when are my legs going to quit hurting?

[mimitabby]

its not like i just started riding. But tell my legs that. If i ride more than 4 miles
my legs hurt. Not a lot, but .. they do. I feel it on every hill, and then later, going down stairs. Yesterday I rode a cold 32 miles. Last week I rode 62 followed by 25 followed by 5 commuting days of 8-12 days a piece. I don't think anything is broken, but am I going to get to a day where my legs feel just "GOOD?"

thank you.

[IFjane]

its not like i just started riding. But tell my legs that. If i ride more than 4 miles
my legs hurt. Not a lot, but .. they do. I feel it on every hill, and then later, going down stairs. Yesterday I rode a cold 32 miles. Last week I rode 62 followed by 25 followed by 5 commuting days of 8-12 days a piece. I don't think anything is broken, but am I going to get to a day where my legs feel just "GOOD?"

thank you.

Ditto here, Mimi. I know I am an impatient person, and I know I was off the bike for a while, but this weekend my legs were almost useless. We rode 70 miles on Saturday and I was so incredibly slow it was funny. I could hardly make my legs pedal me uphill! They felt so tired and weak! Whatsupwiththat?

[michelem]

Do you do any kind of stretching? I find that if I do a good 60 - 90 minute yoga session a few times a week it really cuts down on the muscle soreness created by cycling, jogging, and the like.

I use two yoga cd's:

Bryan Kest's Power Yoga series (it's three separate 1 hr. sessions - supposedly beginner, intermediate, and advanced, but I find the intermediate to be the most challenging).

Shiva Rea's Yoga Shakti (this one is a flow-type yoga - there are 4 pre-set sessions ranging in time from 40 minutes to 90 minutes or you can mix your own session using the "yoga matrix.").

Just an idea . . .

[mimitabby]

I do some stretches 3x a week. I COULD do more; you're right.

[yellow]

Mimi, my legs are my limiting factor. Always have been, always will be. I have good days and bad days. Some days I feel like I need to Gu in order to get up the stairs in my house!

I got to the point where I was overstretching and aggravating all kinds of stuff, so there is a fine line. I am now working on changing how I pedal in order to take some of the work off of my calves and quads. I wish someone had given me pointers about all this stuff years ago. I have some pretty significant muscle imbalance going on, which affects my running as well.

So it could be strength, it could be imbalance, it could be that you just need your new bike. Be as strong as you can be, keep up the gentle stretching, and make sure you are getting adequate recovery (the latter is my biggest failing). If I rode 62 followed by 25 followed by 5 commuting days of 8-12 days a piece I'd need a little recovery!

[mimitabby]

So it could be strength, it could be imbalance, it could be that you just need your new bike. Be as strong as you can be, keep up the gentle stretching, and make sure you are getting adequate recovery (the latter is my biggest failing). If I rode 62 followed by 25 followed by 5 commuting days of 8-12 days a piece I'd need a little recovery!

I didn't ride at all Saturday, or today; what is "a little recovery?"

[yellow]

I didn't ride at all Saturday, or today; what is "a little recovery?"

You said you felt it on every hill, so I assume that means that you were feeling it during that 7 day stretch where you didn't take a day off. So I guess I meant recovery during that week.

I place a lot of stock in recovery food/drink as well. Are you paying close attention to that as well? I really notice a difference if I don't eat properly for the level/type of activity I'm doing.

Sounds like you're recovering now!

[RoadRaven]

LOL Mimi... sorry to tell you this... but if you STOP riding your legs will hurt!
Afraid its a "catch 22"

[mimitabby]

Progress report: still commuting, but being more relaxed about it. not entirely; like when i heard a car coming too close, i instinctively put the gas on;
and then when i got to the last block going home (6% incline) i somehow ended up in 3rd gear so i stood and went VERY VERY slowly and did not fall over..

legs feel better today too.

[Veronica]

LOL Mimi... sorry to tell you this... but if you STOP riding your legs will hurt!
Afraid its a "catch 22"

Say what? A recovery allows your muscles to recover from a hard workout.

It's not true that every time you ride your bike your legs have to hurt. In fact they shouldn't hurt during EVERY ride.

V.

[RoadRaven]

I just meant that once your legs are used to riding regularly and for some reason you cant ride for a few days, your legs will start to ache because they miss it soooo much...