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Recovery Time Figured Out

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Recovery Time Figured Out

Old 07-17-19, 02:12 PM
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TiHabanero
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Recovery Time Figured Out

Starting a couple of years ago at age 58, my recovery time from a hard ride was way up. Hammer one day and die the next. Had to take a day off the bike before hammering it again, so I adopted a spin and enjoy life routine for the past two riding seasons. This year I got the need for speed again and have been hammering the bike one day, LSD the next day, moderate speed work the third day and then a day off the bike. Seems to be working well.

Consider this a public service announcement.
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Old 07-17-19, 02:22 PM
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How many days off the bike per week? How many hours per week?

I'm trying to stay off the bike 2 or 3 days per week and ride at least 10 hours. Seems to be starting to work.
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Old 07-17-19, 06:19 PM
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Every other day for me, with rare exceptions. Given the weather this year, I feel lucky if I can ride with just one day off. Rode today with highs of 90 or so. 97 and 15+ mph winds predicted for tomorrow. 98 Friday and 15 mph wind. High probabilities of rain Saturday and Sunday. Can't ride Friday AM, since it's the best day I've got to take the written and road tests for a new driver's license (tests required for people 75 (or over) at renewal).
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Old 07-17-19, 06:30 PM
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In temps in the high 80's into the 90's, I get my ride in early morning to be done by 9:30 at the latest. Even if I am just doing a casual, low key ride it is as early as I can do it. The stress of riding in that kind of temperature does bad things to my body and my brain.
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Old 07-18-19, 12:38 PM
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Same, at 61. I'm finally recovering from some physical and health setbacks last year, but need more rest and recovery time than I used to. That was difficult to admit to myself.

Now I need a day off and plenty of actual sleep, not just "rest", to recover from a 50-60 mile moderate pace ride, or even my physical therapy sessions. For decades I rarely slept more than 6 hours, but now I need 8-10 hours after any semi-serious ride or workout.

My PT sessions are usually combo efforts. The 3 mile ride to and from is hilly, spaced just right for interval efforts. Between the commute and hour-long PT, I'm spent. After Wednesday's PT session I intended only to take a nap. Didn't wake until 11 pm.

And it's taking longer this summer to adapt to the heat. I know I'm fast enough now to hang with the local club's A group, but I'm not sure about the heat. I feel okay in midday heat on 50-60 mile rides at a casual effort. I might try the A-group on this afternoon's 25 miler and see how it goes. If I drop off I'll just take it easy, wait for the B-group and finish at a leisurely pace.
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Old 07-18-19, 01:32 PM
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Originally Posted by TiHabanero
Starting a couple of years ago at age 58, my recovery time from a hard ride was way up. Hammer one day and die the next. Had to take a day off the bike before hammering it again, so I adopted a spin and enjoy life routine for the past two riding seasons. This year I got the need for speed again and have been hammering the bike one day, LSD the next day, moderate speed work the third day and then a day off the bike. Seems to be working well.

Consider this a public service announcement.
THANKS for the PSA.

Will have to think about riding that much. Last week, 69th birthday ride 141 miles. Tuesday this week 112 miles. Felt OK today even though "T" is down so got out at 12:17AM, rode for 75 miles, took a break then got back out and added another 50 miles. 125 total today. Getting ready to take BOSS LADY out for dinner.
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Old 07-18-19, 02:22 PM
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40 miles on gravel bike on Sunday and I melted. Monday yard work melted again. Tuesday 11.86 mile hike and was roasted. Wednesday recovery smoked a pig and had a few suds. Today we will see it’s only 100 outside I might ride late and get cooked again.
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Old 07-18-19, 02:23 PM
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Originally Posted by big john
I'm trying to stay off the bike 2 or 3 days per week and ride at least 10 hours. Seems to be starting to work.
I’m in week 4 of my return to cycling after a 3-year absence (age 61). Doing about 15 hours/200 miles per week, with one rest day. Mostly tempo pace riding. No easy days. Starting to add in more vertical. So far, so good, though I must say the fitness ramp is taking longer than in earlier years to go up and to the right.

