Training & Nutrition - Overtrained

Big 40 mile race coming up on Monday. Went hard 50 both this last Sat/Sun and then Mon short 15 hard. Then easy Tues. Thought I'd be recovered but today I just lagged on a hard group 15 miler. Any recommended course of recovery over the next 4-5 days till the race?

Do not do a training ride at all between now and the race. Recovery rides only of an hour or so at a pace that will not raise the heart rate above 60% of MHR.

If you are overtrained only recovery will help you. Not more training. The group ride was probably a mistake but you have some days to get rested before monday.

Be sure to get at least 8-10 hours of sleep a day also.

Be sure to ride as I said above. Active recovery is the best coupled with proper rest and nutrition.

Ditto- in addition, be sure to hydrate well in the next few days before the race, and the night before, carbo load very well.

The day of, you'll do a 45- 50 minute warm up just before the race, with your heart rate ranging from 65- 90% heart rate max. When you get to those upper ranges (85- 90%), you'll just be up there for short amounts of time, like 1- 2 minutes with a recovery of 1- 2 minutes. You should be feeling pretty strong during the warm up ride, but if you're feeling yucky, when you get to the starting line, know you'll be racing hard, but making sure you're not overtaxing yourself by pacing well.

Ok, well beyond what you asked, but just added that in to take you right up to the 10 minutes before the start of the race, if you so choose.

Koffee

Start carbo loading 48 hours before. Hydration is ALWAYS important. Most Americans are chronically dehydrated (caffeine and alcohol are the big culprits, coupled with a high sodium diet and the dry air encountered in sealed buildings)

DEMON

Well, I find that I can generally completely recover from anything I do on a bike after 2 recovery rides. Of course, I don't know, you might really have fried your legs or something or I might just recover fast. But I would think that you have plenty of time to recover before the big day. You might even be able to sneak in an easy training ride - but if you train at all be sure it is something that you KNOW you can recover from. Don't recover and then go out and fry your legs again.

I like to get a massage, do some extra stetching and some very light cross training just so as not to freeze up the muscles---sort of an "active" day off---but this is my regimen for marathon training where my taper starts at about 1.5 to two weeks from the main event. Don't know how that timeframe equates to biking...but definitely get some massage and stretching in.

Flyefisher, let us know what you did, and how it went. I've been in several similar situations this year. Consequently, I've got a pretty good handle on what not to do and due to mixed results, feel unqualified to offer advice. OTOH, I'd be glad to share what did and didn't seem to work for me, if there's interest.

Good luck on Monday.

OK, here's how I did.

Wednesday I felt toasted and got dropped 3 times, as I mentioned. Thursday I rode light. Friday it rained, no riding. Saturday I rode 25 or so miles at endurance pace with about 2 two minute hard intervals and a few short hills sprints. Nothing that would get you real tired, just enough to remind the muscles they're still alive. Sunday, total rain out and no riding. I carbo loaded big time since Saturday late. Drank plenty as I usually do.

So the race went like this: Got a good warm-up, and found out the race was delayed 1/2 hour. So I did another warm up. Came back to the back of the cat5 pack. Some of the riders in the front went off and then the ones in front of me stayed. Turns out there were two groups and I was supposed to be in the front one. It never said this on the registration!! For crying out loud. I got around amongst the mob and chased but to no avail. Figuring I had blown it, I came back and joined the second group. I am 30 and the second group was 32 plus. I suppose any results would not have counted, but either way it was still a cat5 race and I am doing this for fun. So what the hey? Turns out two of my cat4 teammates were in the race because they had lost their licenses and had to do 1-day registrations. It's great to race with a couple of team members in cat5. You can really do some damage.

The race: Average speed over 38 miles, 23.2. Several hills on a long 19 mile circuit. Great course. I worked my way to near the front and did some nice pulls and felt very good on the hills. Of course, my cat4 companion was really in control and was dong great. Race stayed together till last climb. Unfortunately I was pushed back to the middle on a prior downhill where some slowpoke had blocked me and the mob passing on the sides was wayyy too close and dangerous. I managed to move up from about 40th to about 20th on the climb. I then proceeded to book it downhill to the finish, passing 4 more for 16th. I felt strong enough to do even better, but unfortunately was blocked in again by the 15 in front of me. Getting blocked in sucks when your legs are begging for more action. I've been in a couple of pile-ups this summer, though, and it's not worth risking blood and guts for a few standings in a cat5 race.

All in all I felt great. My issues were with tactics and not with fitness. The recovery really worked well. Thanks for all the great tips. It's time for winter training and to improve on this year so I can maybe get up to cat4 next year.

Flyefisher,
what does Lance Armstrong recommend, if anything?
Maybe a recovering from cancer cyclist would know.
Like, what not about not necessarily a macrobiotic diet but what about some fish vs. red meat or something?

Sorry to hear about your slumping.

Does it(racing) now remind you of this icon? :fight:
Haha.

Regards,

Jacob