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Old 07-22-18, 11:08 PM
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Dreww10
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Is this adrenal fatigue/overtraining?

So eight weeks ago I headed out for a training ride to do some sweet spot work. Ten miles in, my body bonks in a way I've never experienced before. It legitimately felt like I had skipped eating for a month and went for a bike ride...just felt like death. I slow down and head home but struggle just to turn the pedals. I immediately take a rest week, cutting volume by 50% and keeping the effort no higher than recovery pace. Following that week off, I attempt two more rides (not anything high-intensity) and again my body crashes hard around 10 miles in. I continued to try riding every two or three days in the weeks following, and my legs and body would feel recovered with the rest between each attempt, but would crash out shortly after starting time and again.

My power was completely sapped, and I've had no endurance beyond about 20 miles. Usually a 20+ mph rider, it's been everything I want to average 17-flat, and the smallest of hills I Iack the power to pedal up. Even at a slow pace, there was a burning sensation in the legs like that of lactic acid build-up when you're really riding hard. Muscle soreness post-ride has been fairly high. My resting heart was and still is completely normal during this whole period, but my heart rate while riding has been highly elevated (around 15-20 bpm high for a given output, and reaching near my max heart rate is easily attainable). Tuesday will mark eight weeks since this began - I've logged no more than four hours of riding in any week since, and most weeks are about 2.5 hours (two rides at 20 miles each, 15-16 mph). For the most part I've kept the output low, with some moderate effort to gauge where I'm at, and I've noticed a slight improvement the last couple of weeks, but I'm a long, long way from normal.

My mileage and intensity early in the year wasn't out of my conditioned norm by any means, and I generally was taking three completely off-the-bike rest days a week up until this occurred, with on average about 8.5 hours a week of training. That said, I was encountering some consistent fatigue/power loss during the spring that I hadn't in years past and would brush off and just rest for a day or two. At the time of the initial bonk that set this off, I had rested up, felt and rode great in the days leading up to it, and was mentally motivated.

I saw a general practitioner a couple of weeks back whose initial suspicion is adrenal fatigue and referred me to a specialist, who I won't see for another month. In the meantime, I've been working to perhaps self-diagnose and treat, if indeed adrenal fatigue. It's my understanding that adrenal fatigue and overtraining are closely correlated, however, other than the complete and sudden inability to ride a bike, I've had no illness, elevated resting heart rate, sleep loss, or anything else generally associated with overtraining. Thoughts, similar experiences?

Last edited by Dreww10; 07-22-18 at 11:16 PM.
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