here is an article in bicycling about recovery i found interesting: I always like taking it easy :) ** *How Slow Can You Go?* Avoid the one big mistake cyclists make when it's time for recovery.
By Chris Carmichael '); // end hide from browsers --> After nearly 20 years of working with Lance Armstrong, even I was surprised by how rapidly his fitness progressed last fall and winter. Looking over his training logs, I realized that the only other time he had made similarly impressive gains was during the winter of 1998-99, after his first full season back from cancer. What has become clear is that no one—including me—truly realized how tired Lance was during the final year or two of his historic Tour de France run. The situation reminded me that time off can be a good thing. One critical training principle is that of overload and recovery. For a system to grow stronger, it must be stressed and then allowed time to rebuild. This is the reason for recovery periods between hard efforts during interval workouts. >From there, the principle expands to include rest days during hard training weeks, a recovery week within a month of training and, finally, a several-week-long hiatus after a season. But what about recovery on a grander scale? Lance essentially devoted his life to being a professional athlete from 1992 through 2005, so you could look at his three years away as an extended recovery period following a tremendous overload. The concept of a grand recovery period has implications for all athletes. Amateur racers and recreational cyclists frequently participate in events for several years and then turn to other pursuits and interests. Maybe you were a Cat 3 or an avid century rider five years ago, but your bike has been collecting dust or you've resigned yourself to just a weekend spin to stay moderately fit. It's not too late for a comeback. Regardless of where you are in the process, there's one aspect of training that trips up cyclists more than any other: recovery rides. The concept is ridiculously simple: Take a very easy spin on your bike. To be honest, there's little scientific evidence that recovery rides are any more beneficial—physiologically—than sitting on your couch. The same can be said for massage, but athletes and coaches swear by both as ways to enhance between-workout recovery. Both help athletes feel fresher and looser for their next hard training session. And there's a clear psychological benefit to that. Though it sounds simple, many athletes ruin their training by going too hard. To be effective, your easy ride must do no harm. Only by spinning at a very low intensity will you reap the psychological benefits. Ease Off the Gas Pedal So how do you properly execute a recovery ride? Start out easy. Once you're at a nice, relaxed pace, take your speed down another notch. You can't go too easy, but it's easy to go too hard. Think of it as taking the bike for a walk: You shouldn't be working any harder than you would during a stroll to the coffee shop. Your power output should be 30 to 50 percent of your maximum sustainable power output, and your heart rate should not go above 70 percent of your maximum sustainable heart rate. Keep your cadence at about 90 rpm—at low speeds and in low gears, this will seem brisk—and ride for 30 to 60 minutes. A power-meter graph from a recovery ride should show a low and relatively consistent power output, a relatively high cadence and little else. http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6610,s1-4-403-19175-1,00.html =========================================================================================== On Sat, May 30, 2009 at 10:34 AM, Kinnie Pruden <[email protected]>wrote: > I'm always happy to share tips. However, as Tim knows, I can go on and > on and on if you leave me an open ended question. Any specific questions or > concerns? About this week's taper: doing nothing is better than over > doing. Old saying (and my motto), "There's no such thing as over training, > just under resting." And that goes double for race week. Keep your > workouts short with a few short speed bursts or high cadence spins. I don't > know what you've done to this point, but this is a sample race week for an > Olympic distance (on a scale of 1-10, ez to hard, this would be a 4-5 level > race week training schedule): > Day -6: off day > Day -5: Swim 1575yds w/ WU 250, 6 X 25 drill set, 4 X 100 moderate, 5 x 75 > fast, 6 x 25 kick set, CD 250 > Day -4: 55 min. bike (total time) w/ 22 min. tempo > Day -3: 34 min. run (total time) w/14 min. tempo > Day -2: Swim 1250yds w/ WU 250, 6 x 25 drill set, 3 x 200 threshold, CD > 250 > Day -1: 20 min. ez bike > Race Day: enjoy! > (Schedule taken from "Essential Week-By-Week Training Guide," Matt > Fitzgerald) > Hope this helps with the upcoming race. > > Kinnie > > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* SteveS <[email protected]> > *To:* CyclistsOfWilson-COWs <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Friday, May 29, 2009 3:04:55 PM > *Subject:* [COWs] Re: Friday Morning Ride Report! > > > KP, I'm interested in your comments as well. I'm getting ready for > the Olympic Dist in Washington, NC on Aug 1. Any advice would be > greatly appreciated. > > SteveS > > On May 29, 2:26 pm, david caudle <[email protected]> wrote: > > whoops...sorry Tim. did not know your mileage was confidential info. > > so Kinnie, while you are giving advice do you have any for my Tri next > sunday? (june 7th) its an Olympic, my first and I do plan to taper next > week. i for sure can't do what I did this week cause I am dead tired > today.. > > > > --- On Fri, 5/29/09, Tim Lucas <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > From: Tim Lucas <[email protected]> > > Subject: [COWs] Re: Friday Morning Ride Report! > > To: [email protected] > > Date: Friday, May 29, 2009, 2:17 PM > > > > Thanks Coach! > > > > You want suppose to find out how many miles I rode this week. I’m > tapering, starting right now. Really! J > > > > > > > > > > > > From: [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] On Behalf Of Kinnie Pruden > > Sent: Friday, May 29, 2009 1:51 PM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: [COWs] Re: Friday Morning Ride Report! > > > > > > Tim, > > > > > > > > I have three words with regard to your "wall" and your up and coming > Goldsboro ride: taper, taper, taper! My advice, for what it's worth, with > regard to your endurance ride next weekend, your "bed was made" a couple of > weeks ago. What you did this week and what you do next week cannot help > your Goldsboro ride, it can only hurt. So let your body rebuild so you are > fresh for your 12 hr ride. :) By the way, my suburban is not comfortable > for 12 hrs! You might also consider packing a little chamois butter. So, > next week enjoy some EZ short rides (1hr or less) and kick back afterwards > with a Yahoo. Trust me, it'll make that 12 hr. ride a lot more fun. > > > > > > > > Kinnie > > > > > > > > From: Tim & Susan <[email protected]> > > To: [email protected] > > Sent: Friday, May 29, 2009 9:55:30 AM > > Subject: [COWs] Friday Morning Ride Report! > > > > David C. and I headed out from the "Y" at 6:00 this morning. We decided > on the Town Creek route and made tracks. Pace was very brisk with no winds > early on. Perfect morning for a bike ride. Coming back in to Elm City I > hit the wall hard. Second time this year the body just shut down. David, > whom was having a good day on the bike continued on while I crawled home. > Riding in to Elm City I was in desperate need of a "Yahoo". Store was out! > crap! I had to settle for some "Life Water", Jeez! I don't know how but it > got me home. Enjoyed it David, good luck on getting your bike this weekend. > > > > > > > > Tim > > > > -- === ssp --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/CyclistsOfWilson-COWs?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
