I'm useless after the Pioneer

[Tieffels]

I went through the same after the Epic (which went very well and I was very strong), took almost 3 months off and then entered some shortish races, was amazed at how utterly useless I was. And I was not even riding hard, just out for some fun. It was like starting all over again. Also went the 32GI route (useless for me), then after a while switched back to Malto, seemed to have made a huge difference.. But now only after a fair bit of training am I feeling strong again.

 

Basically what I learnt is that after peaking in my fitness I wont ever take such a long break again, man it goes out the window quickly..

[Brighter-Lights]

You'll be surprised how much your body changes in 3 weeks doing nothing... I'll look it up in the training bible and come back.

[Rietrot]

Mongoose man!

You sound like a guy thats riding a MERIDA 96 with a TEDDY BEAR on the handle bar.... Get on the bike and peddal the teeth off the cluster!!!

[Borriz]

You can't expect "rest" to work wonders and expect to keep the same level of fitness. Eithe you rest for rest, or you train to get fit.

 

Your nutrition plays a massive role and shouldn't be discounted. It takes me 3 weeks from an extended rest (say 2-4weeks) before I'm starting to feel the effect of training. Then you do only base training and spin at 90 - 100 cadence about twice a week and then relaxing out rides.

 

Advise given to me is to "wake-up" your legs before a race or hard ride the day before if you've rested for 7 days. You basically warm up for 15minutes and then do 3-4 short 2 minute intervals. Then a 10min cool down.

 

The CPT is very difficult (made to believe even more difficult than Epic) which means your muscles are damaged and requires proper rest and slow increase in training.

[mongoose_dude]

chickenrun4me, brighter-lights and borriz: On some level that is very comforting to hear... I guess I really underestimated how much the off-time led to fitness loss. Will keep that in mind..

 

rietrot: Indeed, I am the guy with th 96 and the PANDA (not teddy). I take it you did the Pioneer...? And who would you be

 

paulvs: you may be right, but I seriously feel a lack of power that I know was there before the time. Definitely not all psychological.

 

Bottom line: I really doubt I'm gonna be ready for Attakwas. Even if I start riding again regularly now, I simply don't know what the best type of training would be. Gonna try to do some low-intensity rides for now, couple of times a week. Atta might just be a total nightmare

[George Nel]

Go for a blood test,maybe you're anemic.

Was my problem as well trained like hell,got the nutrition wrong,could'nt do anything.

Supplements are not a bad idea either?

[Borriz]

The CPT would've given you the endurance and base. All you need to do is start slowely and you'll see the improvement in 3-4 weeks. Slowely as in slowely. Nothing above 70% max HR. This will help your base training and will get everything working again. Attakwas is very possible as long as you listen to your body.

 

Check your ability to recover when your HR hits 70 or 75%. If it takes more than a minute then you're fatigued and should rest. If it drops quickly then you're regaining fitness and it might be nutrition or in your head.

 

My 10cents

[Ingo]

My guess is that you peaked for CPT so you can have a good race. If that is the case then you will not be on a peak for Attas so don't try and go for the win, you will only hurt yourself. Pick your two major races for next year, roughly where you expect to peak, and train towards them, the rest is just part of the training (and a bit of pain thrown in for good measure). If you are Kevin Evans then you might squeeze another one out in one year.

[Wyatt Earp]

Take a week off, chow some apple pie , watch tv. Sit with the pins up, drink some beer and stretch .

[Dicky DQ]

Well I am entered in the Atte and this is to kick start the training. All depends how you handle it.