Failing all around

To be honest, the deficiencies are getting sorted through prescription supplements. Including the hormone imbalance. Diet plays a role. I’ve been a chronic under eater for years, which doesn’t help, affects the hormone balance and causes ballooning weight.

What I didn’t realise before though, was some vitamin deficiencies can really have a huge effect on mental sharpness, mental health, energy levels, vision. All sorts really. It’s quite bizarre.

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@DameLisa Glad it’s getting sorted out. Good luck on your continued journey through life.

I’ve also had my share of bodily betrayals. A combination of medication, lifestyle changes, and better eating habits seems to have gotten things under control. In fact, my move to indoor cycling training and Sufferfest/SYSTM was part of an adjustment to an encroaching third chronic condition. That, along with some other adjustments, is so far holding off the need for more medication.

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This is good to share. I can see that general vitamin/supplements may not work for everyone.

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@ErickT The last plan period doing HM mid-plan and then FF at the end worked fine for me. This plan period I skipped HM mid-plan as the timing just didn’t gel with work and life outside of training.

I definitely have been frustrated in the past with results but now just try to roll with it and keep moving forward.

I didn’t see this suggested, but is this sort of sudden? Get tested for COVID. Seriously. If you have it, you HAVE to stay off the bike. No heavy extertation or you may find yourself in hospital. If not, take a week of LIGHT pedaling. Then come back and give a moderate effort a go. Overreaching/training is a wickedly evil thing that will get you in a bad way and keep you there for a long time.

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More building/declining since last year.

How did you sleep last night?

Hi Erick, sorry to hear this. I don’t have much to add to the suggestions above, but maybe also talk to a coach about the training side of things once you’re sure the medical side of things is clear. Even a one-off session might be enough to identify some changes you could make. I hope you get this sorted out, and look forward to seeing you at some races in 2022.

Ugh. Kind of meh. Normally I fall asleep pretty quick. Not last night. I think after 45 minutes I was finally starting to drift off and got woken up. Tried to go back to sleep. Stomach grumbling. Got up and ate 2 PB&Js. Think I feel asleep 40 minutes later so close to midnight. I remember waking up a few times. My wife’s alarm accidentally went off around 6. Finally gave up and got up at 7.

Whoop gave me a 92% efficiently and 8:11 hours of sleep against a need of 8:53 and 1:43 mins of slow wave/deep sleep. So a 43% recovery score.

AutoSleep on my watch said 9:30 sleep, clearly awake until almost midnight, waking up at 7:30 am. 4:30 mins of slow wave deep sleep. So a readiness score of 2 stars.

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It’s been over the past year, starting last fall. I think I really started struggling more this past spring. Slower race times, struggling with heat, struggling with a flat zone 2/3 half century, missing distance goals, no interest in cyclocross, struggling to complete sub threshold workouts…

I’ve had all three covid vaccine doses - had the booster and flu shoot three weeks ago - really knocked me down. First two doses of the covid vaccine were nothing.

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Thank you Wayne. This is a good idea.

Kind of went through the same thing. Everything I would start training for would end up being cancelled, and finding other to ride with regularly was difficult. Took some time to just do some random unstructured riding. Also helped looking back through my older routes and finding some places I hadn’t ridden since I was doing a lot of solo riding/training. Training for a Gran Fondo in Northern Japan now…hopefully it doesn’t get cancelled.

Here are some podcasts about sleep:

Very much so.

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OK. That eliminates that as a possibility. It may be overtraining and that’s NEVER good. Time for a bike break as others suggested. Better you choose than it be chosen for you. I had a six week break starting on New Year’s Day due to a serious injury caused by a hiking fall.

Hi Erik,

Curiously is this a two part concern? Is the SYSTM difficulty fairly new while the degradation in performance capability long term?

The reason I ask, is that I had a similar problem when I quit Sufferfest mid-training plan due to frustration with the rebrand. Then when I finally did try SYSTM, ALL the workouts (even recoveries) were harder than before and some I could not even finish. It turned out for me that for some unknown reason my 4DP profile was not pulled over properly and did not even show up in my profile in SYSTM. Then one magic day my profile came in and viola, it was back to normal.

The second part of your concern, being a continuous couple year degradation I have also experienced and still am. Mine started before Covid, due to work responsibilities and then I got Covid in January 2020 and lasted about a month and a half, with relatively mild symptoms but my 02 levels dropped by about 4 points and remain low (96 to 97% at rest and they drop down to 94% or lower when exercising). Then I had to get vaccinated for work and with each shot my breathing and physical performance got worse. I’ve gained 10 to 15 lbs which makes it even worse still.

There’s also the whole age thing… I’m an over 55 rider and my performance has been on a slow decline for years, which is normal as we age. That’s probably my biggest gripe with SYSTM currently, is that the workout plans seem like they are designed for 20 somethings, not old men who need long warmups and cool downs as well as less intense sessions.

@ErickT , I hope you figure this out! We can only know what we know, so it’s great you’re getting advice from several angles. On the medical side, do get your thyroid hormones checked. Being hypothyroid can feel just like overtraining. All the best to you!

HI @toddsdonald welcome back! With regards to the lack of warm up/cool downs perhaps you could do Igniter as a warm up or Open 15/30 as cool downs.

Likewise, dialing down the high intensity workouts has no shame and the On Location and Inspiration rides are perfect if you don’t fancy an all out hammer fest!

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No. Changing from SUF to SYSTM had no impact. This has been going on for the past year and getting worse/more frustrating.

Hi Steve,

Unfortunately I would never do that, (Admittedly it’s the principle of the thing). I pick out a plan, and either the plans are built correctly or they’re not, but I will follow the plan. So in this case, it’s disappointing SYSTM does not offer plans for older cyclists. Just a guess, but I would assume there are likely more over 40 and 50 year old riders using indoor training than 20 or 30 somethings anyway. And don’t get me started on the 2 to 7 minute warm ups and a 1 to 3 minute cool down for an intense 45 minute or hour long workout, which is insanity for an older person, but I am following the science and the workouts as they are. So for now, following workouts designed for a 20 year old, the suffering is substantial, but when I ride outdoors I train more appropriately for my age.

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