sudden loss of form - me or something else?

[zebedee]

I've been doing a 6 week turbo trainer course working on capacity (recovery), efficiency (high rpm), power (sprints) and threshold (holding sustained efforts). All has been going well and I was doing 320 watts for 8 mins, 3 min rest x 3 fine last week (I say fine, it was a real effort and I was sweating a lot (I am not a powerful rider) but it felt like a positive effort. Tried to do the same this week and the 1st 8 mins was a struggle and into the 2nd I was struggling and had to stand to keep the power going and couldn't sustain 320 standing - I don't have a heart rate monitor but it seemed to be going very fast and my breath was a bit raspy and almost wheezy by the end. I was in no muscle pain but couldn't keep my legs going, had to call it quits before the 3rd rep.

Does this sound like a virus/infection thing as I feel absolutely fine? It is very dispiriting as the last 4 weeks have been going really well and my power levels and lower thigh muscle have clearly been increasing.

The only things I had changed before the big decline was moving my saddle forward 2cm, which I have now reset and putting an old rear tyre on. Now I do think that this tyre is getting hot and possibly sticking a bit to the roller as there is an awful noise, almost like a cracking noise, coming from back there when the resistance increases, which could be adding a lot more than the 320 watts the unit thinks it is generating (its an Elite Real Axiom so it sets its own resistance. If a sticky tyre was adding say another 50 watts then it wouldn't be surprising that I would wear out quickly. Just replaced with a turbo trainer tyre anyway, so should know on that score tonight...

[extraT]

You cannot perform at 100%, 100% of the time.

Take a few days off, it wont hurt. If you MUST cycle, just do 20 mins and an 'average' pace to tide you over.

It sounds like a pretty punishing workout anyway, so drink lots of protein to aid recovery and you need to make sure you have enough R&R too.

[zebedee]

cheers, 320 watts is supposed to feel like around 85% - too hard to hold a conversation, but sustainable for the whole period, it was last week but seemed way too hard this week.

6 weeks of 4 days of effort is quite a bit I guess, especially as I have no prior training experience and don't regularly push big sustained efforts or sprints out so it could be taking its toll I guess, but the drop in form is so dramatic.

I am a convert to protein too - it isn't over-worked achy legs that are refusing to play, the effort just appears too much.

Tonight is supposed to be 30mins at 60% effort but 110rpm, which is like a rest day for me anyway as I love riding like that, so I do plan to fit the new tyre and do it.

[NitroNick]

I wouldn't worry about it. just do what you can. On days where you struggle to keep the intensity up you should lower the intensity and increase the duration of the spin.
I find that sometimes I struggle to maintain my power zones, a lot of the time its mental fatigue so I just knock 50 watts of the zone and do an extra hour or two.

[zebedee]

Problem is that I program the trainer, so if I told it to do 8 mins at 320, 3 mins at 140 x 3 that is what it will do and I am not sure I can override it. The disaster is that as your leg speed drops, to maintain the watts it ramps up the virtual gradient, which makes it even harder to maintain the effort for someone like me (a light, efficient climber, not a steam train). I suppose I could always cancel the program and just keep an eye on actual watts and ride to a lower level. Going to take 2 days off anyway and try the new Conti trainer tyre on the high rpm course on Friday (which I enjoy and can do easily) and take it from there. Guy at bike shop reckons sounded like an illness but I feel fine!

[anonymous-user]

I would lay off the numbers a little, go for a fast road ride and have some fun!

[IroningMan]

You might be coming down with something - unless you've allowed the rear tyre to go a bit soft and in changing it the resistance is now back up too where it ought to have been all along? The effort required to distort the tyre depends on the pressure and how firmly it's engaged with the roller; together these can make a difference of 30W or more quite easily.

I'd also invest in a heartrate monitor.

[zebedee]

IroningMan said:

You might be coming down with something - unless you've allowed the rear tyre to go a bit soft and in changing it the resistance is now back up too where it ought to have been all along? The effort required to distort the tyre depends on the pressure and how firmly it's engaged with the roller; together these can make a difference of 30W or more quite easily.

I'd also invest in a heartrate monitor.

I think I might, apparently you can plug a basic Polar one into the trainer and it records that data too. would be interesting to compare a good day to a bad one. You aren't ironing man as in Paul Roberts - Ironing Man the man that does very active things with iron board strapped to back are you?

[IroningMan]

zebedee said:

I think I might, apparently you can plug a basic Polar one into the trainer and it records that data too. would be interesting to compare a good day to a bad one. You aren't ironing man as in Paul Roberts - Ironing Man the man that does very active things with iron board strapped to back are you?

Not me.I'm IroningMan the slightly tubby sometime long-course triathlete who has to do his own shirts.

[NitroNick]

Well? Did the two days off do the trick?

[russy01]

yonex said:

I would lay off the numbers a little, go for a fast road ride and have some fun!

I was going to suggest the same, it all sounds a bit regimental.

Just get outside and pedal, go hard everywhere and take a rest when required. The body likes a bit of variation.

[Chicken Chaser]

Take a week off. I took an enforced break last week but feel much better this week, plus im actually going quicker with less exertion.

[zebedee]

I'm taking a week off so will post later in the week. have been very tired this weekend and felt like I had a chill on Sunday so it might have been the start of something I hadn't otherwise noticed.