Originally Posted by acrafton
Ok - very helpful. But what of the articles/posts/books (including carmichaels) that prescribe several months of 'base building' prior to the start of the next season. I have a base. Do I need to let up and then rebuild it?
Heavens no! You want to hold on to that base and maintain it. My personal experience and my observations of pros recovering from injury, indicates that a base level of fitness can be built up over YEARS. Look at Lemond, coming back from a serious gunshot wound, or Armstrong's recovery. They couldn't have become world-class athletes again if they were really starting over from scratch. It's evident that the years of base they had built up, still stood them in good stead.