Cyclists: Follow-up Request, then Let’s Go!

If you haven’t seen yesterday’s post in which I asked you — yes, YOU — for your input, please go back and read it.  Then contact me with your input and feedback as I request.  To those of you who emailed yesterday, Thank You!  If you haven’t yet, please do so. 

Then we’ll move ahead.

This past week I talked alot about the importance of pedaling drills and recovery.  I’ve taken the past several days as recovery days.  I was totally fatigued.  I could feel it, and my training tools provided confirmation.

I train with a power meter as my primary tool, and back that up with a heart rate monitorl.  My power output was difficult to maintain, and was even slipping in some cases.  In addition, I had been unable to get my heart rate to the level it should have been at for a given effort.

So I had 3 different levels of confirmation that I needed rest.  Here they are:

1. I felt tired and weak.
2. My power output was poor
3. My heart rate wouldn’t rise to the correct level. 

My rides on Tues – Fri were short and easy, with some pedaling drills mixed in.  Today was another short ride, but I increased my effort slightly.  It was still easy, but more into the zone 2/endurance zone rather than total recovery. 

How do I know I’m ready to move on?  I felt pretty fresh today.  I also felt anxious, like I was poised and ready to get after it a bit.  And I will tomorrow.  The plan is to ride a 30 minute time trial (as I’ve described for you in previous posts) and will adjust my training zones based on the results.  I’ll update you after the ride.

This blog is for YOU.  I talk about myself here as an example only, and that you can learn from this example.  So the take-away message for you is:

1. Recover when you need it.
2. Be very disciplined about your recovery.  Not enough recovery or too much effort while you recover will delay the process.
3. Take enough recovery time and don’t rush the process.  In my case, I had 5 easy days.  Learn to embrace and enjoy the down-time.
4. Emerge from recovery time fresh and ready to go, both mentally and physically.

I look forward to your input.  Take a couple minutes to do that now, then GET OUT AND RIDE!