Hi there, I am a masters cyclist (55 years old) and on week 8 of the Sweetspot 18 wk plan. Before starting the plan I did the strength plan but was cut short as I was suffering from Shingles so was a few weeks off the bike, however was cleared by the doctor before starting Sweetspot, when I did I was suprised that my FTP had not gone down using the 20m test.
I have done this programme diligently except for weekends when I have managed to ride but not been able to do the number of hours allocated for these, all the weekday plans have been done.
Last week I felt really tired when doing the Sweetspot workouts but managed to finish them, however this is my regeneration week and yesterday I had the 2 x 15m Sweetspot workout . After doing 45m of the 1 and half hours (one 15m Sweetspot) was so tired I had to get off the bike. This after being 2 days off, which seems pretty strange, my muscles feel more tired than usual today.
Any ideas or course of action I should take.
Other than the tiredness I have no other symptoms showing that I am sick.
Coming back after recovery week is always a struggle, often physically, always mentally (at least for me)
I’m in a similar situation, just finished an intense block, and off the recovery week, and this morning I felt so flat, my HR was about 10 BPM higher than what it was on a similar effort at the weekend, my RPE was a couple of points higher.
And that’s after having had the best sleep I could in years over the last few days (i averaged 10h/night since friday)
My advice:
Sleep a lot if you can. I was rinsed by the end of the last block, and that was down to me not putting the time in in bed. I neglected my sleep, and it nearly pushed me over the edge.
Dial up your nutrition, make sure you fuel the effort on the bike, that you take some recovery food after the rides
Finally, if it’s too much, just give yourself a mental break. You’re doing your best, you’re #FTFP to the best of your ability. There’s no need to add emotional strain to your physical struggle. Remember, you’re doing this for fun.
Hi @Rockdel - yea, sounds like health is a lingering factor and you would benefit from a training plan revision. One that gives your body time to catch back up with your plan!
We can do that for you if you would like ! That’s what our coaching subscription is for - training analysis and revision based on what’s going on as you mentioned above.
Yes I’ll second that @FRANK regarding coaching sub. A small break is helping me get some breathing space thanks to advice from @Allie . My hr wasn’t going up and I was feeling tired all the time. She sorted my plan out and scheduled in a break.