Some might say this is too much training, but it seems to work for me.
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Old 07-18-19, 03:48 PM
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Originally Posted by terrymorse
I’m in week 4 of my return to cycling after a 3-year absence (age 61). Doing about 15 hours/200 miles per week, with one rest day. Mostly tempo pace riding. No easy days. Starting to add in more vertical. So far, so good, though I must say the fitness ramp is taking longer than in earlier years to go up and to the right.

Some might say this is too much training, but it seems to work for me.
Did you gain any weight during your break from riding?

Most of the riding I do involves climbing, though @210# I am not a great climber. Yesterday I climbed about 2000 feet on my 32# mtb in about a 10 mile ride. I'm about 12 weeks (with some setbacks) into my "comeback".

Some friends are planning a century with about 7500 feet this Saturday. I'm not sure if I'm up for it, I don't want to struggle on the climbs toward the end.
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Old 07-18-19, 04:25 PM
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Originally Posted by big john
Did you gain any weight during your break from riding?
Yes, about 10 pounds. I couldn't button my pants, which was the last straw that got me off the couch and back on the bike. I'm back down to my goal weight again, took about 3 weeks.

Originally Posted by big john
Yesterday I climbed about 2000 feet on my 32# mtb in about a 10 mile ride.
Oof, 2000 feet in 10 miles is a serious amount of climbing! How do your legs feel? I did 2480 feet in 22 miles yesterday (road bike), and my (chicken) legs feel pretty sluggish today.

If there's a bail out point on that century route, maybe you can cut the ride short if you're not feeling it.
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Old 07-18-19, 07:04 PM
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Originally Posted by terrymorse
Yes, about 10 pounds. I couldn't button my pants, which was the last straw that got me off the couch and back on the bike. I'm back down to my goal weight again, took about 3 weeks.



Oof, 2000 feet in 10 miles is a serious amount of climbing! How do your legs feel? I did 2480 feet in 22 miles yesterday (road bike), and my (chicken) legs feel pretty sluggish today.

If there's a bail out point on that century route, maybe you can cut the ride short if you're not feeling it.
Legs are tired but ok. I'll try to get out for about an hour tomorrow and spin a bit.

The climbing on the century is mostly front-loaded but there is a brutal little climb on the return trip that is usually hot. I might be able to convince one of the other riders to detour around that hill with me.
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Old 07-18-19, 10:04 PM
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Originally Posted by big john
The climbing on the century is mostly front-loaded but there is a brutal little climb on the return trip that is usually hot. I might be able to convince one of the other riders to detour around that hill with me.
It looks like you have a decent plan. Worth a go at it, what's the worst that could happen?
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Old 07-18-19, 10:24 PM
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Originally Posted by terrymorse
It looks like you have a decent plan. Worth a go at it, what's the worst that could happen?
Just suffering up that climb @Mile 80 for 7.7 miles. I've done it before but since I've got more out of shape (and older) I'm having a harder time convincing myself to do these kind of rides.

Also, there is a mountain bike ride the same day with some people I enjoy riding with in an area I've been wanting to try. Decisions.
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Old 07-19-19, 01:02 PM
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Cankelcat, my sleep experience is the same as yours. For decades I was 6 hours and out riding on the way to work. Now I need 8 hours of sleep to feel rested, and ost nights I get the hours, too. This week I knew that Friday was going to be a scorcher and super humid so I rode four days straight and took today off. I feel really good getting one or two off days every week.

Old dogs can learn new tricks!
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Old 07-22-19, 12:53 PM
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Recovery Time Figured Out

