Things were going well until yesterday

junii

Hi,

Ill have had the bike SCR3 2 weeks now on Friday. For the first week I was doing 6 or 7 miles every day. Now since last Friday I have been doing 10 miles every day. Yesterday though I found it really difficult and today was very hard. I have been trying to maintain a good average speed since I got the cycle computer last week. Fri, Sat and Sun was 22km/h avg and yesterday I got it up to 24. Today was 20km/h and I didn't enjoy the cycling at all. My diet isn't 100% at the moment but its not bad and I definitely am eating enough to provide the energy for the cycle. I have been pushing slightly trying to build up the muscles in my legs. I had no soreness or anything in my muscles yesterday or today before the cycle to indicate that my muscles need recovery time. This evening after todays cycle though my muscles definitely need recovery time.

I am not cycling now tomorrow. I may not cycle Thursday depending on how I feel. In your opinion am I doing too much? Perhaps im going about building strength and fitness in the wrong way?

Im just confused as to why I found it so difficult the last two days when my body seemed fine and normal before hand.

Im not sure if this is relevant but up until getting my bike nearly two weeks ago, I hadn't done anysort of physical training or exercise for a few years.

blorg

To me this sounds exactly like you are just pushing yourself a _little_ too much. This is especially likely if you haven't exercised for years. If you feel it's really difficult one day, take a rest day (from your post you _probably_ should have taken this today, but no matter, tomorrow is fine.)

Thursday see how you feel. Set out with the intention of doing something short, say just 3-4 miles. Don't push yourself. At the end of that see if you feel like doing a bit more. If you do, great, but if you don't, don't! You'll do more in the long run this way and avoid injury.

20-24km/h average speed is perfectly decent and excellent for a beginner. Personally I would concentrate more on distance than average speed though, and just try upping it gradually (the "standard" suggested amount is 10% a week.) You can up your distance pretty much without limit but no so your speed; there are (crazy) people who cycle near 5,000km continuously, but you could win the Tour de France with an average only twice what you are doing right now. During the cycle, if you are feeling tired, just cycle slower. Ignore the average speed, if you work on your distance this will look after itself with time.

PS: It helps if you quote your distances in kilometres too, much better for the motivation ;-)

cunnins4

Sounds like you're over doing it buddy. Rest is as important as exercise. I found that out a while ago. Try doing 3 cycles a week if you're really enthusiastic. Make 'em long, and not too strenuous. On the return leg of the journey, maybe lash the pedals out of it a bit, get your legs burning and the heart pumping (but not too much!).

You won't become lance armstrong over night, so don't get too stressed out. Just enjoy it, cycling's great for clearing your head and chilling out.

EDIT: Oh, and do you have a water bottle on the bike? Even on short rides hydration is HUGELY important! Drink, drink, and drink some more, eventually, you will become addicted to water. Great stuff so it is.

rubadub

junii wrote:

I had no soreness or anything in my muscles yesterday or today before the cycle to indicate that my muscles need recovery time.

They do not have to be sore to need recovery. After about 8 months of lifting weights my muscles are no longer sore after a hard workout. You need the rest.
If you want to build leg muscles you can cycle in high gear up steep hills at a fast pace. You only need to do this for a short time, in effect this is weight training. A lot of cyclists will warn against high gears being bad for the knees, that is because they are cycling for 6hours on the trot, doing 6 hours of continuous squats wouldnt be good for the knees either!
You should do the high gear work at the start of the cycle, then lower the gears for the rest of the session, so it is like doing weight work and then cardio.

http://www.drmirkin.com/fitness/cycling_leg_strength.html