The day after...
Since moving to the Dales a year ago, I'm doing 2-3 rides of 30-40 miles a week, plus a ride of 60-90 miles most weeks. There's always a lot of climbing. I'm now coping fine with the rides as long as I keep the sugars going in, but struggling with recovery - I'm often washed out the day after the long ones. Muscles don't feel too stiff or achy.
I suspect I know at least some of the reasons, but would welcome suggestions. Post-ride I usually eat my bodyweight, and have a pint or two of Yorkshire's finest to rehydrate. More protein? Too many carbs?
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Glass of chocolate milk immediately upon returning home.
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How old are you if that’s not a rude question🤔Also do you just ride and at what intensity and or are the shorter rides training sessions.
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Alcohol is terrible for recovery
- Genesis Croix de Fer
- Dolan Tuono0 -
Apart from Guinness which is excellent
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I'm heading for 63
Almost all the rides are mostly zone 2-3, but punctuated with 4-5 to get up the hills. Usually a cafe stop.
Been doing about 80 miles a week for donkey's years, but mostly that was half hour each way commutes. Have upped the milage to about 150/week over the summer.
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yeahbut....
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"...as long as I keep the sugars going in..." You'll have to be specific. Sugar isn't good so I'll guess more carbs during cycling and more protein afterwards. Quite possibly an extra hour of sleep too.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
I’m 57, hardly ever consume alcohol, get a good 8 hours sleep every night and eat a healthy balanced diet. Each of those behaviours have improved my recovery and ability to cycle more.
I have found recovery and diet are pillars which need focus and application to enable the body to recover to continue cycling
I can only now do two hard rides per week( currently a couple chain gangs) the remaining rides are made up of z2 commutes with a longer ride on Sunday. Depending on how I feel I might put a couple of threshold efforts in on the Sunday ride or just chill and take in the scenary.
but that’s another thing I’ve learnt, listen to your body. If you feel tired, rest. A few studies suggest your fitness drops away quickly from your mid sixties, regardless if that’s the case, it shouldn’t stop you trying to mitigate the effects of aging.
but then the other side of the coin is life is for living. There’s not much point traversing through life and tasting nothing as you pass through. For me, currently, I’m happy doing what I’m doing. E bikes are a viable option with more of the older demographic in the club choosing this option, but still getting out and enjoying themselves. They do say they don’t take the mickey up the hills but hey why wouldn’t you.
“Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to cycle and he will realize fishing is stupid and boring”
Desmond Tutu0 -
I would suspect it is most likely the increased mileage, increased number of hills (which adds to intensity). The most accurate way is too go down the path of measuring power and training loads but I suspect that is probably too much faff.
Unless something is massively off kilter changing diet probably won't make much difference.
I think you either carry on and accept that with bigger weeks your recovery is harder, or you start tinkering around with ride lengths and intensity to see if that helps.
Even going from my late 30's into early 40's, I have noticed my ability to recover has changed considerably (5 years ago I'd never get stiff or sore muscles after a hard ride but now it is a regular occurrence). I just put up with it though and carry on as usual!
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Problem you have somewhere like the Dales is finding an easy ride.
I'm having this issue since moving to the Tamar Valley. Used to be I could do 50-100 m climbing per 10 km and in turn do easier rides when I wanted to, now it is more like 150-200 m per 10 km. Even the "flat" ride I have access to is about 1000 m in 60 km. Factor in that the climbs here are sharp, I'm doing a lot of muscle damage even on that ride. So I've gone from 50-100 km rides routinely to 35-80 km instead, because I am just spent. (I was never able to do more than 3 1/2 4 hrs on a bike, even slowly).
I'm using sculling as the alternative. An hour on the water plus faffing around with carrying the kit around is a bit like a flat recovery ride.
I think what I'm saying is that you may need a plan B. I don't know if that's the Vale of York for you, something like Zwift or some cross training.
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If you feel like you need to eat your own bodyweight after the ride, that's usually a sign you haven't eaten enough on the ride. Which is probably why you're feeling sluggish the next day.
If I were you I would try significantly increasing the amount you consume on the ride and seeing what effect that has on how you feel the next day. 60-90 hilly miles is quite a demanding workload - almost certainly more than 100 miles somewhere flatter - and there are more magazine articles and videos about fuelling for that sort of ride than you can shake a stick at.
Everybody's needs are different but for a ride like that I would be getting through at least 3 bottles with SIS / High5 at a reasonable concentration, plus either a bar or a large gel every hour (bars don't need to be fancy sports stuff - I swear by Lidl flapjacks and fake Nakd bars). Then when I get back in it's a bottle of 50% chocolate milk, 50% coconut or almond milk and a scoop of whey protein, plus a small snack like a bowl of fruit & nuts. If I find I need more than that, then I take it as a sign I didn't eat enough on the ride.
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Hitting the milk right now
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Yoghurt also works - especially proper greek. I find that much better on the gut than a big load of milk.
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