Struggling some days, other days not so?

[Panter]

Really struggled on the way in to work this morning, legs felt weak and tired, body didn't feel willing.
It does happen quite often though, some days I can zip along and feel quite good, other days it's just a gruelling slog.
Is it just me? any particular reason for it?

 

[Dave Davenport]

Did you forget to inject your EPO or transfuse some stored blood? Or at least have a nice big juicy (Spanish) steak?

 

[numbnuts]

yes that's normal it's called life, well the up's and downs of it

 

[Davidc]

Yes - perfectly normal. At least it's always been normal for me.

 

[byegad]

When my Asthma got out of control I had the same thing. Once it was tamed, with preventers doing their job with only rare use of relievers (i.e. Not needed every day and sometimes not for a week or more.) I was fine and day to day differences on my commute were much smaller.

 

[BSRU]

Some days everything seems to go right others it feels like I always riding into a head wind. Normally down to not eating/sleeping properly or not having a proper rest from the bike.

 

[Banjo]

Its important to have rest days . But also normal to have good/bad days.

 

[Panter]

Thanks all, just wondered if there was something I was doing wrong.
Ah well, variety is the spice of life, it was a far better ride home

I think I'll have to try the dodgy steak idea next time though!

 

[GrasB]

Perfectly normal, even small condition changes can effect your body quite dramatically plus you'll have good & bad days even if the conditions are the same. I've even found I can have good & bad rides on the same day, really struggle into work with a tail wind but going home with a headwind I'll have a scorcher of a ride

 

[Glover Fan]

Even a simple thing such as mood can affect performance.

If i'm in a really good mood and the sun is shining I always perform really well. A lot of perceived pain and exhaustion is all in the mind.

 

[Born to be Mild]

Really struggled on the way in to work this morning, legs felt weak and tired, body didn't feel willing.
It does happen quite often though, some days I can zip along and feel quite good, other days it's just a gruelling slog.
Is it just me? any particular reason for it?

I've had this as well. Checked with the doctor - some functions not as sharp as they could be so radical change to diet; lots more brown rice, fruit and turkey. No butter or cheese, less milk, more cereals and a more Med type diet. Results have been good. Energy levels are up (I usually cycle about ten miles to the gym and do a full body-building workout) and then cycle back. I do this on a sub £500 MTB so it's generally a hard ride cross country.

Some days it was a real struggle just get motivated but I found that the opportunity to ride outweighed the feeling of lethargy and I pushed quite a bit harder than usual when these types of feelings came along.
Hope this helps a little.

 

[lukesdad]

Had sunday lunch something I never normally do. Really struggled on Monday mornings ride with stomach cramps.

 

[frank9755]

Two things:
- Good days and bad days, as mentioned already, are normal
- Wind speed and direction makes a big difference!

 

[3narf]

lots more brown rice, fruit and turkey. No butter or cheese, less milk, more cereals and a more Med type diet.

I could do with some of that. I eat loads of butter with cream crackers or crusty bread...

 

[Glover Fan]

I don't really understand the whole food argument, but maybe it is because it is the one areas of training I don't really give a f*** about.

I eat when I am hungry, I don't care if it's chocolate, red meat, butter full fat gold top jersey milk. I notice no difference in training. As long as there is sugar in my blood; I function. When I went out on a club run the other day, everyone pretty much bought a coffee and ate a couple of biscuits. I went and bought 2 mugs of tea and the biggest slice of chocolate tiffin ever and I got some very odd looks. To be honest I felt a bit guilty, but the way I saw it is that i'd already done 40 miles and burned 1600 calories. I'm not exercising to lose weight, at the moment i'm losing weight organically about a lb a week, so by summer I should be my ideal weight of 10 stone for climbing.

The only reason I can think of is that i'm pretty young? (22) Maybe as I get older what I eat will affect me more?

The only consumption which I feel really affects me is alcohol, but that is obvious. The only problem being I don't feel right exercising at all for about 2-3 days afterwards, which is why I am near enough tee-total now. Caffeine doesn't work with me either, makes my legs burn.

Jon