Riding through achy legs?

[jj]

Doesn't happen that often, I suppose because of my consistency, but I
rode through 'achy' body conditions yesterday. I blame last week's
riding, which was fairly enthusiastic, motivation was high. Having a
little trouble walking, and soforth.

The interesting thing, for me, was that since motivation was high, and
the system felt strong, I was able to ride fairly hard. Heh, but it
was slow, hard riding, with speeds dropping off about 3-5 mph, down to
15-16 - I'm officially calling it a 'recovery ride'. ;-)

In fact, that is my idea of an active recovery day - I only seem to
need one of these rarely, though - as a recreational rider, I'm riding
slightly below the level where such things matter, I think. Gettin'
there, though.

It was actually fun using 'the spirit' to drive the (unwilling) legs.
On the pm ride I had a riding partner, and was surprised how much just
having some company will improve your speed and riding in general.

I still feel a little of that tired muscles feeling, but not as much
as yesterday morning, so I'd say the RR worked. ;-) Oh, had an
uncharacteristic transient cramping up in the right calf, despite
being well hydrated and fed. Managed to stretch it out about a dozen
times. Intermittant cramping on both am and pm rides.

What's also worth noting is that you're never -really- too tired to
ride - it really -is- all in the mind. If the legs aren't feeling good
or the 'system ' isn't the best, if the motivation is high, you're
riding..

jj

 

[Ken M]

Riding partner? My thoughts on this, I mostly 99% of the time ride
solo. It gives me a break from dealing with people. But then again it's
no secret that I don't like people.

Achy legs - I get them often, like right now they feel a bit achy and I
haven't riden in like two days, hurricane zone yesterday. Might try to
do one lap today, probably still wet, but oh well!

Ken

 

[jj]

On 10 Jul 2005 05:53:01 -0700, "Ken M" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Riding partner? My thoughts on this, I mostly 99% of the time ride
>solo. It gives me a break from dealing with people. But then again it's
>no secret that I don't like people.

I'm looking forward to riding more group rides. I've done a few, but
none with sustained drafting. My feeling is at some point to bring up
your game to the next level learning to draft and ride in a relaxed
paceline are crucial. The best way to quickly bring up your level - if
you've got the base - is to ride with someone better than you.

You realize that just having a riding partner doesn't mean that you
have to be locked on his wheel. In fact much of the time the guy could
be 50-100 yds ahead of you. This wouldn't push into your envelope of
comfort, yet still offer you the benefit of being 'pulled along'.

But I completely see your side/preference.

>Achy legs - I get them often, like right now they feel a bit achy and I
>haven't riden in like two days, hurricane zone yesterday.

Though I admire your riding comeback, I'd say you're a -leetle- bit
low on the 'consistency' and you tend to increase your mileage in
bigger jumps than most would advise 'by the book'.

I'm not saying you're re-experiencing full-on DOMS, there may be an
achyness of a different etiology that can occur even in well-trained
muscles, dunno - feels different than DOMS, more like the achy from
pre-flu symptoms. Achy but not exactly sore.

Do you use a roller or massage? What about NSAIDs? My achyness was
breaking through even three Advil, lol. Again, it's rare - though my
muscles hurt between rides a quick massage takes care of that. In fact
I use that as a guide to effective training - I aim to stay -just this
side- of muscle soreness.

My feeling is that at the end of a period, though each day's ride
might be a little higher on the perceived exertion scale if you ride
daily, you are at a higher level of conditioning than someone who
rides say 4 days per week.

Not that this is bad. That kind of rider might be recovering and
slightly peaking for each ride - their over-all enjoyment of cycling
might be significantly higher than the daily rider who is pushing it.
But that's just it. I'm chasing my optimum conditioning (I hope)
through consistency and slower ramp up slope, cuz I'm not getting any
younger...except for the degree that cycling sets back the clock.

