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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Atlanta, GA
    Posts
    714
    Here's how Carmichael Training describes the Recovery Miles:
    Goal:To speed the recovery process by riding at an easy pace at low resistance on flat terrain. Benefits include increasing blood flow to the muscles to help remove muscle soreness, reducing free radical build-up that cause muscle stress and damage. Studies have shown that active recovery at an appropriate pace leads to faster recovery than complete rest.

    How to do it: Recovery rides should be between 30-120 minutes in length on flat to rolling terrain. Keep your pedal speed slower than normal, staying in a light gear to keep resistance low. Heart rate must also remain low even if you hit any hills, just slow down and use your gears to keep the resistance low. The key to recovery rides is to ride just enough to engage the active recovery process but not long or intense enough to induce a training stress upon yourself. This is a workout that you will use during all your training periods.

    Even though the temptation is there to vegetate on the couch the day following a tough workout, use RR as an active recovery workout to jump start the process of repair and regeneration.
    ----------------------------------------------------
    "I never made "Who's Who"- but sure as hell I made "What's That??..."

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Posts
    287
    Quote Originally Posted by tctrek View Post
    Even though the temptation is there to vegetate on the couch the day following a tough workout, use RR as an active recovery workout to jump start the process of repair and regeneration.
    That explains it, and it makes me feel really good. Today I was totally dreading getting on my bike because I was so run down from my rides on Monday and Tuesday. It would have been so tempting to just sit and veg. When I decided to compromise by chilling on the beach cruiser, I probably accomplished exactly what a recovery ride is supposed to accomplish.

    So . . . . if you take nice slow recovery rides, is it necessary to take days off?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Renton, Wa
    Posts
    432
    I know with running there's general rules about how close to a marathon you should do your training runs, just vaguely from my sister that does marathons. I think usually if she has a marathon planned on the upcoming weekend, she'll do a short easy run at the beginning of the week and then rest until the marathon.

    I know that to be considered a recovery ride, it comes after your hard effort. But, I guess what I was trying to get at is, are there rules similar to the running ones that apply to cycling? Like, is it bad to do an easy ride the day before a hard one? How many days before a hard ride should you do your last training ride, etc.
    "Namaste, B*tches!"

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Posts
    220
    Quote Originally Posted by staceysue View Post
    That explains it, and it makes me feel really good. Today I was totally dreading getting on my bike because I was so run down from my rides on Monday and Tuesday. It would have been so tempting to just sit and veg. When I decided to compromise by chilling on the beach cruiser, I probably accomplished exactly what a recovery ride is supposed to accomplish.

    So . . . . if you take nice slow recovery rides, is it necessary to take days off?
    Technically, it is not necessary to take days off if you properly incorporate active recovery into your training plan. However, scheduling in a ride every day can be challenging, and taking a day off the bike completely is great for mental health. I usually take Fridays off the bike completely and enjoy the change of scenery :-)

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    St. Louis, MO
    Posts
    1,058
    What Oakleaf and tcttrek said........

    I road 42 miles on Saturday. I was sore on Sunday, so I went on a leisurely coffee run, just to get the circulation going (recovery ride).

    I used to run, and there are a lot more running books--and they are applicable--than cycling books. You also might try thinking of it in terms of heart rate--there are several books that describe all sports in terms of heart rate. (ie. recover ride, less than 70% max HR? interval 80%, then recover to 70%?)

    If you are a new rider, just getting out there and getting the seat time and mileage in is sufficient. After a couple years of riding (and my first spinning class), I added a "hill" day. I follow my husband up the biggest, baddest hills he can find. It's a short ride, maybe only thirty minutes with a focus on getting up the hill (shifting) and not on speed (recovery on the descent). This is an option to intervals (which in spinning class is a sprint).

    Will you get better? Yes. Just by consistently getting out there. However I've found that riding longer distances and doing hillier routes, have improved my overall fitness. We do a century at the end of the summer, so we consistently increase our distance by 5 miles per weekend. Long rides are slower (just like running), but increase my endurance and make me faster on shorter rides. Hills improve my strength and also make me faster on normal, flatter rides.

    Just get out there!
    Last edited by TrekTheKaty; 05-06-2010 at 11:55 AM.
    "Well-behaved women seldom make history." --Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

    '09 Trek WSD 2.1 with a Brooks B-68 saddle
    '11 Trek WSD Madone 5.2 with Brooks B-17

 

 

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