how do YOU recover after a century

Hello ladies,

Yesterday I accomplished a 100 miler. My first! It was the Honey Suckle 100 held in Columbus IN. I've been riding for a full year now and thought this would be a good goal.

My observations from the ride: I felt strong for the first 50 miles. Last 50 miles it was more of a mental thing - saying to myself "okay, this is nothing more than two 25milers old girl". I felt the heat of the day working on me, too. It also got LONELY all of a sudden. I needed a buddy - if nothing more than to drag off of for a while;) . Luckily, there was a nice couple on a tandem who I hooked up with for the last 12 or so miles and that made ALL the difference to finish...

Anyway, I'd really like to get tips from you in the area of RECOVERY...Had a horrible, restless night's sleep and felt weak today... made myself eat/drink/eat . Not sore in the least but a bit stiff. Rested all day and did some stretching . Feel some better this evening, and I know I'll ride to work tomorrow. Do you experience the same physical stuff after long rides such as this? And what do you do? ? ?

I'll end after this PS I promise: I don't ride with a group at any time, so I'm not used to the surge of a pelaton... but boy, did one pass by me on that ride. UP a steeeeep hill....going like a whir past me... I was truely awestruck and kept looking to see just what gears they were pushing. Later, my husband told me this group had a goal to finish in 5hrs. Yikes.

-Chrisanna

I do an easy ride the day after. Sometimes I may go to Spin class or do a Spinervals video - Recovery and Technique instead. Congrats on your first century. That's an awesome accomplishment.

Veronica

Hey Chrisana - just wanted to say CONGRATS! I'm newly returned to riding and that kind of mileage is still in my future - I full of admiration (and a little envy!)

Great job - I hear that a lite ride and a hot ebsen salt bath does wonders for the muscles.

for recovery I'm a really big fan of recovery drinks such as Cytomax. For me and my Hubby, they really eliminate the "exercise hangover" feeling. Eating carbohydrates within 30 minutes of finishing is recommended too.

My 17 year old son did 112 miles yesterday, a 56 mile out and back on the new Trail of the Coeur d"Alenes. He certainly didn't train for it, wasnt' even saddle sore. Dang kids....


Irulan

I don't have any words of wisdom but I do have a whole lot of awe. I very very new to this sport and 100 miles seems like sucha fantasy for me.

Great job! :)

I know the feeling .... been there! I just rest the day after and then do some easy rides every other day for about a week. Usually a 20 or 30 miler at a nice easy pace. Or I take a ride on my mountain bike.

I love centuries. They are one of my favorite rides! I try to do one a month. At least through the summer months.

Again congratulations, Chrisanna!

Sue :)

Congratulations Chrisanna! And a big hurrah for doing it at 40 (oops, was that a secret?)! I did my first century just before turning 40, and think it's pretty cool to see women setting goals like this.

Sue -- cool pictures! And congrats to the Dirt Chix!

Thanks aka_kim! I'll pass along your congratulations to the other gals! :)

:D Thanks so much for the great encouragement, ladies...it is so nice to get feed back and support from other female riders!!!
I've got to say that I really appreciate having found this site. I ride by myself all the time so up until now, I've gone to these fun community rides and just tried to get friendly advise from whoever is willing to share!


Was it Irulan who mentioned her son going on an epic ride? And not pooped afterward - geez, youth! I love to see this and hear about kids getting out there, too.

I am really encouraging my 10 yr old to ride. He rode home with me from work today (13miles). I trailed him at a pretty steady 11 mph and pumped him with atta boys as he worked the gears on little humpty hills or stood to pop over one....

Hey, I feel great today and used my commute as a recovery ride.
Just read in one of my Bicycle mags that a good way to know if you're fully recovered is by monitoring your heart rate. It said in the article that as long as your resting rate remains elevated, you are still in recovery mode. Interesting?

Chrisanna--congratulations. Add me to the list of those in awe of your accomplishment.

I agree, the Cyto helps but I would definitely recommend a very relaxing and long stretching session. It does wonders to eliminate the after-effects the day after (even when you are post-40 like me ;-).

If you are into yoga, a good yoga stretching routine the next day would help remove those xtra kinks.

And...of course, scheduling a massage after the ride is not too shabby either !!:D

Congrats on your first century!
I rode the Honeysuckle also. I think I was in that fast pack...were we polite? I hope so! :) We had two fast tandems in the group(I was on one of them), so it's hard *not* to do a sub-5 hour century with that kind of company(drafting a tandem is kind of like drafting a bus, as I'm sure you discovered!).

What I do to recover: I am an "endurance junkie". 12/24 hour races, all day epics, 50-mile trail runs are my kinda fun. I take a Tums(calcium), take an E , take a C, rinse my legs in cold water. Drink a glass of red wine(it helps me sleep and my cardiologist said it was A- ok). The day after an event I am sure to go out and do an easy (and I mean eeeeezzzzz) spin.

