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Hello STW, a quick question
My commute is 12 miles and somewhat hilly (250m climbing).
On monday morning I rode in steadily then beasted myself on the way home.
On tuesday I rode in quite hard, but for the ride home my legs felt pretty dead.
e.g. there is a 3.6 mile mostly uphill segment that I was attempting to ride as hard as possible.
On this segment on monday avg/max HR was 155/168, 17.9 mph avg speed
vs tuesday 125/140 14.9mph. I couldn't get my heart rate above 140, breathing seemed fine.
Does this just sound like the effects of riding multiple days with insufficent recovery/fuelling, or am I coming down with cholera or something...
That looks a [b]much[/b] bigger discrepancy than i'd expect to see just from poor recovery over a 2 day period. More like the kind of thing you find when you've totally overcooked it for a prolonged period (like hilly 100 milers ridden in a 'spirited' manner every day for a week).
The improvement in CV and muscle power happens during the periods of rest, between the efforts. If you don't rest your body you won't see much improvement.
Warm downs are overlooked, I find a few lunges and squats immediately after a hard ride do a lot to make the legs fresher for the next day.
Your stats sound more like energy system issue though. Feel a bit ropey on Tuesday? A donut and a banana before you set off on day 2 could make a big difference.
Quite clearly you need to be drinking electrolyte drinks while riding and a recovery shake as soon as you finish 😉
Depends on how fit you are to start but unable to reach max heart rate is a sign of fatigue.
Simply taking it easy should be enough, I rarely take a day off the bike but some days I don't put much effort in at all. Normally alternate hard riding days but that is more a factor in not having time to do more than dedicated recovery.
Other things can affect your ride - I know my commute varies depending on wind, how much sleep I've had, what type of day I've had, bike condition (rusty chain and half flat tyres), food.
As above:
Weather conditions, tiredness, fitness/conditioning or a lack of food. The heart-rate seems very low on the second day.
Thanks for the replies, yes I found it a much bigger drop off than I was expecting!
I didn't gt much sleep on monday night, so that coupled with not much food on tuesday might be the most plausible explanation.
Also, if you're able to do nearly 18mph on it, it's not a hill.
I didn't say it was a hill, just that it is mostly uphill!