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Recovery when riding every day?

Old 09-09-08, 08:01 AM
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CCrew
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Recovery when riding every day?

Ok, Have to ask this one.

I ride a minimum of 28 miles RT bike commuting. Sometimes take a longer trip that works out to 46miles. Problem I have is that while I can sustain a decent pace, after a few days of it I'm flat whupped. Sore legs - just basically tired. Been doing it long enough that would have thought it would have worked itself out from a fitness standpoint but after 3-4 days commuting it's actually a grind - and not really enjoyable.

I will add that I'm a Type 2 diabetic, and 52 years old, and maybe I'm expecting my body to be in a younger fighting trim than what it is. I've bounced it off my doctor, and I get the impression he considers the way I am just fine and dandy since I'm able to come off almost all diabetic meds and the discussion ends there. I'd just like to be able to ride every day without A: fatigue or B: needing the weekend to just recover. FWIW, I ride either a Lemond road bike or a Trek MTB for the commute, so it's not the fit of a particular bike, and I've even had the road bike professionally fitted.

Anyone else have a similar issue? Ideas/flames/eye rolling accepted :-)

-Roger
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Old 09-09-08, 08:17 AM
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You ride twice as far as I do, so keep that in mind.

Are you getting good nutrition, particularly, enough protein as well as carbs?
Are you getting enough sleep, especially during the week / between rides?

Do you have an option of driving in on Wednesdays to allow your body to rest?
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Old 09-09-08, 08:20 AM
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Since I also ride on weekends, I take a day off during the week. And I'm only 29.
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Old 09-09-08, 08:22 AM
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40+ km a day is a decent amount of riding. Nice work! As far as the Thursday/Friday fatigue, I'm not too surprised. Each commute you do will deplete your body's stores of glycogen. You top up the tank by eating, but it takes time to digest your dinner, and the glycogen may not be fully restored by the time you do your next commute. Thus, by the end of the week, you're feeling a bit blah. This effect affects people in different ways. Some recover faster than others, and may not suffer as much.

If I was in your position, I would try and eat during the ride. Energy gels, a granola bar, pepperoni sticks - whatever works to give you a bit of a boost during your rides. You may want to consult your doctor to see how this would affect your diabetes treatment.
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Old 09-09-08, 08:23 AM
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Yeah I get the same tiredness/muscle fatigue that you do and I don't have as long a commute. I am 25. I don't really think that there is a way around it.
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Old 09-09-08, 08:30 AM
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I sweat a lot, and was getting pretty tired by the end of the week. I found that getting some extra salt in my diet pretty much eliminated that, I'm fine riding 5 days a week forever now. Of course I would take that advice with a gra... uh, under advisement.
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Old 09-09-08, 08:37 AM
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I ride about the same distance as you(50kms/30mi RT) every weekday as well. No matter what, my legs get tired near the end of the week, and I'm 27. The best way I've found to minimize it is to drink LOTS of water and try to get plenty of sleep. I still need to work on the sleep thing. And of course eat lots of food, but that's a given.

I'd say you're doing pretty well to be riding that much every day at 52, good job!

Last edited by jas7b; 09-09-08 at 08:41 AM.
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Old 09-09-08, 08:39 AM
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I find I always want a protein-ful dinner after riding home. I'm a vegetarian so that usually means adding an egg or cheese to the meal, or extra tofu in the stir fry.

The best short-term thing to minimize muscle soreness is a proper cooldown. Learn some gentle stretches or yoga type stuff where you aren't pushing your body further, just to keep the muscles limber after you get into the house instead of crashing out on the sofa and being suddenly sedentary. A hot bath or shower can also be a huge help.
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Old 09-09-08, 08:52 AM
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I have a 24 mile RT commute, and I'm 24.

YMMV, but I'd sugest the following: 1) eat energy foods while riding, same thing as what you would use if you were riding for 2-5 hours straight. 2) Make two days easy days, and you should feel guilty about the slow pace, remember, it only takes an hour for you to get there at 12 mph. 3) Carb load during each and every dinner, whether it be rice, pasta, or bread, especially Saturday and Sunday nights. This gets the tank Full on the weekends when you get ready for the week. 4) Pick a day, such as Saturday or Sunday, and don't ride at all. Counter intuitive, but not riding for 24 hours can do a lot to helping you out later that week.

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Old 09-09-08, 08:58 AM
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Originally Posted by savethekudzu
Are you getting good nutrition, particularly, enough protein as well as carbs?
I'd like to believe I am. I'm pretty sensitive to diet with the diabetes, but that does mean I have to keep a close eye on keeping the carbs down to also keep my A1C numbers down also. Have started supplementing with Whey protein drinks, doesn't really seem to help much. I do also take daily vitamins, always have bananas around, etc.

