Originally Posted by
Racer Ex
Gary's dead on about rest, and it's the most overlooked part of most people's training. I know too many people who believe the solution to everything is to train harder. It's actually one of thing best reasons to get a coach sometimes; forced recovery periods. And he should be able to work the group rides into your sched if you want to do one or two a week.
If you're already in a hole fatigue-wise before you start and can't complete the workout, or do so at reduced wattage (one of the huge benefits of a power meter) you're just digging a deeper hole.
And if you're coming off a peak, hard training isn't the right strategy. I'm fighting this right now (inadequete rest after a peak/recovery cycle).
Does he have a rest/recovery week scheduled soon? Get on the phone, ask him about this, tell him you're toasted. If you still feel like monkey butt after a rest week, adjustments need to be made. If he tells you you don't need rest, I'd shop for a new coach.
And BTW, there's only 3-4 guys I know that I can actually do a recovery ride with.
This is very well put. When HR Monitors first came into common use the biggest revelation for many of us was how much we needed to back off during a recovery ride.
Getting tuned into how to properly cycle your training is the biggest challenge both you and your coach face. Get it right and you can have a very long season, and train effectively for years. That being said it can take a season or two and some trial and error to finally get it. I would be concerned if my coach was not paying attention to this, or was very ridgid about Work/Rest cycles.