Sorry for the diatribe... ;-)

jj

>Might try to
>do one lap today, probably still wet, but oh well!
>
>Ken

 

[Ken M]

Well perhaps I would feel differently if there were a group here. I am
not aware of any. My brother (the kind of people I ride to get away
from) has said something about riding together. I will definately avoid
this at all costs. Plus my current ride is ugly and cheap. Although way
ot here I did see a group af about 6 or 8 recumbents a couple of weeks
back. I waved to the lead rider, they waved back. And you are right
about my consistancey(sp) I often find myself going for several days
with little or no riding, then doing multi 12 mile laps. And then being
achy the next day. And then you have the weather issue. I won't ride in
thunderstorms! I try not to take anything when I get achy, I just take
a day off, or ride through it, depends on how achy it really is.

Ken

 

[Jeff Starr]

On Sun, 10 Jul 2005 08:22:19 -0400, jj<[email protected] wrote:

>What's also worth noting is that you're never -really- too tired to
>ride - it really -is- all in the mind. If the legs aren't feeling good
>or the 'system ' isn't the best, if the motivation is high, you're
>riding..
>
>jj

Yeah, but it may not be in your best interest, to do so. It pays to
listen to your body. I'd rather take 1 or 2 days off, than over do it
and be off the bike for a week.

Of course, I'm just riding. I'm not training for anything, but to be
able to ride a little further and sometimes a little faster.


Life is Good!
Jeff

 

[SlowRider]

jj wrote:
> What's also worth noting is that you're never -really- too tired to
> ride - it really -is- all in the mind. If the legs aren't feeling good
> or the 'system ' isn't the best, if the motivation is high, you're
> riding..

I suppose it's true that you can always ride, but if you're
overtraining it's definitely not "all in your mind". There are real
physiological consequences from overtraining. No, they won't stop you
from riding, but they will make it a less pleasant experience and
impact your life in other ways. (For instance, see
http://www.cptips.com/ovrtrng.htm.)

I used to get this a lot when I commuted daily. I'd go for 2-3 weeks
of riding every day, and I'd always ride hard. I'd be irritable, I'd
sleep poorly and my legs would be sore all the time, but I still wanted
to get on the bike. I figured I was just a wimp (probably true anyway)
but later I learned that these are all signs of overtraining.

Just something to be aware of...


-JR

 

[jj]

On Sun, 10 Jul 2005 18:52:02 GMT, Jeff Starr <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Sun, 10 Jul 2005 08:22:19 -0400, jj<[email protected] wrote:
>
>>What's also worth noting is that you're never -really- too tired to
>>ride - it really -is- all in the mind. If the legs aren't feeling good
>>or the 'system ' isn't the best, if the motivation is high, you're
>>riding..
>>
>>jj
>
>Yeah, but it may not be in your best interest, to do so. It pays to
>listen to your body. I'd rather take 1 or 2 days off, than over do it
>and be off the bike for a week.

Hmm, I can't really imagine having to take a week off from riding too much
- not like I'm doing the RAAM, heh. But as you say...some caution is
warranted.

>Of course, I'm just riding. I'm not training for anything, but to be
>able to ride a little further and sometimes a little faster.
>
>
>Life is Good!
>Jeff

An update on this:

Last week I spent doing some fast riding in the flats at the beach, about
120 miles worth over six days. I was very surprised at my speed. I was
playing around at 23-25 mph quite easily, and got in a couple rides with an
avg speed of well over 17mph - quite a feat when riding with traffic lights
and turn-arounds in the back streets of the suburbs. It's neat when you
look at the speedo and it's always saying 19 or 20 mph. ;-)

I felt so good when I got back I immediately went over to ride the hill
repeats route I do - two miles of about 5% grade and rode up that puppy
like it wasn't there. Dayum! I wasn't even breathing hard.

However this morning my legs are a bit achy again. I kind of like that
feeling - it means I'm working hard. But it's puzzling - in the past I've
ridden that hill-repeat route with more of a struggle and it never causes
any achy legs.

Oh well - guess today will be a recovery ride day! <g>

But I like those days too, because there's something just neat about
getting on the bike with stiff and achy legs and then over the next
half-hour working out all that soreness.

jj