Cycling Fitness / Training Advice

Thanks for the reply, I thought that might be the case. Another joy of the turbo trainer!

I think I'm in a similar position. I'm doing lots of sweet spot base on a trainer to build back up some general form and endurance. Completed 5 weeks and will probably do another 5 week block. I signed up with TrainerRoad and mentally find I like having a structured plan to follow - do the work efficiently, see a benefit. I got an email saying I can giveaway a free 1 month trial so pm me if you fancy it.

Trying not to worry about power numbers etc and focusing on the short term goals of just to being be able to get out of London and enjoy riding in the countryside again. Club rides and racing up hills are medium term goals.

Hi there your forgeting about the cycling your doing, flu and cold are a respiratory illness hence why a lot of pros suffer from this, don't be given yourself such a hard time and be more positive on what your achieving, maybe your not resting enough in between rides and pushing when rest is needed, just the fact that your outside and opening up your lungs for long periods is more than enough for a flu festival, have you tried increasing your Vitamin A intake to help with your immune system, good luck and well done on the 280K.

I just did an FTP test because I hadn't done one for a couple of months. Went up from 207W to 248W which puts me at about 3.3 W/KG. Pleasantly surprised and relived I didn't actually puke everywhere.. Felt close near the end.

Thinking of doing some pre-work rides for the next month as evenings are family/uni time and my ride time has dropped massively since starting my dissertation a few weeks ago. What's the best thing to be doing? I reckon I can fit in an hour from 6-7, home, shower then work for 8ish. I'd thought about just having a black coffee and going steady for 25mins around zone 2, eating a banana or something as I'm riding that then 15-20 mins of sweet spot/threshold coming home.
I've been topping up TSS with threshold/sweet spot <1hour rides in the evening over the past couple of weeks but it's difficult to fit life around that when you factor in getting changed, showering etc. I'm not sure if I can manage a 0.95 ride straight after waking up so thought more regular steady-hard work would be effective, and maybe even get my body fat down a bit.

I'm not training for anything in particular, but have developed a relatively decent VO2Max and threshold over the past few months and don't want to lose it/get fat before August, when I have a month off to ride as much as I want.

This EC1 Collective qualifying lark is hard work, but it's all worth it in the end. Congratulations! :)

Ha, finally I've made it!

I've found first thing coffee on an empty stomach to play havoc of my stomach, sometimes forcing me to dumoulin mid session. Personally I've found an energy drink (Maltodextrin with fructose 4:1, as suggested by @skinny either in this thread or the nutrition one) to be pretty good at waking me up and keeping me alive until breakfast.

Did 15 miles this morning, first 10 at about 60-70% then the last 5 at 85-95% so around 55tss. No fuel, just black coffee and took a banana in case. It felt totally fine, just had a protein shake and some toast when I got in. Definitely cleared my head for the day and being out on the roads alone apart from some sleepy hares and the odd runner was a good start to the day. I suspect it'll be even mor enjoyable when it's not raining.

I'm just not sure whether it'd be of more benefit to do properly fuelled sweet spot hours instead.

Not ridden for a month now. Still suffering with viral illness - glands, tiredness, achy etc. Gradually getting better now only feel shit in the afternoon.

Gone from caring about CTL etc to just wanting to feel anything other than shit.

That won't stop a cold and it's carbs you need to be ingesting. I'm sure there's a study about adequate CHO intake during endurance exercise reducing illness.

http://www.mysportscience.com/single-post/2015/07/06/The-proteinforquickrecovery-myth

No, I have low red blood AND thick blood, the worst of both worlds.

#stillwincommutes

Is a strong coffee first thing out of bed a bad idea ?

Strong coffee is never a bad idea.

Coffee, then shit, before you leave. Simples.

Not convinced it's from cycling too hard. I delivered food around the Glasgow for 2 winters for 3 nights a week whilst working another full time job. That was basically intervals broken up by sitting sodding wet waiting for the next order, and I rarely got sick. This was in addition too my regular weekend riding.

Did 580km at the weekend with only a wee bivvy sleep in the middle and avoided getting sick so far, which is good I guess.

I do, but then the second more violent shit rears it's ugly head just a short while after I leave the house.

You got off the dunny too soon. Can you give the coffee more time to kick in?

Yeah that's probably it. I'm up, drink coffee get dressed and out the door in 20 minutes normally, the result of me trying to maximise sleep time.

I should probably just get up earlier and chill a bit rather than rushing out of the door.

I vary. At the moment my sleep patterns are still fucked so I'm up late and slow leaving the house. Normally I'd neck a coffee, leave, get to work, etc.

When you find out what it is, let me know. I've had the same on/ off for 18 months.

6 weeks on and I'm able to do an hour Z2. 25-30W down and weak as. Lost weight but also muscle.

Blood test and historical trawl of bloods reveals low white count and borderline low thyroid ie more prone to infection and less able to deal with.

First time riding fixed for over a year and can barely walk today. Seriously, steps and the like are AGONY. Only put in 15km over the weekend, fairly slow.

Think I'm reasonably fit, have put in over 10,000 road km's since I last rode fixed. What gives?!

DOMS? Is walking downstairs particularly horrid?

You've clearly caught Fixed Gear Zika virus from your bike. You both need to be quarantined asap.

Saddle height? Cleat position?