tiredness and acheing thigh muscles

radiation man

could i be overtraining for my age im 48 did a 45mile sportive on 6 june, took me 3and a half hrs, then i cycled to work mon to fri 6 miles each way, sat rest day then sunday 35mile sportive 2hrs 13 mins and mon tues wed this week 6 miles each way to work. i feel tired a lot now and my thigh muscles ache on the top. if this is over training how will i ever get fitter if i dont put the miles in ive been cycling for over 3 yrs now. i just seem to be doing less miles now as if my bodies slowing down.

meanredspider

Couple of things:

I'm 45 & I've just effectively had a week off my 30-mile round trip commute and this week I'm on fire - feeling strong and great and doing my best times for the commute by some margin. I even added 4 miles and a steep climb on my return trip tonight.

Second - I read a book on training using a heart rate monitor. The basic premise was very simple: do one hard day (at 85% max HR) followed by one day at below 70%. This allows you to train whilst recharging your glycogen reserves. The author's point is pretty much your experience - you put in mile-after-mile and you get no better. I tried this and, whilst the slow days are very dull, it worked really well.

Also, make sure you're stretching well.

HTH

Shaun20

If this is a sudden increase in riding then you could expect to be feeling a little tired. Perhaps get someone to check your bike set up saddle height etc as this could easily cause achy tired muscles if you are not utilising all your muscles correctly.

TheBullet

There's a similar thread with some interesting comments and links here: http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12705449