I did the focused option and have done the very fatigued post tour plan so far. My legs still feel sore. All other signs of fatigue have gone away. (Poor sleep, higher resting HR, lack of hunger). Anyone else really sore still? Debating taking tomorrow off to rest.
I did Get me through it and am not doing any post tour plan, and my leg and arm muscles are still quite fatigued. I have only done one gentle xc ski and one half hour recovery ride since the tour.
I know last year, my first tour when I started trying to go nuclear but then dropped down to focused, I was fatigued enough I caught a bad cold and ended up out of action for almost a month.
I was SORE after that one for ages.
This year is ājustā prolonged muscle fatigue. I need to do stairs often at work and a few muscles still burn a bit after Iāve got to the top.
Planning to give myself a couple rest weeks then jump back on with aFF when I am actually rested!
I know my body is just not up for a set exercise plan until at least a couple weeks after ToS! Those who can carry right on, impress me.
I have the exact same observations. Still sore legs. Also did the focussed option and switched to the very fatigued post tour plan. All physiological signs point in the right direction (RHR and HRV are back in to normal range), but the legs arenāt.
During āGetting Away With Itā yesterday I felt really good. Nice low HR and the watts came easy as well. However afterwards the legs felt hammered. Which seems strange to me?
Even this morning they feel like I did a very big session yesterday. Iām about to go out for an easy spin outside. Interesting to see how the legs will feel.
Short answer: youāre not aloneā¦
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Yep, went nuclear and am feeling fresh in my mind, but legs are deeply fatigued. It feels fine for 20-30 mins, but after 40 mins I feel like Iāve been going for 2 hours
Guessing itāll alleviate in a weekās time just before FF (I picked the feeling fresh post-tour plan).
Itās only been a week, so donāt feel bad, itās not long in the grand scheme of things!
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Huh, I am still feeling it too. This surprised me because my training load (by TSS) had been roughly the same prior to the tour BUT the distribution of intensity was dramatically different. I did the feeling fresh recovery option and was able to perform the workouts (MonTuesWed) but with substantial muscular āblockageā that took on the order of 25 minutes before opening up (this can be quite uncomfortable to survive through). Took a rest day on Thursday and I thought on Friday I could get some intensity back in, so I did The Chores. It was incredibly challenging (not normally) and made it very obvious that I am fighting fatigue in the legs. I think my cardio is mostly good to go, but the leg muscles are still trying to find their way home. I will be continuing recovery and endurance rides for a few more days.
Same here - as everyone has said. Did the focused Tour, been on the slightly fatigued recovery plan. Felt good until I did the hour open ride on Saturday at 65-70%. Tanked on Sunday and took a 2 hour nap. Eating lots of protein, staying hydrated but I think the coaches are spot on with a 2 week recovery plan. Hoping it falls together for FF this weekend, but if notā¦a bit more recovery. Just canāt force it especially for those of us in the āmasterās ageā category 
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Same with the legs. I was pretty good after a couple days rest, but leg fatigue definitely lingered a few extra days. ToS recovery plan felt good for Recharger on the 24th and GAwI on the 27th, but ran out of gas on the Moon Rider long(ish) ride yesterday.
Glad Iām in no hurry, I guess. 
Looking forward to my FF next weekend though!
Iām paying very badly with the wrong kind of suffering from my stupidity at not finding time during the Tour for yoga.
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Similar feelings here, which I may have contributed to by riding a half century on Fridayā¦ Iāve kind of abandoned my plan for 4DP on Sunday and may just focus on riding when/what I want for a couple of weeks!
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Feel fine post Tour and after a week far less fatigued. However, doing Moon Rider on Sunday was far harder than it should have been and my body was telling me I am not recovered and the legs were not happy.
Shows how draining the Tour is and how important recovery is - mentally and physically.
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Glad to know Iām not the only one. Full frontal in Sunday shall be interesting.
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Ok, interesting - today I did Taper Efforts - My legs woke up between the 2nd and 3rd set of pain shakes. It was a shift from āI donāt feel rightā to āBring it on.ā The post tour plan calls for a rest day tomorrow. Now I donāt want to do that.
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Recently came across Dylan Johnsonās video on block periodization: How to Get in the Best Shape You've Ever Been In: Block Periodization - YouTube. Suddenly it made sense why I felt so great just after the tour ended, but then finally felt the weight of it come crushing down a few days later.
How much recovery you need from that kind of intense week seems like it varies a lot though. I did a very long outdoor session on Saturday but was smashed on Sunday. I feel great after Taper Efforts today. Going to try to respect the plan and stay off the bike tomorrow, but I may slip in some cross training.
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I watched the video and noticed all the studies have very few participants. Studies of this nature are often plagued by false positives since a few outliers can greatly affect the result. Then there is the question of how closely the individual matches the studied population.