It was an early, but promising start, with a beautiful sunrise in my rear view mirror as I headed North. A blue sky rose up high in front of me, with just a few wispy white clouds around that marked just how high up the cold atmosphere went. The temperature on the car said -1 degrees. 'Lovely' I thought, 'Perfect cycling day!'.
And it was a perfect cycling day, with just a few ice patches to spice up some of the descents. Our route ventured into Wales with the intention of climbing over the Horseshoe Pass near Llangollen. Unfortunately however, we never got there! Somebody mysteriously put a hill called 'Yr Ochr' in the way!
If you've never ridden over this horrendous climb, then have a look on my Strava profile and give it a go. It's near Llangollen and is a sort of offroad / road combination that basically just goes straight over the local mountain. No messing around with hairpins like those soft Frenchy's etc use! My standard gear these days of 39x23 was hideously overgeared - especially when weight and fitness aren't what they ought to be! Consequently (I kid you not) each pedal stroke was a bit like doing a 1 rep max lunge! To say I had shaky legs over the top is an understatement! Whether you're a cyclist or not, at some point in your life, if you love fitness, you should try riding up a 'proper' hill without stopping!
I would certainly say I bit off more than I could chew this ride... To be technical, you'd probably call it 'Over-reaching'. Over-reaching is doing a bit more damage than is optimum in a training session, so that it impacts on your next few sessions. I certainly won't be doing my normal Monday strength training tomorrow - or if I do, it'll be adapted and less intense! Training effectively is a manipulation of your FITT Principles (Frequency of training, Intensity of training, Time spent training and Type of training). Push too hard in one of these area's and you'll have to compensate in another. In this instance, my intensity was too hard, therefore my frequency of training this week may well be reduced.
Over-reaching in a one-off session isn't great, but it isn't the end of the world. Over-reaching repetitively however could certainly do some damage. You'd probably call that 'Over-training'. Over-training can lead to lots of physical ailments including reduction in performance, chronic injuries and an under-performing immune system.
It's sometimes hard to spot when over-reaching or over-training occurs. Finding the balance between physical stressors that cause perfect fitness progression and those that go a bit too far is a real art. The most obvious advice is to listen to your body. Maybe take your resting pulse each morning and see if it's elevated the day after training (ie, have an easy day). Ultimately though, just be sensible. Don't go out and smash yourself up every time you train. If you feel tired, wait before training again. Training when you're tired isn't going to be beneficial anyway! Make sure that whatever you're doing has an objective, even if that objective is 'active recovery'.
Right, my amazing wife to be is about to dish up dinner, so I'm off to fill up before I chew my own leg off.
Paul
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