Originally Posted by savethekudzu
Are you getting enough sleep, especially during the week / between rides?
Probably not, but no more or less than I've always gotten. I average 6-8 hours a night

Originally Posted by savethekudzu
Do you have an option of driving in on Wednesdays to allow your body to rest?
I have the option of driving in any day. My commute is actually 70 miles each way, but I drive in-park-ride the rest. That's how I can vary the routine. Problem I have is that it seems as though when I hit the fatigue wall, it takes more than one day to recover. I'd certainly entertain ideas on ways to hasten the recovery time!

Thanks for the response!
Roger
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Old 09-09-08, 09:03 AM
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Originally Posted by flyingcadet
I have a 24 mile RT commute, and I'm 24.

YMMV, but I'd sugest the following: 1) eat energy foods while riding, same thing as what you would use if you were riding for 2-5 hours straight. 2) Make two days easy days, and you should feel guilty about the slow pace, remember, it only takes an hour for you to get there at 12 mph. 3) Carb load during each and every dinner, whether it be rice, pasta, or bread, especially Saturday and Sunday nights. This gets the tank Full on the weekends when you get ready for the week. 4) Pick a day, such as Saturday or Sunday, and don't ride at all. Counter intuitive, but not riding for 24 hours can do a lot to helping you out later that week.

Good suggestions, for sure. Unfortunately this is where the diabetes portion kicks in. If I carb load, my A1C and fasting sugar shoot through the roof. I can use energy during a ride, provided I can burn it off which becomes an issue with the commute. By the time it's hitting my system I'm pretty much at work.

Therein is my predicament. and a Guu with my am coffee isn't too thrilling to get it in sooner.
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Old 09-09-08, 09:23 AM
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Originally Posted by CCrew
Good suggestions, for sure. Unfortunately this is where the diabetes portion kicks in.
I knew diabetes would debunk something, but I don't have the experience to know. You might want to try eating the energy bars 15-30 minutes before you ride to work. This way, the nutrients should be hitting you when you start your ride. If you eat a 300 calorie energy bar, you should have burnt it all off after 14 miles.

For my 12 mile one way, I burn about 550 colories during the morning commute while maintaining about 17 mph average speed. If you use a HRM that can also estimate your calorie consumption, then you should be able to find out if you can do this. I wear my HRM on every commute since I double them as training miles.

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Old 09-09-08, 09:27 AM
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You may need to talk with a sports medicine doctor.
That said:

Originally Posted by CCrew
I'd like to believe I am. I'm pretty sensitive to diet with the diabetes, but that does mean I have to keep a close eye on keeping the carbs down to also keep my A1C numbers down also. Have started supplementing with Whey protein drinks, doesn't really seem to help much. I do also take daily vitamins, always have bananas around, etc.
As a Type 2 diabetic, you want to make sure your blood glucose levels are kept within reasonable thresholds. I don't think that eating carbs is the problem: having unmetabolized carbs is the problem. If you burn them, they're metabolized, and there have to be ways of eating complex carbs before a ride, or simple carbs during it, so you'll have what you need. This may not be your problem, though.

I'll bet you that most Type 2 diabetics are being counseled to cut down on their caloric intake as much as they are because they're so sedentary they never use most of those calories. That's not the case with you. (Of course, you don't want to overdo it, either, but you are burning a lot of calories.)

I'm not a doctor (check with one), but do have family with diabetes.

Originally Posted by CCrew
Probably not, but no more or less than I've always gotten. I average 6-8 hours a night
As much riding as you're doing? Try 8-10, not 6-8. 6 hours a night of sleep after that much riding is simply inadequate for recovery.

Originally Posted by CCrew
I have the option of driving in any day. My commute is actually 70 miles each way, but I drive in-park-ride the rest. That's how I can vary the routine. Problem I have is that it seems as though when I hit the fatigue wall, it takes more than one day to recover. I'd certainly entertain ideas on ways to hasten the recovery time!

Thanks for the response!
Roger
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Old 09-09-08, 09:30 AM
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I've been trying to do my 21 mile one way commute both ways on the same day and I feel your pain (literally!). What seems to work well for me is to drive to work, ride home and ride back in the next morning and drive home, then repeat. If you do that everyday, it works out pretty good.
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Old 09-09-08, 09:35 AM
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I'm a T1 diabetic and ride 10 miles a day. I was doing a real low carb diet where I would only eat about 50 grams a day. I barely had to take any bolus insulin as my basal plus riding would cover it, however I noticed I was always burned out after riding so I talked to my DE and she really layed into me (in a nice way) about not eating enough carbs for an adult male with the amount of exercise I did. She told me to up my carb count to 45g per meal and 25g for my evening snack. Since I am taking insulin I can cover for it and not have to worry to much about my numbers jumping.

Let me just say that the difference has been amazing!

