Why do I ride so lousy after touring?

Most years I go on tour for about a week, 60 - 100 miles/day, some
supported, others not. I do fine during the tour -- I'm usually in the
first half of the group, despite stopping often for pictures. Thing
is, for 1 to 2 months following the tour, I feel lethargic and
sluggish on most rides. I keep hearing how a tour -- or stage race --
is supposed to make you so much stronger, "jump start" your fitness,
etc., but I have yet to experience anything like that!! Is there some
kind of trick I don't know about? (I know its not from a calorie
deficiency: I bring my own sports drink, along with the food I buy on
the trip; I use my own recovery drink at the end of each ride; I make
sure I pig out at the dinner buffets; and I normally gain a few pounds
during the tour.) I make sure I include a "recovery week" following
the tour. Any ideas on the cause? Any solutions?
FYI, I'm 38 years old, ride 150 - 200 miles/week in season -- a mix of
intervals, endurance pace, and recovery rides -- or about 5,000 - 7,000
miles/year, and have been doing this kind of mileage for about 15 years.

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In article . com,
wrote:
Most years I go on tour for about a week, 60 - 100 miles/day, some
supported, others not. I do fine during the tour -- I'm usually in the
first half of the group, despite stopping often for pictures. Thing
is, for 1 to 2 months following the tour, I feel lethargic and
sluggish on most rides. I keep hearing how a tour -- or stage race --
is supposed to make you so much stronger, "jump start" your fitness,
etc., but I have yet to experience anything like that!! Is there some
kind of trick I don't know about? (I know its not from a calorie
deficiency: I bring my own sports drink, along with the food I buy on
the trip; I use my own recovery drink at the end of each ride; I make
sure I pig out at the dinner buffets; and I normally gain a few pounds
during the tour.) I make sure I include a "recovery week" following
the tour. Any ideas on the cause? Any solutions?

_ It sounds like you're just not recovering. Try taking the whole
week off after the tour. Don't ride until you feel absolutely
restless to ride and full of energy. Your body is sending you a
message that you aren't listening to. Rest and recovery are just
as important as training hard and it sounds like you just aren't giving
yourself the chance to rest. It may be that you aren't resting
enough in general to the get most out of your training. If you've
got job and family it can be very difficult to get the rest
needed.

_ One thing you might investigate is "block" training or in
addition to hard/rest days during a training week, you have hard
and rest weeks within a larger cycle. Generally this works out
to about 3 weeks hard and one week easy.

_ Booker C. Bense

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Booker C. Bense wrote:
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In article . com,
wrote:
Most years I go on tour for about a week, 60 - 100 miles/day, some
supported, others not. I do fine during the tour -- I'm usually in the
first half of the group, despite stopping often for pictures. Thing
is, for 1 to 2 months following the tour, I feel lethargic and
sluggish on most rides. I keep hearing how a tour -- or stage race --
is supposed to make you so much stronger, "jump start" your fitness,
etc., but I have yet to experience anything like that!! Is there some
kind of trick I don't know about? (I know its not from a calorie
deficiency: I bring my own sports drink, along with the food I buy on
the trip; I use my own recovery drink at the end of each ride; I make
sure I pig out at the dinner buffets; and I normally gain a few pounds
during the tour.) I make sure I include a "recovery week" following
the tour. Any ideas on the cause? Any solutions?

_ It sounds like you're just not recovering. Try taking the whole
week off after the tour. Don't ride until you feel absolutely
restless to ride and full of energy. Your body is sending you a
message that you aren't listening to. Rest and recovery are just
as important as training hard and it sounds like you just aren't giving
yourself the chance to rest. It may be that you aren't resting
enough in general to the get most out of your training. If you've
got job and family it can be very difficult to get the rest
needed.

_ One thing you might investigate is "block" training or in
addition to hard/rest days during a training week, you have hard
and rest weeks within a larger cycle. Generally this works out
to about 3 weeks hard and one week easy.

_ Booker C. Bense

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I agree that it is just taking you some time to recover. It looks like
your mileage for the tour week (I'm assuming a week) is roughly 300% of
your normal weekly mileage. That is bound to have an impact.