recovery ride question

[zaskar]

I ride hard 3-4 days a week and skip recovery rides by just not riding. 2 reasons why is i can not keep my hrt below 120 because of hills i can't avoid, 2nd it's so boring to ride that slow. would not riding recovery rides affect my training in a negative way? thanks.

 

[Allen H]

Originally posted by zaskar
I ride hard 3-4 days a week and skip recovery rides by just not riding. 2 reasons why is i can not keep my hrt below 120 because of hills i can't avoid, 2nd it's so boring to ride that slow. would not riding recovery rides affect my training in a negative way? thanks.

I find recovery rides help take any soreness out of my legs. You might be missing that benefit by not riding at all those days.

Maybe you can find another route to take more/all of the hills out of the equation to keep your HR down on recovery rides? (I have one flat route that I use almost exclusively for recovery rides, for example.)

 

[KGnagey]

Originally posted by zaskar
I ride hard 3-4 days a week and skip recovery rides by just not riding. 2 reasons why is i can not keep my hrt below 120 because of hills i can't avoid, 2nd it's so boring to ride that slow. would not riding recovery rides affect my training in a negative way? thanks.

I too have a similar problem. Just too many hills around to keep my heart-rate low. But I have a couple ways of doing recovery rides (when time alows).

1) Take the mountain bike out around the neighborhood for a short spin. Still some hills but less than what I have on my normal road bike routes.
2) Use a trainer. I have been using my indoor trainer to do alot of rides this year. Its been to cold and icy here in Maryland for riding during my normal after work and weekend hours.
3) Find other activities that will allow you to get your heart-rate up and still allow you to recover. lifting weights, climbing stairs, ect.

Set goals for yourself to keep from getting bored and to stay motivated.

 

[velomanct]

recovery rides get the blood moving and will shorten recovery time. i would suggest getting rollers and ride them for 20-30minutes on your 'off' days.
after a hard race, that night, i will take a 15minute spin around the neighborhood streets at like 10mph just to clear the lactic acid out. i can definitely feel the benefit the next day.

 

[xc_gumby]

I think the point here is to pump lactic acid out not maintaining a low heart rate. I find that recovery is okay so long as I just use one cog lower. Also, I tend not to bash the climbs like I might. I usually just take my time.

seems to work fine.

 

[jimh2]

Originally posted by zaskar
I ride hard 3-4 days a week and skip recovery rides by just not riding. 2 reasons why is i can not keep my hrt below 120 because of hills i can't avoid, 2nd it's so boring to ride that slow. would not riding recovery rides affect my training in a negative way? thanks.

Read Janssen's book on lactate threshold training. He presents evidence that after a hard workout you recover faster with a recovery than no workout at all.

 

[jimh2]

Originally posted by xc_gumby
I think the point here is to pump lactic acid out not maintaining a low heart rate. I find that recovery is okay so long as I just use one cog lower. Also, I tend not to bash the climbs like I might. I usually just take my time.

seems to work fine.

Lactate acid does not need to be "pumped out" High lactate acid accumulations from hard training will dissipate after after about an hour and one half. The reserach has shown that a recovery workout after the high intensity effort is beneficial. No one knows why as of yet.

 

[jimh2]

Originally posted by velomanct
recovery rides get the blood moving and will shorten recovery time. i would suggest getting rollers and ride them for 20-30minutes on your 'off' days.
after a hard race, that night, i will take a 15minute spin around the neighborhood streets at like 10mph just to clear the lactic acid out. i can definitely feel the benefit the next day.

You really don't clear the lactate acid out that nite. The high accumulations of lactic acid are removed about 1 1/2 hours after the hard workout or race. The soreness you are experiencing that nite is attributed to micro muscle tears that occured during your race.
For example if you could measure your lactate during a race (highly impractical) it might be 10-15mml. About 1 1/2 hours later it would be back to normal 2-3 mml.

 

[zaskar]

Originally posted by jimh2
Read Janssen's book on lactate threshold training. He presents evidence that after a hard workout you recover faster with a recovery than no workout at all.

your right, thanks. thanks for the good advice everyone.

 

[Mark Andrews]

I usually just ride the MTB around the streets doing gutter jumps and other fun things as a recovery, usually I keep my recovery days for shopping etc. and just take the MTB instead of public transport which is usually about 10/20 k's.

 

[tanggoman]

My recovery 'ride' after a hard one would be taking a brisk walk for about 1.5hrs. Its one sure way not to get the HR up... works all the time!