Anatomy of a burnout

I burned the candle at both ends...

Oops!...I did it again.

No, not the 2000 hit by Britney Spears, but yet another case of Joe being tired in August because he’s pushed himself too far.  I’ve burned the candle at both ends for way too long, and it’s finally caught up with me. What’s even more annoying is that I promised myself that I’d be hyper-aware not to do this, but here we are.

It’s August 17th as I write this, and I’ve spent the last week off the bike - one down, one to go. During my final race block in the States, I was having pretty serious allergy problems which meant I couldn’t breathe. Back in Europe, I still felt off. I couldn’t train properly, and my energy levels were all over the place. I’d want to nap at random times of the day and just generally feel shit.

After probably a little too long of feeling like crap, I finally went for a blood test. Unsurprisingly, a few things showed up. The main one being, my lymphocyte count was high, effectively meaning I’m getting over some infection/virus. Whether that be COVID, or something else isn’t clear, all I know is that time off and plenty of sleep is the remedy.

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So, why?

This exact same thing happened last year, I came into the season on top form, held it until the start of summer and then fizzled away. There are a few things at play. It could be my natural form arc across the year, but most probably it’s to do with over-stretching myself.

If we take a quick look at my last few months, just in race and travel days alone it’s wild.

Add in that I’m not a full-time athlete, there’s all the other stuff that comes with privateering. Logistics, hotels, accounts and whatever elese. That’s not the only thing though, I also have two jobs - Sync Ergonomics copywriter/content, and Ribble Rebellion Team Manager. Between the two of those roles, I work around three to four days per week, adding in racing, training and travelling and it’s simply too much.

I planned my race calendar before the Rebellion Team Manager role came onto my plate. While, it has been eye-opening and one hell of an experience to work that job, it’s also been an awful lot more than I first imagined.

What’s Going to Change?

There are a lot of things that need to change for me going into 2025, the main one being that I’m putting a 25-race days per year cap on myself. I’m no longer just going to Belgium, or France where I can fly the day before, and be back within a handful of hours of crossing the line. I’m flying to the US, Canada and wherever else - it takes its toll. It’s not just the travel either, it’s the mental stress and prep that goes around each gravel race day. Well, and the race effort too.

At the time of writing, I’m not 100% sure what’s going to be happening from a sponsorship perspective in 2025. I’m pretty confident that my Plan A is going to turn out and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to talk more about that later next week.

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With all this said, there’s something in mind that I read from a recent Keegan Swenson interview: “Nobody cares, work harder.” It sounds cold, but it’s the truth. In my case, working harder means taking time off the bike, and that’s rough. 

I’m trying to relax as much as possible, I’m also trying to prepare for 2025 as much as possible, but still it hurts not to be good on the bike. An athlete that can’t compete or train, isn’t a happy athlete.

What’s next?

Coming upto ten days off the bike, I’ll more than likely throw my leg over a saddle this weekend and get back to gentle riding. From there, I’ll gradually build up the load when’s appropriate. 

I’m going to pull out of Gravel Nationals, and the National 10-Mile TT. It’d be stupid to be on the start line of either of them, both physically and mentally.

Being so close to the end of the season, I’m surprisingly not stressed, I’m being realistic. It takes me months to reach peak levels, so there’s no way that I’m going to get back to my best before the final race comes along. My wants are pretty simple, be healthy, be able to train, be able to have fun riding in the mountains.

Sea Otter Girona is realistically the next race I’ll be able to do, then there’s the World Gravel Championships and finally Ranxo: Gravel Earth Final. 

Not to repeat myself, but physically and mentally it has been a mad one. There’s my own race calendar, work, and travel. Then, with Maggie being on Olympic year it feels as if neither of us have been able to relax. 

Now, we’re both at home, it almost feels strange not having a big target, event or travel day on the horizon. It’s hard being away so much, but it’s weird settling back into a normal routine too.

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Thanks for reading!

Heading into contract and budget season, over the next few weeks I’m planning on spilling all on what it’s like trying to solve the mathematical equation that is a privateer budget.

Let me know if there are any topics you’d like me to cover.

Joe.

Project TAG, proudly partnering (both for my athletic and influencing ability) with…

• Pullwood Consulting

• Ribble Cycles

• Castelli Cycling

• Parcours Wheels

• Smith Optics

• The Feed

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While you’re here…

I’ve added a paid subscription and a ‘Buy Me A Coffee’ link to this post. As the year progresses, I’m planning on building this blog and putting out articles which I’ve always wanted to write but for whatever reason, haven’t wanted to pitch.

Any money that I make from either my Substack or BMaC link will go straight back into supporting my 2024 racing project. I am planning on keeping all content on here free to view though.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/joelaverick

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