If you are in the area, we do a women's road ride on Thursday evenings(NOT at 25 mph ;) ). Shoot me a PM if interested.

Hey Pedfaster, thanks for the kind invite to ride with your group ..... If I lived closer I would take you up on it, but I live about 15 miles south of Versailles and that's a good distance from the Columbus area. I think my closest hook up to ride with other ladies would be from the Madison area club, but haven't checked that out as of yet...
Yes, you all in that FAST PACK were very nice, really.
:)

After the ride, I checked out tandem manufactures. It looks like daVinci and Santana are making beeeeautiful ones.

I am so curious to know something...when you do an endurance ride like this - especially when you want to achieve a certain finish time, are you taking advantage of SAG stops?? And what about potty stops (I might know the answer to this, but I'm still thinking "ewwwwww").
I admire you for your ability, stamina and enthusiasm for even more grueling events!!!

PS We also plan to do the Round Barn and the HOPE this summer.

Ooops, also wanted to say thanks to you for what to do after the ride...I am convinced in taking those anti - oxidants! Someone today suggested I get L-glutamine powder and put that in a protein shake to help muscle recovery/soreness. I found it from Nutrion Express, but I'm sure GNC would have it, too.
Thought I'd pass that along to whoever might find it useful.;)
That's it from me for now!

Quote:

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Originally posted by chrisanna

I am so curious to know something...when you do an endurance ride like this - especially when you want to achieve a certain finish time, are you taking advantage of SAG stops?? And what about potty stops (I might know the answer to this, but I'm still thinking "ewwwwww").

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On the Honeysuckle100 we stopped at all but the last SAG. The fresh fruit on that ride is awesome! And yes I took "pee breaks". The Honeysuckle is the only event I have ever done that is "porta-potty-free"....can we all say "amen" to REAL flush toilets?

Some tandem teams pee "off the bike". I'm not married to my captain so that is just not going to happen :p

Welcome aboard to the Century club! It's a great feeling to meet that goal, isn't it?
Great advice already here in reply to your 'what do I do to recover well post-ride question'. I'll just reinforce how important it is to eat within what's called the magic window afterwards: about 45 min - 1 hr after finishing your ride. Even better if you can include some protein in your post-ride meal too.
I didn't know about the 'eat within an hour' rule of thumb, until I had been riding a bit and got into the habit of heading to the shower first (doesn't brushing your teeth after to get rid of all the grit mouth feel great too?!). Then I started to pack a cooler with a recovery drink (I use Cytomax during the ride and have Endurox waiting for after long rides) and snacks (tuna sandwich, PB&J on a bagel or the like, unless there's a post-ride meal already waiting), I found that I felt much better. The recommendation to stretch after is great too and it's really more beneficial to do it post-ride; during the later miles I'll sports massage my quads, calves and glutes to keep them from tightening up and pooling lactic acid. Just jostling the belly of the muscles really, nothing deep. It only needs to take 30 sec or so roadside and you'll have fresh legs again to keep going. You're right about the "mind game" part too; at some point it all becomes mental and then you can play games or count or do whatever to get to the finish.
An easy spin the next day is perfect...if there's a flat trail or easy loop you can do, not even looking at mph or heartrate during it, but focusing on a nice, easy, cadence, that works great.
My PT recommended all of the above and it's worked great for me. I remember completing a double century in 1 day a few years ago, for the first time, following her directions and I amazed myself and some buddies the next morning, when I took an easy spin then walked to an outdoor concert and picnic, feeling super.
Check out whatever works for you; your body will let you know what to keep doing and what to discard. Happy trails!

Thanks for more good tips. I will put them to work in two weeks when I have another lonnnnng ride planned!

Chrisanna, congrats! A first century is quite an accomplishment.
It sounds like it was a fun ride, too. Good sag stops help a lot on a long ride.

I just did a 175-miler this past Sunday, across Wisconsin, from Iowa to Lake Michigan in Racine. It was awesome! It's the longest I've ever biked in day. It was only supposed to be 150 miles, but turned out to be more. We had a support driver, but he got lost so we ended up going the last 50 miles with no support, no towns on the route to stop in, and even hoarding what water we had left, we were out before we hit town and could stop and re-fuel. Now I want to do a double century. It's funny, till you start doing long miles, it's difficult to imagine doing it. But once you get out there, you find out that it's possible. Quite a feeling, isn't it?

Anyway, one of the first things I did when we got done (went with 2 others) is mix one scoop of Endurox into my water bottle, shake it up well, and drink it. NOT my favorite stuff, but I have found that it really helps me feel better the next day after a long ride than if I don't use it. I don't use it after short rides, only the long, endurance type rides. I recover much better. I've also tried using the companion product to Endurox, Accelerade, for during the ride. If you can stomach the flavor, I believe it helps, too, to extend endurance. You can usually find it on sale from one of the big mail order bike places, and sometimes, your LBS will give you a good price if you mention the prices online or mail order.

Again, congrats!