If you train 3 times a week, each week, and sweat then I’m pretty sure that you are fitter than you were a year ago.
Sometimes if you do regular tests you can manifestly see that you have improved. eg a bi-monthly bike CP20 or a monthly parkrun can show almost unarguably that you are getting better.
I was wondering about this for my cycling over 2014.
For sure I swim better and run worse.
However I dread the regular CP20/30/MMP type tests and perhaps don’t do them as frequently as I should. Consequently I don’t have all the markers that prove that 2014 is a good year.
I found that a little de-motivating, to say the least. Eeesh, I’m only better at swimming after all that effort!!
Then I did a regular (but not frequent) pyramid session on my turbo. I took the target numbers from a session earlier in the year when I thought I was doing well.
Result? I nailed the session with the exact same power wattages as earlier in the year with my HR only going into Z3/Z4…and it should have been a Z5 session at the worst part.
Result? Happier Christmas and a bit more rest than I previously thought I deserved.
Morale. Don’t beat yourself up. Refer to the first paragraph for a sense check!