the point where a day or week off will combat the accumulated fatigue. I'm afraid that if you are over trained or suffering stress related illness it might take significantly longer than a week to recover. It took me about two years to fully recover (through a significant diet change, dietary supplements, reduced exercise level and still struggling with fatigue, aching joints and low immunity etc) but I was ill for 18 months prior to starting to recover, but I guess nipping it in the bud early and will decrease recovery time if you are overtrained. You might not be over trained though. It's best to try and get some kind of diagnosis and/or rule out any other illness first.

 

[willhub]

I think my diet might be part of it, all I tend to eat is rice. pasta, egg, bread, porridge, soup.

I try to eat cheaply really.

I might not do any cycling until Sunday now and just rest, the thing I dont like about not cycling is the body starts to build up fat then does it not?

I dont think I'm getting slower and slower actually, just up and down at the moment, just I cant get any faster really, on hilly rides of any length when I'm on my own my average speed is usually around 16.5mph all the time.

I know my body works better when in a routine which I'm not in at the moment, I might have to make another thread asking for help to make some sort of routine for my cycling based around training rides, flat, hilly and chaingangs/ TT's.

 

[Blonde]

I might not do any cycling until Sunday now and just rest, the thing I dont like about not cycling is the body starts to build up fat then does it not?

Only if you eat more KCals than you expend! You won't see any weight gain in a week unless you're on some kind of eat-till-it-comes-out-of-your-ears binge!

I actually lost weight (well, body shape changed, and went down 2 clothing sizes) when I cut down my mileage, and it's stayed that way, so I guess my simultaneously changed diet was the main reason. I eat fewer carbs and more protein than previously as well as more vegetables. I ate a lot of cheap pasta and beans on white toast a few years ago too, mostly due to low income and debt problems, but my lifestyle has changed somewhat in recent years, which has really improved my health. I do sympathise with that 'cos I've been there myself.

Many people can survive on a relatively restricted diet, but it can make things harder if you are an active person as well. I'd suggest that eating as much variety as possible would help make sure the diet contains everything you need. Having a freezer helps add variety, so you're not stuck eating the same things all week in order to get through 'em before they go off. If you can get to a market, use that rather than a supermarket as the food is usally fresher and cheaper than anywhere else. Also, If you don't already, you could try to bulk buy food if possible. We go to Bolton Market where they sell boxes of veg and often have 4 aubergines for £1, 10 organges for £1, a tray of 4 rainbow trout for £5 etc, etc, so it's often cheaper to buy larger quantities. Not usually doable if you live alone, but you could arrange to divvy up any bulk buys between friends and share the cost so that you can all get a bargain. Also if you bulk buy veg or meat you can just cook it all straight away, (i.e. in a huge vat of curry or something) then freeze it in portions. That way you'll save money and won't ever have to throw out any food that's gone off.