… and THANK YOU to fellow Sufferlandrians on this forum, the MTP program and the Real Science of Sport podcast.
My recent story (in the hope that this may be of some assistance to others in the future). Was supposed to be brief but …:
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Been cruising with my training (indoor and out) for almost a year - no sickness/ injuries (or travel
) taking me away from my bike. Crushing things really. Reached my first Mt Sufferlandria in style with an HC Mountain TT taking 5 minutes off my previous best. -
Week off then into All Purpose Road with Strength with next 2 Mt Sufferlandrias being FTP>4W/kg and NM>1000. Trained hard, slept well, ate well and really watched my protein intake.
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Mid-plan: Covid vax 1 - HM a day later with numbers where I expected them to be: FTP = 265/ MAP = 331.
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Then the vaccine hit me - nailed me for 10 - 12 days and missed a few rides on the plan.
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Back into it with new numbers and apart from very first (14 Vise Grips - still recovering), crushed all the workouts on my new numbers (The Chores and such like which tested them).
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Covid vax 2 3w later - learnt and took it easy for a week (Recovery week anyway). Back into it/ back on track.
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Then PAIN (sacro-iliac - old injury) - worsening. Battling to get to sleep and waking up because of it. Tried to push through!
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Then cancer scare with my wife. Surgery 1. A week later Surgery 2 with 5 days in hospital. News all GOOD! A long Recovery though with no driving for the first three weeks, no heavy lifting etc so a necessary shift in our usually balanced care of our many many animals and daughter.
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Continued to try to push through but PAIN/ little sleep/ concern for my wife and crazy running around eventually nailed me.
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Sought help for my back and doubled week 12 pushing FF to end of week 13
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Got worse and eventually took a whole week off the bike. Improving …
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Week 14 - planned FF Prep plan. Ate well, slept well, planned well. And really felt the last few weeks on every workout - HR in Zone above when it’s usually bottom of zone it should be in. Really knew my FF was’t going to give me the numbers I have worked so hard for. Really wanted to cancel it.
THEN: listened to Real Science of Sport’s latest podcast: How fast do we lose fitness/ The art of fitness resilience (HIGHLY recommend). And then I knew I had to change my mindset. Yes, I’ve lost fitness and won’t get my numbers this time. Yes, they may be pretty bad. But they’ll be non-existent if I don’t do it. And as a Sufferlandrian I DO NOT QUIT.
Overdosed on MTP modules (THANK YOU) and finally did FF today. It was as hard as it’s supposed to be. Harder?! Had to again re-swallow my breakfast after the last minute. No, didn’t get the numbers I would have got 8 weeks ago. But I surprised myself by being up across the board from my previous FF. My 5 minute was a steady decline which left me dreading my 20. A minute in I wanted to pull out. Yet I kept that pace steady for 20 minutes, being absolutely empty at the end!!! MTP!
And then I looked at my Strava data - Fitness curve. I’m normally between 50 and 56. 51 for my last FF, 50 for my last HM. 29 today! In its boots.
So thank you fellow Sufferlandrians for your inspiration through this forum, Sufferfest’s MTP program which is truly magical, and for the Real Science of Sport’s podcast which uses Science to put things in perspective. Well worth following.
Monday I start the KoS Training Plan - will Storm the Castle on 10 July. And as per the Science discussed in the podcast I reckon I’ll be manually upping my figures over the next few weeks as GvA’s workouts all become too easy … With mental strength and willpower that skyrocketed today.
