Recovery Weeks

NUFCrichard

I am training for the Marmotte and have really stepped up mý training over the last couple of months.
I rode about 1500km in April and have done about 900km so far in May, including a fair bit of climbing in Mallorca a few days ago.
It is 8 weeks until the Marmotte now and I was thinking that maybe this week, or at least today until next weekend should be a recovery week. My question is: in a recovery week should I ride about as much as usual but at a lower intensity, or should I reduce the my training time but keep intensity normal?

Thanks in advance!

rozzer32

Probably just have 2/3 1 hour easy rides keeping your HR under 60% max.

ric/rstsport

NUFCrichard wrote:

I am training for the Marmotte and have really stepped up mý training over the last couple of months.
I rode about 1500km in April and have done about 900km so far in May, including a fair bit of climbing in Mallorca a few days ago.
It is 8 weeks until the Marmotte now and I was thinking that maybe this week, or at least today until next weekend should be a recovery week. My question is: in a recovery week should I ride about as much as usual but at a lower intensity, or should I reduce the my training time but keep intensity normal?

Thanks in advance!

is there a reason why you think you need a recovery week?

Herbsman

Do recovery weeks not help then? Everyone seems to be dead set against having a week off just for the sake of it, but I know a few people who have just trained week after week for months, and only eased off when they start to feel they need to ease off. By the time they start to feel they need an easier week it's too late they feel crap for weeks and performance drops.

ric/rstsport

Herbsman wrote:

Do recovery weeks not help then? Everyone seems to be dead set against having a week off just for the sake of it, but I know quite a few people who have just trained week after week for months, and only eased off when they start to feel they need to ease off. By the time they start to feel they need an easier week it's too late they feel crap for weeks and performance drops.

i think recovery weeks are, in general, over rated. for most people (i.e. those who are not elite and smacking out more than 20 hrs a week) it's not needed. by the time you've missed a couple of days training due to stress at work, partner/children, crap weather, etc and the fact that you probably only have 90-mins or so of an evening to train it's just not needed. of course there are some instances where things may be different. i'm just saying in general

ric

NUFCrichard

is there a reason why you think you need a recovery week?

A few reasons. The first petty one is that Joe Friel suggests it! He talks a lot of recovering so that you can train at 100%. He actually suggests every 4th week as a recovery week.
The second is that I have really upped my milage a great deal recently, including far more climbing than usual, so maybe this has caused fatigue. I am sure that 2500km in 6 weeks isn't much for lots of people here, but for me it is lots more than normal (I blame Strava challenges!)
Third is that I imagine that I will be increasingly reluctant to have a recovery week as the Marmotte looms ever nearer. With 8 weeks to go I think I could have an easier week, then hit the next 6 weeks hard.

BUT... would you recommend I continue as normal and scrap the idea altogether?
Today as a long endurance/recovery ride I did a slow 95km ride with my HR staying under 75% of max (about 82% of threshold) with the average being just over 60% of max (68% of threshold)

imposter2.0

My suggestion would be to maintain the hours - but ride easier. In other words, same bike time, but probably less distance.

Setarkos

Herbsman wrote:

Do recovery weeks not help then? Everyone seems to be dead set against having a week off just for the sake of it, but I know a few people who have just trained week after week for months, and only eased off when they start to feel they need to ease off. By the time they start to feel they need an easier week it's too late they feel crap for weeks and performance drops.

It depends on the overall training load. As Ric said for many the time you have between rides and the occasional reduced training due to off-bike life are enough for many. On the other hand (imo) many ambitious amateurs don't rest enough or not hard enough.

My favourite quote: “Train hard, rest harder, race hardest…!” – Olaf Sabatschus
Many uncoached amateurs train hardest, race hard and don't rest.

Of course you need to "earn" a rest week but if you train enough and hard enough then you should take your rest weeks seriously, too. Half the time, lower intensity, a few intervals won't hurt but I wouldn't do the same number of reps or the same intensity or duration of a certain interval type.

So if your time budget allows and you have a monthly TSS of around 3000, I would periodise using the usual mesocycles. But changing your training to incorporate rest weeks should not decrease overall training load it should just shift it to the other weeks.

ric/rstsport

NUFCrichard wrote:

is there a reason why you think you need a recovery week?

A few reasons. The first petty one is that Joe Friel suggests it! He talks a lot of recovering so that you can train at 100%. He actually suggests every 4th week as a recovery week.
The second is that I have really upped my milage a great deal recently, including far more climbing than usual, so maybe this has caused fatigue. I am sure that 2500km in 6 weeks isn't much for lots of people here, but for me it is lots more than normal (I blame Strava challenges!)
Third is that I imagine that I will be increasingly reluctant to have a recovery week as the Marmotte looms ever nearer. With 8 weeks to go I think I could have an easier week, then hit the next 6 weeks hard.

BUT... would you recommend I continue as normal and scrap the idea altogether?
Today as a long endurance/recovery ride I did a slow 95km ride with my HR staying under 75% of max (about 82% of threshold) with the average being just over 60% of max (68% of threshold)

there's no real evidence to suggest that people need a rest week every 4th week. if you manage your increases in duration/intensity at an appropriate level (and i'm not saying this is easy to define) and throw in a few off days (weather/partner/work/etc) you can pretty much just keep going. for most people a rest week is a wasted week.

of course, if you've massively increased your workload then you may need a rest, but that's the point i mention about carefully controlling your increases (you may need a planning tool such as the Performance Manager Chart that's mentioned in another thread here).

i'm not specifically answering your question as it really requires more info

not really a recovery ride at 95 km... ;-)