Finding it difficult to get my heart rate up

[black'n'yellow]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overtraining

IMO, the OP is extremely unlikely to be experiencing a regular, consistent training load anything like close enough to the point where genuine 'over training' could even be considered a possibility.

having 'tired legs' is not the same thing as 'over training'.

 

[Edwardoka]

the OP is extremely unlikely to be experiencing a regular, consistent training load anything like close enough to the point where genuine 'over training' could even be considered a possibility.

Assuming I'm still the OP after this thread was so spectacularly derailed ; it's definitely not overtraining!

As you say, I've not been riding at anything like a high enough intensity or duration for it to be fatigue or related to insufficient recovery - in fact, since the Queen's View climbs on the CC Ecosse ride, I'd argue that I've not been able to ride at intensity.

I'm an experienced enough rider to know that something's not right - it's not caused by the normal exercise/recovery cycle and has nothing to do with my technique or cadence - hence the doctor's appointment to find out what's going on!

Cheers
Ed

 

[black'n'yellow]

Definitely the water then - or MI6.. Good luck with the doc.

 

[400bhp]

Yeah, good luck. Sorry, I didn't mean to jump on your thread.

 

[Upstream]

Assuming I'm still the OP after this thread was so spectacularly derailed ; it's definitely not overtraining!

As you say, I've not been riding at anything like a high enough intensity or duration for it to be fatigue or related to insufficient recovery - in fact, since the Queen's View climbs on the CC Ecosse ride, I'd argue that I've not been able to ride at intensity.

I'm an experienced enough rider to know that something's not right - it's not caused by the normal exercise/recovery cycle and has nothing to do with my technique or cadence - hence the doctor's appointment to find out what's going on!

Cheers
Ed

Sorry about that.

 

[Edwardoka]

Sorry about that.

No it's fine
I didn't expect it to turn into a flamewar though...!

 

[Edwardoka]

Assuming I'm still the OP

Sorry, that wasn't intended that to sound like criticism, I think there was some confusion as to who was the OP in the later part of the thread and I was trying to clear up who it was who was being addressed latterly.

 

[Garz]

Post back with your quacks opinion. In light of the derailment and re-reading your OP it sounds like not enough information for anyone to mildly stab a guess at. When the doc has extracted some additional information and checked you out lets hope it's nothing serious Ed.

 

[Edwardoka]

Doctor couldn't find anything wrong with my cardio (HR/BP nominal, no murmur or any noise from my lungs).

I don't think I was very good at communicating the problem - as in, at the start of January I did a 70 miler and climbed Mennock Pass with no problem despite being overweight, but last week I struggled on the flat with a massive tailwind (hell, even climbing the stairs on a bus gives me burny legs, despite having been off the bike for a week)

I do have some other symptoms that made him think "maybe it's thyroid related", so he took a blood test - hopefully I'll get some useful information!

Cheers
Ed

 

[rowdin]

It could be thyroid, when mine went tits up, I had heart trouble. I could'nt ride to work without getting off and resting for a bit. Best of all it would stop beating once every 20 seconds, it would only miss one beat in 20 seconds or so but at 3am in the morning, it gets you out of bed quicker then being set on fire Well maybe not on fire, but I was not a happy bunny.

 

[Edwardoka]

It could be thyroid, when mine went tits up, I had heart trouble. I could'nt ride to work without getting off and resting for a bit. Best of all it would stop beating once every 20 seconds, it would only miss one beat in 20 seconds or so but at 3am in the morning, it gets you out of bed quicker then being set on fire Well maybe not on fire, but I was not a happy bunny.

Yikes - that's scary! Hope you're doing better now though.

The doc asked if I was having chest pains or anything like that, but I haven't. Only thing I can think of is that my RHR has been somewhat higher than usual (85 vs 65) and I've been aware of my heartbeat when first getting up in the morning, but he said it likely wasn't anything to be concerned about at this stage.

 

[rowdin]

Fine now thanks, as soon as I started on the medication things went back to normal. I hope it all works out for you Ed.

 

[Upstream]

Yikes - that's scary! Hope you're doing better now though.

The doc asked if I was having chest pains or anything like that, but I haven't. Only thing I can think of is that my RHR has been somewhat higher than usual (85 vs 65) and I've been aware of my heartbeat when first getting up in the morning, but he said it likely wasn't anything to be concerned about at this stage.

Hi again - I may be way off track here but my understanding is that one of the signs of over training is an increase in resting heart rate. Also - if you're becoming a little anxious about things, this can also cause an increase in heart rate whenever your thinking about it (for example when testing your resting heart rate). I'm curious... Do your thighs feel tender if you squeeze them? Mine did - very tender but I do have a bit of an update on this...

On Saturday (just a few days after completing my January challenge) I had to go out shopping and walked up three flights of stairs. Whilst I wasn't at all tired doing that, my thighs were burning when I approached the top. I had a 30 mile scheduled for the next day so I was a little concerned about how I'd perform. Anyway, I did the ride and although it was a bit windy, the average speed was over 16mph which for me is around 1mph quicker than I usually ride in non - windy conditions.

Following some of the advice within your thread, since then I've taken it easy and just done some light spinning (around 20 miles of which half was on Monday evening and the other half on Tuesday evening). I didn't do anything on Wed evening and the tenderness in the thighs has almost completely gone now. What I plan to do for the remainder of the week is continue with light spin work. I'll then hit the roads again over the weekend and I'll report back but I expect that I may have just been overdoing it in Jan (averaging over 125 miles per week instead of my usual 50 or so).

 

[Edwardoka]

Hi again - I may be way off track here but my understanding is that one of the signs of over training is an increase in resting heart rate. Also - if you're becoming a little anxious about things, this can also cause an increase in heart rate whenever your thinking about it (for example when testing your resting heart rate). I'm curious... Do your thighs feel tender if you squeeze them? Mine did - very tender but I do have a bit of an update on this..

Nah, I've been off the bike for 9 days now and still have burning legs as I write this. The reason for the higher RHR is likely to be because I have come down with a cold as well.

It really doesn't sound like you were overtraining but rather that you were overreaching - particularly if a few days off has helped.

Cheers
Ed

 

[Upstream]

Nah, I've been off the bike for 9 days now and still have burning legs as I write this. The reason for the higher RHR is likely to be because I have come down with a cold as well.

It really doesn't sound like you were overtraining but rather that you were overreaching - particularly if a few days off has helped.

Cheers
Ed

I had to look "over reaching" up as I had initially thought that it and "over training" referred to the same thing. Yes - I think you're probably right. In my case I had gone up from riding around 50 miles per week to over 120 and had done that for 4 weeks straight.

Hopefully you'll back back on form in no time at all!