After 5 surgeries in the last 12 months and attempting a comeback to fitness each time I finally was able to ride Saturday and Sunday group hammer sessions with success (I use Strava to see if I am faster on general sections although I don't know exact starting and ending points). I am usually total toast on Monday but do 30 to 40 mi on Tue and 60 and 4000 feet of climbing on Thu trying to hold FTP for all climbs and usually for at least 10 min. on the flats. I do usually take 1 hour naps after hard rides and may sleep for 10 hours that night if they were brutal. I can no longer rely on a recovered heart rate of 42 bpm to signal recovery as one surgery was cardiac ablation to eliminate A Fib and Atrial Flutter which brought recovery resting heart rate to the high 50's. When you are in your late 70's and riding with 50 and early 60's folks a fairly high fitness is required to survive the rides. I have done 3 rest days a week for many years but occasionally if in Texas where it is really flat I do slow recovery rides with watts under 120 and heart rate under 100.
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Old 07-22-19, 01:18 PM
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Originally Posted by fastcarbon
After 5 surgeries in the last 12 months and attempting a comeback to fitness each time I finally was able to ride Saturday and Sunday group hammer sessions with success (I use Strava to see if I am faster on general sections although I don't know exact starting and ending points). I am usually total toast on Monday but do 30 to 40 mi on Tue and 60 and 4000 feet of climbing on Thu trying to hold FTP for all climbs and usually for at least 10 min. on the flats. I do usually take 1 hour naps after hard rides and may sleep for 10 hours that night if they were brutal. I can no longer rely on a recovered heart rate of 42 bpm to signal recovery as one surgery was cardiac ablation to eliminate A Fib and Atrial Flutter which brought recovery resting heart rate to the high 50's. When you are in your late 70's and riding with 50 and early 60's folks a fairly high fitness is required to survive the rides. I have done 3 rest days a week for many years but occasionally if in Texas where it is really flat I do slow recovery rides with watts under 120 and heart rate under 100.
Your schedule is like mine except if I did 60 and 4000 feet on a Thursday I think I would not recover in time for the Saturday hammer session. I've always been ok with doing a hard effort on Wednesday then little or no riding until Saturday. Years ago I had a job where they allowed me to take every Wednesday off so that worked out. Now I'm retired and trying to get back to it.

I'm always total toast on Monday.
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Old 07-22-19, 01:46 PM
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Recovery is very interesting. My experience has been that recovery is relative to the effort being made (HR zone, power, etc.). If doing rides where a lot of time is spent in the higher zones (more intense) my recovery is definitely taking longer. However I’ve found that I can ride day after day, mile after mile when riding in Zone 3 and below.

On my my solo cross country ride I covered 3400 miles in 43 days with 2 days off the bike (41 riding days). I did 9 centuries with 6 on consecutive days, with the longest being 127 miles. But my legs were tired enough to where I could spin easy gears faster to get speed but I couldn’t push the pedals with enough power to get my HR into Zone 4.

Similar results this week. We are doing about 70 miles a day with 4500’ of climbing. But by keeping my HR down riding 7 consecutive days with longish miles is very doable. I also prescribe to some sort of recovery drink. Chocolate milk seems pretty good for most but I can’t tolerate milk. I use a powdered mix that is 4 parts carbs to one part protein. It seems to help me, but that’s a pretty subjective analysis on myself.
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Old 07-22-19, 05:19 PM
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Originally Posted by big john
Your schedule is like mine except if I did 60 and 4000 feet on a Thursday I think I would not recover in time for the Saturday hammer session. I've always been ok with doing a hard effort on Wednesday then little or no riding until Saturday. Years ago I had a job where they allowed me to take every Wednesday off so that worked out. Now I'm retired and trying to get back to it.

I'm always total toast on Monday.
Based on my experience if you make yourself do the Saturday ride you will eventually be able to do it well. I do admit that I am sometimes not fully recovered and have been dropped but after doing it a few times I get a lot better. The Sunday ride is actually the hardest for me as I am pretty wasted from Saturday. I am getting better each week though.
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Old 07-22-19, 07:02 PM
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Originally Posted by fastcarbon
Based on my experience if you make yourself do the Saturday ride you will eventually be able to do it well. I do admit that I am sometimes not fully recovered and have been dropped but after doing it a few times I get a lot better. The Sunday ride is actually the hardest for me as I am pretty wasted from Saturday. I am getting better each week though.
Saturday is my big ride day and I like to be as recovered as I can be. Sunday I am tired but we just do 25-35 miles without a lot of climbing but there are always sprints and hammering by whoever is the freshest. I just try to hang on until the coffee stop. A few years ago I was an instigator on Sundays, it would be nice to be able to do that again.
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