dont get out of breath at all....my quads just ache!!

wyadvd

do a 20 mile round trip for my commute , been doing it for a year now and I feel I have reached some sort of turning point with my fitness.......has anyone else reached this point?

When I first started I was not really fit, so any hill or burst of speed made my lungs burst and feel like I couldnt breath fast enough.

Now, It doesnt matter how fast I go or hw steep the hill is, my rate of breathing stays the same.

the test is .... can I stand the pain in my quads?, not can I breath fast enough?

Is this a recognised stage........ ?

am I more able to respire anaerobically?

the change seems to have occured quite suddenly.


whats the next stage?

fuzzynavel

wyadvd wrote:

do a 20 mile round trip for my commute , been doing it for a year now and I feel I have reached some sort of turning point with my fitness.......has anyone else reached this point?

When I first started I was not really fit, so any hill or burst of speed made my lungs burst and feel like I couldnt breath fast enough.

Now, It doesnt matter how fast I go or hw steep the hill is, my rate of breathing stays the same.

the test is .... can I stand the pain in my quads?, not can I breath fast enough?

Is this a recognised stage........ ?

am I more able to respire anaerobically?

the change seems to have occured quite suddenly.


whats the next stage?

MTFU and push through it!

I noticed my biggest change trying to chase a skinny little dude up a hill (I'm 15 stone and he was about 10st)......Lactate was building up and I kept pushing past where I would normally have given up....Now I reason with myself....If it ain't cramping then I can keep pushing!

The little dude still beat me but now I know I can push my limits every time I am out.

I suspect that your pain is lactate build up. Lactate is a byproduct of Anaerobic respiration..Lactic acid also appears to be one of a few stimuli that help to increase mitochondria which over time will raise the point at which lactic acid becomes debilitating.

Do some hill repeats and make sure that they hurt every time!

Mike67

Might be worth checking your saddle isn't too low.

I got lactic build up in my quads (especially on hills) til I had a bike fit. Turned out my saddle was 1cm too low and 2cm too far forward. My leg wasn't getting anywhere near full extension so the quad was always tensed.

Could just be you're pushing harder of course...but worth a check.

keef66

That's what I was going to suggest. Make sure your saddle's at the correct height.

LJAR

I had this coming from a rowing background, my heart and lungs were able to cope with the effort, but my legs just stopped working sometimes.

Lots of the effect of training is in changing the muscles cellular structure etc. rather than the heart and lungs. Just keep training. (assuming your bike is correctly fitted of course.)

term1te

You may not be giving your legs long enough to recover after a hard ride? If I've done a long hard ride, the next day my legs just don't deliver. I also find that my heart rate and breathing seem to plateau at a much lower level the day after a hard ride. On Saturday I went for a long hilly ride and pushed quite hard, the next day went for another ride, but my max HR was lower than my average from the day before, and not for lack of trying.