Comments on: I’m detraining

By: eccles

eccles — Sat, 10 May 2008 11:14:25 +0000

Thanks for the link to that article abstract – I passed it on to a couple of people who suffer from depression from time to time and have not been able to exercise as much as they’d like recently, and they found it helpful.

By: ChrisS

ChrisS — Sat, 10 May 2008 02:09:27 +0000

Actually darling, it's tapering.

Drop that word into any cycling-themed conversation and you'll generally get a few nods of acknowledgment and empathy.

The Bloke does this every year, starting immediately after the Alpine Classic and then gently ramps up again in October.

By: Treadly and Me

Treadly and Me — Fri, 09 May 2008 03:08:29 +0000

Thanks Porl. Sounds like you're returning from a bit further back than me this time. After a three month lay-off last year (from early June to late August), I reckon I understand where you're coming from.

You're dead right though, once you're back on the bike you get most of the conditioning back surprisingly quickly.

By: Porl

Porl — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:49:45 +0000

I feel like I could paraphrase your entire post right now. Starting with: Due to orthopaedic complications, I’ve spent the last few weeks not riding. And I’ve not been able to supplement my days with much other exercise. I’m on the down escalator to detraining.

I've now had over 8 weeks off the bike after being hit by a car while riding to work. In daylight. In a bike lane. I suppose that just reinforces my long-standing bike lane agnosticism. Anyway, I believe I know how you feel. Six weeks into my recovery I started using my mag-trainer to try to retain, or recover, some of my fitness, retraining if you like. All of those things you've described above quickly came to the fore; I expected all of them but that doesn't seem to ease the suffering at all.

Like you, I will also be out for a bit of a trundle this weekend to start trying to rebuild my health and fitness. It's more likely to be a gentle 15-20km with my young son than my usual weekend 70-100km rides. And I expect to get home after a slow 20km feeling like I've done a hard 20 or more km.

Enjoy your recovery. Past experience suggests it will be quicker than you think, and the hardship of those first few rides, coupled with the memory of how (relatively) easy it was before will only serve to motivate you. "But for now, I’ll just be happy to ride again." Too right!