Over trained and 14bpm short at Palace as a result

From the increased number of outings, which were generally a TSS of 100+ my CTL increased rather quickly, while my TSB dropped like a stone. Not really listening to my body until it was a point blank refusal to play ball when I did my first race of the season at Crystal Palace last night.

The original plan was to ride into work the previous day and then ride out to Palace to watch the first race of the season. Instead I ended up riding into work and then to Palace and entering, which racked up over 40 miles prior to racing.

On the line the people were still signing on and thinking there were going to be some crashes due to the number of people (50+) navigating the hairpin I thought I'd get out of the way. With this in mind as soons as the start was given I was off and first round the hairpin and into the next curve before easing up a little. Nobody passed before the next corner so I eased up again and then the stream started as about 10 riders passed and I thought I'd recover a bit. This is when I noticed my heart rate was not quite behaving normal as it was only 166bpm after the effort (528W over 1min 28sec). Keeping up with the bunch up the hill was then a bit more of a struggle but did not let too much space slip as the hill min to max averaged 456W (44 sec).

The first lap (excluding the hairpin turn) took 2min 8sec at an average 463W and the second lap over the same distance then averaged 1min 54sec at 354W with 10 seconds null output for the hairpin. Third lap was chasing the lead split in the bunch as it was big enough to stay and bridging the gaps from riders dropping out of the bunch, which ended up with a 382W lap (inc hairpin). Fith lap much the same but at 406W and a maximum heart rate over the race of 175bpm. This time it was blatent that something was wrong as it was now 8 minutes into the race with a 396W average (438W norm) and my heart rate was 14bpm below maximum so I eased off after catching the bunch and the next lap averaged 290W. Next lap 324W, still not feeling right. Next lap another gap and 342W, 330W, 379W, 354W. By the 11th lap I was chasing the lead bunch and cought them as 3 riders peeled off the back, which opened up yet another gap to bridge, which was 20 years and ended up averaging 422W through and up the hill and my heart rate was now only 169bpm. Time to pull up.

After drifting down to the start line I pulled over and out of the race after 22min 22sec and an average wattage of 361W (407W norm) with my max heart rate 14bmp below my normal maximum at an average of 162bpm. Cadence 92rpm, 175m climbing, 47.7TSS 1.131IF, 38.5kph.

By this time I'd clocked up a TSS for the day of over 200 over around 50 miles with commuting, getting to the event and racing, which should not have been too bad if I was rested. Even now, I still feel very tired and in need of a few days R&R with some easy short rides at the weekend only. Time to allow the CTL to drift back to the 60's and feel right.