struggling with my health and fitness, or lack of fitness.
back on blood thinning meds, as a safety precaution. they dont agree with me, but consultant has advised i stay on em for 3 more months.
i am constantly cold, and constantly tired. very heavy legged, like i have ridden miles, but i am only riding 20 miles per day x 6 days. always rest 1 day at the weekend.

cant blame it on beer as i am not drinking at present, still sticking to a low carb eating plan.
i just feel tired and off it all the time. beginning to get me down to be honest. sick of meds, sick of hospital visits, sick of not getting any fitter.

idea’s appreciated.

i am constantly cold, and constantly tired. very heavy legged, like i have ridden miles, but i am only riding 20 miles per day x 6 days. always rest 1 day at the weekend.

There’s your problem. Take a week off.

20 miles a day though. That’s pretty impressive!

Sorry can’t offer any advice.

It’s called over-training Ton. You need to take the occasional day off to let your body recover.

Wot they said above. Be kind to yourself, have a few days respite, eat some carb rich foods and enjoy the time off 🙂

What they said, and I assume the meds may affect things too?

Diet ok otherwise?

I can’t offer any advice, but I think 20 miles ad day is pretty good. If you’re feeling tired a lot, would an electric bike help on alternate days? I believe you had one but aren’t that keen on em, but they can be a useful tool.
Feel sorry that you want to get out but feel crap, i feel fine but cba riding most of the time.

, still sticking to a low carb eating plan.

+

20 miles per day x 6 days.

= tiredness

You need to eat properly and rest. Your body is only just coping with the recovery from illness and you are stopping that happening by stressing it with dieting and exercising so it can’t repair itself.

When I diet I always feel cold, don’t know why but it’s common for dieters.

Eat a bit more, better balanced diet, few more carbs too. Knock the cycling back a fair bit.

If you want to be riding for decades to come to you need to stop for a bit now. Not stopping could ensure you may increase the risk of not being able to cycle ever again if your body doesn’t recover.

On a lighter note Ton, you rode past me near halfords this week as I was walking back to my car from work. Your Surly looks amazing in the colour!

I advocate a split week riding. Take alternate days on the bike, one on/one off for the next month. On the day off total rest and eat very well, stock up on protein and carbs.

Sounds like a combination of meds/change in diet and lack of beer putting your body through some sort of detox regime.

Don’t give up on your new path, just make sure you eat according to your needs and rest.

IMO.

Lack of beer and reducing your usual carbs (simple/complex) will have lessened your sugar intake a large amount so it may take a while for your body to adjust if it’s been relying on sugars for energy, perhaps try incorporating more “good” carbs such as sweet potato into your diet. As an aside have you ever tried taking probiotics for your gut biome? – you could make your own kimchi or kombucha or take a good probiotic supplement such as VSL#3.

And like others have said, prob best to cut down on the cycling for a few weeks till you feel up to it.

diet is pretty good to be honest. plenty of steamed veg, cook fresh every night. plenty good protein. just crap carbs i have stopped, bread, pasta, rice, biscuits and stuff.

seeing a haematology doctor at LGI on thursday about my blood. see what he has to say.

noted about taking it easy for a while…cheers all.

If you’re doing 120 miles a week you’re already pretty fit! Mixing things up a bit might help, faster shorter rides broken up with longer steadier pace. If that 20m is a fixed commute that you can’t easily change then you can at least try some intervals one day, then gentle for a couple to recover etc.

But a bit more rest would be a good starting point too. You’re doing a lot of hours at the moment.

You need more than steamed veg if you’re doing 20 miles a day for 6 days a week AND trying to recover your health. Try eating a bit more and/or having one more rest day for a couple of weeks and see if that helps?

Pasta isn’t crap carbs. Dude you are MASSIVE, there’s not many living humans as big as you. No fat but tall and stocky. You need some carbs everyday or your body will consume itself like it has some weird flesh eating virus. If I don’t eat carbs I soon start feeling like crap and I haven’t had all my insides poked and prodded and cut like you have.
Get some porridge down you in the morning, then some carbs at lunch maybe pasta with a salad and some meat. Cut down on the evening meal as you don’t need the energy as much in the evening.

Is it how you’re feeling or the management of your expectation of how you should feel? You know it’s perfectly natural to feel a bit tired if you’re riding a bike 20miles a day, not a ‘cough’ spring chicken any more and on medication.

Maybe If you were expecting to feel washed out and tired you’d be taking it a lot better and not over thinking the reason why?

Would be interesting to know how many of the 120mi/wk are being ridden above basic endurance pace, and how many hours its equating to.
Overtraining wouldn’t be a particularly surprising diagnosis, especially given OP was off the bike injured for a while.

But the feeling cold all the time too suggests maybe something a bit more. I’d give it a week of rest and good eating as a first step, but don’t rule out going to see GP if not feeling substantially better after that week.

I tried a 20 mile each way commute, either side of a days work it was completely unsustainable. And I’m relatively fit and healthy with a deep love of all the food groups.

Sounds like too much energy out and not enough in

You needn’t think your’e having a rest day next Sunday either pal! 😉

New bike’ll sort out the problem.
A Ti one works especially well to improve fitness.
😈

Ton not sure if this makes you feel better or me for getting it of my chest, had a really bad chest infection followed by pleurisy last year and still do not feel right.

I used to cycle every day 15/20 miles a day,and since being ill struggle with fitness and breathing, constantly tired.

Keep telling yourself it will get better.

Whole grain rice and porridge are reasonable carbs

Don’t fear carbs if you’re doing 20 miles a day 6 days a week. Carbs aren’t the enemy, inactivity is – just eat sensible amounts.

as of 2.30 this afternoon, i am now drug free.
blood tests i had last week came back nice and clean. tested for diabetes today, also came back clean. INR reading is good so no more warfarin.

feel like i have had a load lifted…….. aces 8)

*likes*

yeah, that’s fantastic Ton !

… but have you organised a week off the bike yet ?

Good news ton, but still bear in mind what Scotroutes said ^

Hope you feel better soon. Take it easy…

i have, not been near the bike for the last 2 days. just gonna ride when i fancy now, rather that making myself ride every day, as that as been a chore to be honest, and not much fun.

Nice one.

I’ve been reading “Fast over 50” by Joe Friel. He stresses the need for recovery time, for doing more intensive training (not just Long, Slow, Distance) and for some weight training and also covers how we react to over-training (which sounds very similar to what you’ve been experiencing).

TBH, I’m finding it hard going and the idea of having some sort of “training plan” just to get out and enjoy my bike seems all wrong but he’s convinced me that some discipline can make riding more enjoyable. I’m putting some of that into action by having enforced rest days and some gym work. Got to be worth a try?