Scouting with RouleurBaby

[RouleurBaby]

Ok so after a few days to rest and think about the situation, I have decided that I'm going to mix things up a little bit before the new challenge forum comes live. This is not to say that my current goals are being forgotten for a fortnight, definitely not. Merely modified. 

 

The big change is that I'm taking away the bike pressure that I've heaped upon myself. I need to make it fun again. I'm going to take part in a few virtual races and challenges, properly mix things up. I've also been texting a riding buddy of mine who's looking to get back on his bike. If we can make our busy schedules work together then that will be a fantastic boost.

 

The second major change is that I'm adding a second rest day that fits around life, relationships and all the rest. I'm back working now and juggling a good 60 hours of work per week plus gym/ bike/ family/ socialising/ sleep is going to be hard. It will mean a double day (probably saturday) of gym and bike but I've just got to make a game out of it and see how quickly I can get done. 

 

So, I've hit the reset button and I'm now drawing a line under a rough few days.

[Sloth the Enduring]

I imagine it’s easy to ride all the time in So Cal. Maybe you need a rest week.

[RouleurBaby]

Gains update!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌

 

On the back of my new highest sprint power of 722 watts... this happened tonight... 💪 My sub-quest was a 10% increase to 200w... I'm nearly there!!! Woop!!!

 

 

The good old time-trial... the race against the clock! 10 miles on a pan-flat course which really isn't my specialist subject but it was basically an FTP test and I really enjoyed it... even though the competition was crazy good.

 

Gym work is also going strong. I hit a nice milestone last night of 60kg squats, 40kg bench press and 40kg bent rows... I've been waiting for those bigger plates on either side. 🏋️‍♂️🏋️‍♂️🏋️‍♂️

 

23 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

I imagine it’s easy to ride all the time in So Cal. Maybe you need a rest week.

 

Sloth, thanks again for your input. I see those likes and it really is a great boost knowing someone is taking an interest. More than that though you speak sense. I don't want to rest but I may be being silly. I've felt a little nonchalant this week, I'm better now, but that's exactly what I think fatigue may feel like?

 

I've been digging around on Strava again and I'm sorry in advance to the people who don't like numbers!

 

Ove a two week period since returning from holiday my strava fitness score went from 6 to 24 in neat little steps. At the same time fatigue went from 2 to 61. That's a huge spike. Also, that doesn't include squatting 3x a week at the gym! Is it any wonder that this week I've felt like it was a struggle to motivate myself?

 

I ended up having 5 days off the bike reducing my fitness by 2 points (basically the same) and reducing fatigue by a whopping 27 points. No wonder I'm feeling much better. Fatigue is still higher than fitness though.

 

 

I still don't really understand the algorithms but that has given me some food for thought!

[michael.gonzalez]

Great job on the power increase!

[RouleurBaby]

Thanks Michael!

 

Riding buddy has a green light, we'll be going for a nice and easy spin on Sunday. Lets him ease in slowly and it lets me rest a little. Win win. I may do the hill climb on Saturday, I may not! I'll see how I feel.

 

Gym again tonight 💪

[cd667]

On 9/1/2020 at 6:08 PM, RouleurBaby said:

The big change is that I'm taking away the bike pressure that I've heaped upon myself. I need to make it fun again. I'm going to take part in a few virtual races and challenges, properly mix things up.

This is a really important realisation, and something I missed when I was cycling years ago. It's the main reason I stopped, I suppose.

 

If it isn't fun and doesn't work with the rest of your life, your cycling will become miserable. And when that's the case, what's the point?

 

I'm getting there on the bike. I will lose a little bit more weight, then I'm treating myself to a new road bike. I recently had a midlife crisis - long story short, I nearly walked out of a garage with an old MGB like the one I owned years ago. I realised it was about a friend who recently died; in his final days, he told me he really wanted to buy another sportscar.

 

I decided I'd much rather spend that much money on a nice bike. After that, I am getting out there to ride with other people. Way better than a solitary pursuit like fiddling with an old car.

 

The power output increase is amazing, by the way! Congratulations!

[RouleurBaby]

19 hours ago, cd667 said:

This is a really important realisation, and something I missed when I was cycling years ago. It's the main reason I stopped, I suppose.

 

If it isn't fun and doesn't work with the rest of your life, your cycling will become miserable. And when that's the case, what's the point?

 

I'm getting there on the bike. I will lose a little bit more weight, then I'm treating myself to a new road bike. I recently had a midlife crisis - long story short, I nearly walked out of a garage with an old MGB like the one I owned years ago. I realised it was about a friend who recently died; in his final days, he told me he really wanted to buy another sportscar.

 

I decided I'd much rather spend that much money on a nice bike. After that, I am getting out there to ride with other people. Way better than a solitary pursuit like fiddling with an old car.

