The Usual Overtraining Warning

I was just reading the latest Road Bike Rider ezine (which comes out every Thursday) and, to celebrate the first day of summer, they gave a warning about overtraining. I wish I would have paid attention to that last year!

If you want to learn more about overtraining, just check out their ebook, High-Intensity Training for Cyclists. If you want to read a bit more about a real world overtraining experience, read on…

I had to laugh when I read their last bit of advice…

Ignore recovery training and you may dig yourself a hole that not even a week or two off the bike can cure. Then you may really lose fitness!

You just don’t really get it unless you know (from personal experience) where they’re coming from! In my case, that week or two was more like a month or two! The worst part is, you don’t realize you are overtrained until it’s too late!

It wasn’t until my first mountain bike race this year that I realized I was suffering from severe overtraining. Just like being brainwashed by government propaganda, I got caught up in my training routine and kept subjecting my mind and body to overtraining without thinking!

I’ll keep filling you in on this fiasco over the next few days, but for now, here’s some advice: Go do a fun recovery ride. It won’t hurt, and might give you enough time to think about the big picture!