CanadianBiker32

at moment for much of june i did a few road races in the Masters Level which involved plane travel to 3 destinations then then 2 road trips for more races.
last race was bad
i could not get out of ZONE 1 HRT and just rode out course
at moment i am suffering depression, no motivation, soreness, tired all the time and self doubt

what should i do on this?
would taking 10 days off the bike and doing nothing be the key to this situation?
thanks

dabac

Deal with the depression - get professional help - and the riding will sort itself out.

rubiksoval

Stop flying to races. Do local stuff that's fun with no pressure. That way when you have a bad day (and every single person that rides a bike has a bad day), you're not out hundreds of dollars and loads of time away.

Carbonfiberboy 

No, this is so typical. You're fine, you're just way overcooked. You really have to start taking your morning HR or using HRV app on a smartphone or something to get a handle on your response to training load. The stress of plane travel and etc. obviously didn't help. Hormones go all crazy. Overtraining of this sort is "just" hormonal, but because your glands take longer to recover than anything, it's a slow hole to dig out of. I wouldn't just stop. I'd ride maybe 30' - 1 hr. almost every day on the trainer. Take it really easy, as it is said, little girl with pink bicycle pace. Maybe every 5-6 days, go out and hit a hill and see if your HR comes up normally. Keep up with the program until it does. And get lots of sleep. That's really important. 9 hours/night. Maybe an afternoon nap, too. Not being able to get a good night's sleep is another symptom. Try to, though.

CanadianBiker32

Yes right now this has happened. I took a week off bike to prepare for a big race last week, a 100 mile mt bike race. i felt fine, at start of race, but on starting i found I was not even able to get my HRT out of zone 1 at all. yet felt fine, the whole 8 hours of riding.
So it was not good day on bike. so i took a week off again, no racing for awhile, and finally rode again about 7 days off and i still can;t get out of zone 1 or barely ride at any pace.

So what is this? over training? i feel i was not overtraining though before as in riding too much, but i have the symptoms.
any one have articles or advice on this situation?

Carbonfiberboy 

Sounds to me like full-blown overtraining syndrome (OTS). I've always thought that it's hormonal and that it takes a long time to get one's glands back functioning properly again. This may take months. My take is probably too simplistic, though. Here's a decent look at the complexity of it:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3435910/

The most reliable method of prevention that I've found is this one: https://www.peakendurancesport.com/e...ng-prevention/

Another tool which I use is TrainingPeak Premium, using the Performance Manager Chart.

CanadianBiker32

thanks for the articles on overtraining. its similar, however my training load did not really reflect some aspects though, but then again it can.

CanadianBiker32

What u suggest I do in next few weeks

Myosmith

I suggest that the first thing you do is get a checkup from your physician. There are many causes of physical and mental depression, some of which are physiological rather than psychological. Try to re-balance your training, nutrition and recovery. I wouldn't stop riding altogether, but maybe back off the training and competition for a while and just enjoy the ride. Get plenty of sleep and rest (not necessarily the same thing).

If the depression is interfering with your daily life and relationships, getting worse, or causing you to think about harming yourself or others, seek professional help right away. Likewise, if you check out physically and a period of rest and healthful lifestyle don't bring you around in short order, seek professional help.