Do not be afraid to take insulin or eat carbs, if you need them, you need them. I'm not saying you do, but if you are not eating enough carbs for the amount of energy you are using, then you will feel wiped out, and if you need more medication to process those carbs then you need more medication.


Plus you know, you are riding a lot of miles
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Old 09-09-08, 09:55 AM
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I skimmed most of the replies and didn't see any one that mentioned cross-training (if I missed it I'm sorry). I think along with a rest day, with what is a pretty heavy commuting schedule, it might be good to give your body a different activity, or even an occassional vacation from riding. What other activities do you do, and when was the last time you took a weeklong break from riding. I know that most of us don't ride enough, but it sounds like you might just need some active downtime to recover. I would vote for swimming, which always seems to tire me out without beating me up, or even a yoga class to mix things up.
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Old 09-09-08, 10:03 AM
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Roger, besides more sleep and lots of hydration, what if you try a couple of weeks of only biking monday, wednesday and friday? Find out if you feel vibrant and awesome after that, or if it doesn't help? Then as you add in the other rides, you can look for solutions to the problems as they come back?
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Old 09-09-08, 10:09 AM
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As many people have said here, you should probably talk to someone who does sports medicine about your diet, etc. You probably have special needs and special things you can do to meet them due to your diabetes.

Are you losing weight? If you are that would in itself demonstrate that you are running a deficit of calories. If you are losing weight, and you want to be losing weight, you might find that over the long haul as you drop a few pounds you will have fewer problems as you will be carrying less weight on your ride, and burning fewer calories the rest of the day.

I find that more than three days in a row of intense cardio training usually makes me feel tired. You've said that it takes you more than two days to recover, but that appears to be after more than three days of working out. Try resting on wednesday and see if thursday is still a problem.
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Old 09-09-08, 10:14 AM
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Originally Posted by CCrew
Ok, Have to ask this one.

I ride a minimum of 28 miles RT bike commuting. Sometimes take a longer trip that works out to 46miles. Problem I have is that while I can sustain a decent pace, after a few days of it I'm flat whupped. Sore legs - just basically tired. Been doing it long enough that would have thought it would have worked itself out from a fitness standpoint but after 3-4 days commuting it's actually a grind - and not really enjoyable.

I will add that I'm a Type 2 diabetic, and 52 years old, and maybe I'm expecting my body to be in a younger fighting trim than what it is. I've bounced it off my doctor, and I get the impression he considers the way I am just fine and dandy since I'm able to come off almost all diabetic meds and the discussion ends there. I'd just like to be able to ride every day without A: fatigue or B: needing the weekend to just recover. FWIW, I ride either a Lemond road bike or a Trek MTB for the commute, so it's not the fit of a particular bike, and I've even had the road bike professionally fitted.

Anyone else have a similar issue? Ideas/flames/eye rolling accepted :-)

-Roger
CCrew I am 73 1/2, Type 2 diabetic, take no medication, and ride 80 miles a week [7days], work out at the YMCA 5days a week [lift weights, swim, ride stationary bike and other machines]. I would say you need to get another doctors opinion because you are to young for this fatigue thing to be happing in your life. if anything you should be highly energized after the ride you are talking about.
good luck
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Old 09-09-08, 10:14 AM
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I'm 29 and my commute is only 3 miles, yet I'm still exhausted much of the time. I think there's something wrong with me.
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Old 09-09-08, 10:14 AM
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I'm 50 and do 32m a day, and I am sore and tired by the end of the week. I've come to rationalize that I'm going to have good days, great days, and just plain crappy days. I've definitely seen a correlation between performance and the amount of sleep / quality of nutrition that I get. All this being said... I'm a commuter and not a racer so if it takes me an additional 5 minutes to get where I'm going then so what? That's a mindset issue that I'm struggling with. Perhaps taking the computer off of the bike would be a good start!

If you are riding primarilly for exercise, then I really buy-into Treespeed's comment above regarding the need for cross training.
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Old 09-09-08, 10:18 AM
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This months Bicycling Magazine has an article on cycling with type 1 diabetes. They also mention Type 2. I'm not sure if the recommendations apply for both types. It's an interesting read.
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Old 09-09-08, 10:41 AM
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hello ccrew;
see a nutritionist. while i'm not diabetic it runs in my family. my general practitioner referred me to a nutrition specialist, it's made all the difference. i have loads more energy and not nearly as tired by the weekend. it was amazing what a change of diet did!
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Old 09-09-08, 10:46 AM
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just slow down.

I ride close to the same distance. I force myself to take it easy a couple of days each week. I mean real easy. For me it means taking an extra 10 to 15 minutes to do the commute then my average time. I find I have more energy for the weekend rides when I do this.
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Old 09-09-08, 10:47 AM
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My commute is 26mi RT, and I've found that a beer or 3 when I get home makes me forget about all that fatigue.
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