 

The power output increase is amazing, by the way! Congratulations!

 

You're bang on. What is the point if you're not enjoying it. There isn't a serious issue and I think I've caught some waning interest early, but it does just make me think on. Getting back in touch and sorting out a ride with my friend is a good step and we're both really looking forward to Sunday. 

 

Yeah I've noticed you're doing really well and that's a fantastic goal. Good news on unthreading some complicated thoughts. 👍

 

Thank you, it felt good. I also think I can go slightly harder because my legs were a tad sore from the gym and I didn't warm up properly before the ride. Looking at Strava I'm now a good 40 points less fatigued which has got to help. I may have another go next Weds. The only thing putting me off is that the competition was insane, all very strong club riders, even some pros so I was overtaken a lot!

[RouleurBaby]

Another week has come to an end. 7 weeks I've been at this now and showing no signs of slowing down. I think I'm beginning to grow the first tentative shoots of new life habits. There have been some struggles on the way and a harsh reality check on my main quest idea. But, I've hurdled the obstacles and kept on movings forwards.

 

I'm loving the bike again. 65 miles ridden this week and managed to take off a few points of fatigue although my weekend exertions have fired fatigue back up, but equally fitness is up 6 points. A fantastic real road climb today, climbing Scapegoat hill plus Alpe du Zwift last night means I've racked up two fairly difficult rides this weekend. 2 rest days now .

 

I've noticed that my outdoor rides are at a higher intensity, especially HR. This then boosts the training instensity score which fires up fatigue. You're constantly looking around, a bit more tense worrying about traffic and such, the climb I was on today I noticed I was really gripping and pulling on the handlebars which simply does not happen indoors. I can work on this but to some extent... the hill was nearly 20% so if I don't hold on tight I'll be falling off!! There's also way more stop/ start efforts... junctions, traffic lights etc.. again this doesn't happen indoor on zwift. Zwift is amazing, but it's different to real road riding.

 

I had a little gym wobble this week. I was planning on doing my 3rd workout yesterday afternoon. I got stuck working longer than anticipated then by the time I was home it was closed, not helped due to the reduced pandemic opening times. I thought about then going this morning instead but prioritised going out on my bike with the pre-planned ride with my friend. I'll pick the gym up again next week. A few weeks ago I'd have tried to fit both in and half-assed them both.

 

I'm going to be joining a challenge when it begins on September 13th. More details on that will be posted in that sub-forum so expect this thread to go a little quiet then. This week I will try and lower the intensity so the challnge should go better. I like the idea of 5 weeks on, 1 week resting.

[cd667]

And that is how it should be done. Brilliant work, @RouleurBaby.

 

I look forward to following your next challenge.

 

(BTW love the avatar!)

[RouleurBaby]

Thanks CD! Yep, just got to write up my challenge notes and I'll be popping into LVL1 for 5 weeks. And thanks haha, I thought it would add a splash of colour! 🎨🎨

[RouleurBaby]

I can feel myself slipping into difficulty again. This is my story in a nutshell. I have a great few months on it, everything is going great, then bang I'm off the wagon. Work and life commitments take over and I lose all of my gains and my habits and I'm back to square one blaming myself and wallowing. I'd hate for it to happen again but I can seriously feel it coming. I purposefully took a rest week, diet was maybe 65% on it, no gym and no bike. I needed that week. Now though I can't switch it back on. I'm a teacher and this last week and a half back working after the summer with the pressures of a Covid world has made me absolutely shattered on an evening with zero motivation. The job is stressful and mentally exhausting at the best of times. I planned on getting back to the gym tonight but I got home from work and was dozing on the sofa, and have just roused myself!

 

Right, less of the excuses, I need to work out a new plan and a rota to get myself back on the fitness train. Any tips for juggling a busy work/ life balancing act?

[Sloth the Enduring]

The start of school shatters me every year. The last few years I did a big race in the end of September to force me to maintain my habits, which didn’t happen this year.

It is new challenge time. That with the new year makes it a good time to start fresh and think about which habits are important for you to maintain and build on.

[RouleurBaby]

23 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

The start of school shatters me every year. The last few years I did a big race in the end of September to force me to maintain my habits, which didn’t happen this year.

It is new challenge time. That with the new year makes it a good time to start fresh and think about which habits are important for you to maintain and build on.

 

I'm so glad that there's somebody in the same boat! I'm finding it to be a constant negative spiral. I don't workout -> Worse mood -> Don't want to workout -> even worse mood/ guilt/ remorse etc etc

 

I'm going to take a notepad to bed and plan a new challenge. I'll list the goals and habits that I think are important like you suggest and work through this. I need to make sure that work, home and fitness all have a happy middle ground.