Great Lakes - Is this a recovery ride?

Went for a recovery ride and met up with a nice guy and went further than I expected. Does this still count as a recovery ride?

Polar #1:
Duration: 2:12:14
Work: 788 kJ
TSS: 74 (intensity factor 0.581)
Norm Power: 134
VI: 1.34
Pw:HR: 8.42%
Pa:HR: 7.13%
Distance: 31.261 mi
Elevation Gain: 735 ft
Elevation Loss: 728 ft
Grade: 0.0 % (7 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 481 99 watts
Heart Rate: 66 146 102 bpm
Cadence: 29 132 78 rpm
Speed: 0 31.1 14.2 mph
Pace 1:56 0:00 4:14 min/mi
Altitude: 719 850 778 ft
Crank Torque: 0 628 106 lb-in

According to Coggan, anything below 150 TSS is considered a recovery but I'm not so sure I could do this between hard sessions and fully recover?

I'm not entirely plugged in with Coggan's dogma, but I'm not so sure tss is the best indicator. Isn't. it possible to do a short, hard crit with a tss under 100? I'd look more to intensity factor, combined with ride length and what percentage is in zone 1.

Since you raced two days in a row, you should have kept today real light. And if you gotta ask if it's a recovery ride, that isn't good.

Friel's blog just had a great bit on recovery rides, but I know that popular wisdom maybe to ignore him.

I'm not entirely plugged in with Coggan's dogma, but I'm not so sure tss is the best indicator. Isn't. it possible to do a short, hard crit with a tss under 100? I'd look more to intensity factor, combined with ride length and what percentage is in zone 1.

Since you raced two days in a row, you should have kept today real light. And if you gotta ask if it's a recovery ride, that isn't good.

Friel's blog just had a great bit on recovery rides, but I know that popular wisdom maybe to ignore him.

And if you gotta ask if it's a recovery ride, that isn't good.

+1

Yea, Matt, I know what you're saying. I didn't really work hard and chatted the whole time but normally
my recovery rides feel like they didn't happen. This one left the legs a little tired. So. Think
my answer was no.

No.

99 watt avg with a 102 HR avg......sounds pretty recovery to me unless your 103 years old :)

99 watt avg with a 102 HR avg......sounds pretty recovery to me unless your 103 years old :)

I would think that at his (our) fitness level, 30 miles is a bit on the long side for a recovery ride. It's not just about intensity. I could be wrong, but I'm basing this mostly off of Freil's texts.

I would think that at his (our) fitness level, 30 miles is a bit on the long side for a recovery ride. It's not just about intensity. I could be wrong, but I'm basing this mostly off of Freil's texts.

I have tried to read Friels book....I really have so my reply was simply my opinion. 30 miles at such a low output and heart rate is putting very little stress on the body. Sure it may not have been the perfect recovery ride but at most of our fitness levels I think we are pulling at straws and looking way to deep when wondering if we rode 5 miles to far.....

I think we are pulling at straws and looking way to deep when wondering if we rode 5 miles to far.....

Very true. Some more than others.

Recovery ride or not, I don't really think it's going to effect anything...

I take it all back


Typical IF values for various training sessions or races are as follows:

Less than 0.75 recovery rides
0.75-0.85 endurance-paced training rides
0.85-0.95 tempo rides, aerobic and anaerobic interval workouts (work and rest periods combined), longer (>2.5 h) road races
0.95-1.05 lactate threshold intervals (work period only), shorter (<2.5 h) road races, criteriums, circuit races, longer (e.g., 40 km) TTs
1.05-1.15 shorter (e.g., 15 km) TTs, track points race
Greater than 1.15 prologue TT, track pursuit, track miss-and-out

I doubt anyone disagrees much with this.

So I went on a "recovery" ride too. Along the way I watched grass grow. Seen paint dry. I think even Psimet's kid passed me on his push bike.

Sorry, no fancy data dump, I've got one of those Commodore 64 bike computers.

Does this qualify for a recovery ride? :twitchy: