Recovery time and advancing age

Can you recall the times when you've finally emerged from a series of exams you've been working really hard for and wondered what on earth you did before you got so involved in all that revision? or perhaps you can recall that great feeling when you've been sick for a while and you wake up feeling okay again...aaaaah! that's how it feels to be healthy!

Well THAT is exactly how I feel now. For a very long time now I've been extremely weary...possibly all this year..maybe alot longer. I've trained tired and I've raced tired. My aerobic capacity had dropped, HR wouldn't hit the normal heights and my enthusiasm to do longer rides had dwindled and in the Nationals my best results were in the shorter races, my 500m TT times was the best since 2005...my pursuit time sucked.

I went to bed tired and woke up tired. I WAS TIRED and despondent. Was this the end of the upward curve? was it going to be all downhill from now..had anno domini finally grabbed me? what was it I read about how improvement flattened out after 5 years of solid training?

Then I changed to a coach who wanted to have my powertap and HR graphs sent to her...not only that , but she read them! and the result?...well since the beginning of April, I've been on base miles with occasional efforts at a wattage I could manage without blowing up and voila! finally, this weekend I felt GOOD!

There is a circuit close to where I live which incorporates 2 climbs called the "Devils elbow" and "The Wall". Its a circuit that doesn't feature in my diary when I'm under par and I haven't ridden it for at least 18 months. This Saturday I cruised around it feeling great and then fronted up for another venture into the hills on Sunday. Life is good again.