Falling Off Again?

I'm way behind on my blogging... I started this post a couple weeks ago. Then I'll write about Vet's Park, then Iceman...

I'm a little worried that I'm falling off again, like I did in 2009. Once again, my first couple 'cross races went well, but the last one didn't, and I really haven't felt good riding lately. I think maybe I've got it figured out this time...

First, I've definitely been under too much stress, both at work and home. I think I'm doing a good job trying to manage it, but it does have a big impact on training and recovery.

Second, I think I've kind of reached a point of "staleness" from too much anaerobic training. I've been reading some stuff about Arthur Lydiard lately. Really, his coaching philosophies aren't so different than others I've read, but he makes a point that you reach your max anaerobic potential after about 4 weeks of hard anaerobic training. If you continue to perform a high volume of anaerobic training beyond that time, you actually start to get worse (instead you should move into a lower-volume sharpening / peaking phase of training). He also comments that most athletes know when they've had enough heavy anaerobic training.

So, I think that's where I am. I probably should have backed off from the higher volume anaerobic stuff a couple weeks ago, particularly in light of my off-bike stress. I eventually recognized the need to rest in 2009 also, but it was way too late. I think I was also doing the wrong kind of workouts when I was riding in 2009. So, I'll try to rest a bit more and keep the workouts hard but brief, and see if I can regain some form for the end of the season.