Recovery

[ACG]

I've read the recovery posts, want your opinion. I rode ACL5, every mile. I took 6 days off. Rode 78 miles, flat on saturday and about 40 today. I was very very slow and legs felt like lead. Should I have not waited 6 days? Does it take a while to recover from 585 miles? I want to not ride monday, but start on my normal schedule Tues/Wens/Thurs ride about 35 miles before work. Then Saturday ride 65 and Sunday 45. Should I ease into this more? Am I just too old for this? I am dying to be on my bike, to feel the wind in my face, to pedal to my hearts content. What is a girl to do?

[Geonz]

SIx Days??? I"m definitely not an expert on this, but I suspect that that's not recovery, that's erasing; getting back totally out of shape, so of course you feel lumpy getting back on the bike. (I can't remember the last time I went six days without riding, though.) Were those miles in a week? five days?

One of the things I LOVE about cycling is that it doesnt' break down stuff so recovery is a different animal. I would get back into the routine and see how it feels. I would ride Monday and expect that by Wednesday things were back in gear; if not, I'd be ... well, I'd be checking my bike. Did you have those tires inflated?

(I'm 46, btw... don't know at what point age will be more of a factor.)

[velogirl]

Hey, AG. Congratulations on doing the AIDS Ride. I've done four of them over the years (3 CA, 1 in Alaska), along with other week-long rides and some touring. You'll get a variety of opinions, but I'll share a couple of thoughts. Much will depend on your riding history (how long have you been riding, how many days do you typically ride, etc).

In general, the first ride after a break (your 6 days), you won't feel fresh. Now, add to that the fact that you just rode 40+ hours in a week and it's no wonder your weekend was less than stellar. After a break, I'd typically recommend going out for a shorter ride (90 minutes or so -- not 78 miles), just to spin out your legs and assess where you are with your recovery.

If you utilize a HR monitor in your training, it can be a great tool to gauge recovery as well. If you can't get your HR to go up no matter how hard you ride, you're not recovered.

Based on my experience, it will take at least a week to fully recover from a week-long ride. If you recall the one day/hour rule, you're actually looking at a much longer period, however, for multi-day events I'd divide the number of days by the number of days of the event. So, 40 hours = 40 days/7 = 6 days of recovery.

Again, how well you recover will depend on how well you rode, how well you hydrated and ate, and everything else you've done that could add stress to your life in this week after the ride.

I'd recommend getting on the bike as many days as you can, but for a short duration (60-90 minutes). This will aid recovery. And then, all of a sudden you'll feel stronger and will be able to see the results of your hard week of training.

ps -- I disagree with the previous poster. You did not lose fitness this past week by not getting on the bike. However, you didn't aid recovery either.

[Geonz]

Yea, you're prob'ly right. Much better and useful answer than mine :-) I hadn't thought about using heart rate - I sorta do that without the machine.