Each week I try to review and reflect on my previous week on the bike. This allows me to see how my fitness and ability is progressing on a wider timescale than day to day. For previous weekly reviews please click here.
This week’s rides were as follows:
- Tuesday – A Day Is Not Enough (Indoor / Zwift)
- Thursday – Zwift Academy 2020: Workout 8 | Anaerobic Depletion (Indoor / Zwift)
- Saturday – Cramp = Bruised Calf? (Indoor / Zwift)
- Sunday – Rivington 10 Climbs (Outdoors)
Most Zwift this week, with one bigger outdoor ride that really took it out of me.
Starting the week off I took Monday as a rest day, followed by a laid back indoor ride on Tuesday.
Even before going into that recovery ride I was questioning whether I should or shouldn’t have had back to back rest days. The longer outdoor ride to Lancaster last weekend really took it out of me. Coming off that one I may have been better off resting properly.
And so that explains why I skipped Wednesday.
For some reason I then thought that by Thursday I would be fully recovered and ready to make good on my designs of having a sprinty week / finishing Zwift Academy 2020. These two were basically one and the same, as that workout 8 ride was a 30 second max effort sprint ride with recoveries.
By the end of that ride I’d cramped up really badly in my right calf which led to bruising… madness. That’s a first for me (I think).
So yet again I took a rest day on Friday.
And yet again I got back on the bike on Saturday just to do an hour and get in some spinning because I didn’t want to overdo any activity with a sore leg.
Perhaps another big ride on Sunday / yesterday wasn’t the most sensible of ideas. However, I loaded up and off I went.
I ended up getting properly soaked yesterday and came home freezing and miserable. You know you’re wet when you stop at a traffic light, get your clipped in pedal ready to push off, and a steady stream of water pours out of the various holes in your shoe.
The rain actually spoiled what could have been a really nice ride there. I’d be up for doing that one again a little later in the year.
As it stands though I think I am going to have tonight off for sure, and maybe tomorrow, too.
I’m a little disappointed that given yesterday was a harder ride than last Sunday, the overall calories burned was about the same. If that’s the case, in terms of efficiency I’d be better off just doing the “easier” ride… surely?
Anyway, whilst I did meet my targets for last week (mainly around sprinting and finishing of ZA2020), I am not going to set myself any this week.
I need to focus a little more on properly recovering. Right now I’m feeling it from yesterday, and going into yesterday I was only just about recovered from the previous weekend. It’s still early in the year, the weathers pretty crappy, and I should be pacing myself a bit better.
About the only goal I have this week is to get back on RGT Cycling for at least one ride. Beyond that I am easy.