Just for giggles what are the biggest training mistakes you have ever made? Since I started this topic I’ll tell mine. I scheduled a colonoscopy 10 days before my “A” race. The test went fine, but I was so depleted and lacking energy for that race I DNF ! Also I use to not take my recovery weeks serious enough, still rode about the same hrs., but maybe cut down on intensity on 2-3 rides that week.
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Well, nothing specific but when I first started racing which was in the late 80’s (I was already 30) I definitely used to train too much, not sure if I was ever technically ‘overtrained’ but I would not be surprised if I was.
I used to use the ‘Eddy B’ book to plan my training which was a great book in it’s time but I don’t ever recall any rest weeks. I had too much time off the bike in the autumn and had too much weight to lose come January 1st. I usually peaked by June and was burnt out by late August.
I think since I started racing again in 2011 I have been a much better athlete due to the availability of better training material and had my best year ever in 2019 when I won 10 races.
I haven’t raced since and am not sure I will now, I enjoy it but all the travel involved puts me off, there used to be many more local races ‘back in the day’.
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There was more racing back when USA cycling clubs had to promote at least one race per yr. Not a requirement anymore I guess. Now there are folks who are full time promotors and charge $$$$ for a race, Some entry fees are ridiculous!!!
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When I started training, as opposed to just riding, I used some plans. First simple ones, then more complex, ending up with TrainerRoad. Of course, I gradually acquired the equipment needed to use those plans fully – trainer, power meter pedals, HR monitor, and the like.
But I was an academic, one of my characteristics being to always question, to find out the reasoning and evidence about assertions [in this case, plans]. So I went down the long and winding road of reading a lot of books, scientific papers, listening to podcasts and reading other cyclists’ experiences [eg on this Forum, on the TR Forum]. I concluded that, as a cyclist focussed on gran fondos of 100 - 140 km, I needed to develop my own training plan, roughly polarised…
All good. But there are two serious problems with this.
[1] Your own plan does not have any built-in accountability. A coach, or even an adaptive plan such as the ones that TR now offers, demands more accountability than any plan that I concoct. Perhaps that’s just me?
[2] The investment in time is enormous. I have spent years of my life consuming literature about training, to the detriment of my garden, my social life, my cooking, …
I conclude that my biggest training mistake was not just trusting some plan that someone had thought seriously about, periodically shifting between different companies so as to shock my system with something new.
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I’m curious. Was it more of an obsessive adventure, or did you enjoy the process of learning? There’s definitely value in that.
@elaine.montoya, I do enjoy the process of learning. I mean that’s my profession [or, at least, was]. As a practising social scientist, I spent 50 years learning and keeping up to date with my particular field within my discipline; once I stopped being paid, I still kept some of that going. At age 70, some 10 years ago, I started training for cycling and soon started to inquire into evidence-based training. So in less than a decade – perhaps over 5 years – I was trying to learn a whole new discipline. A discipline, moreover that exhibits a great deal of inter-subject variability and in which I had a personal stake in the conclusions. So, yeah, it became obsessive.
For the remainder of this training season, leading up to a big event [2-week cycling tour], I’m going with an adaptive plan of the kind that TR, AIendurance and such other companies offer. I’ve even bought a new garden hose…
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I love it! Quite an inspiration. I’m sure your years of learning and sharing your knowledge have helped many along the way. At age 62, I too still love learning! I enjoy exploring most cycling topics - from training and fitness, to kinesiology and nutrition. Based on what you shared, I want to make sure I don’t miss out on life in the process!
Enjoy your new garden hose 
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Gardening is just like cycling (and most things for that matter). Walk away from it for 5 seconds and it starts to fall into disrepair 
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As a wise man once said “all is vanity and vexation if spirit”
And another wise man (who’s already posted in this thread) said to me recently…“Keep pushing Jack, keep Pushing”
This may seem a negative post, but it’s not. It just highlights that mistakes, like in training, will always be there and there is no ‘perfect’ way…but just push on and get what you can out of it
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