Recovering after a long, challenging ride

[Rob Hawks]

I'm wondering what other riders experiences are like in the days just after a long ride.

When I first began riding long distances, the definition of 'long' was different for me, and 100 miles was the absolute upper threshold. In 2000, I began riding double centuries, and I recall the recovery after that. I was destroyed by that, and vowed I'd never do it again. I walked stiff-legged for a week after that.

The immediate lesson learned from that experience was restricted to just never making vows and it was quite a number of years before either the longest ride increased in distance or my recovery wouldn't need to take a full week.

In the last few years, I've noticed that the time frame for complete recovery has shortened at the same time that the length of ride that caused the need for multi-day recovery has increased. 

In any case, the pattern has become this, assuming the ride is on a Saturday:

Sunday: The more sedentary I am, the more my legs will be stiff. If I do anything at all physical (yard work, walk the dog, go for a hike) my legs are usually fine. My weight might be temporarily down but is usually exactly the same as the day before the ride, and sometimes higher. I still want to eat everything in sight. For the next several days, any lack of physical activity will make the recovery longer.

Monday: This is always the worst day now. Sleep on Sunday night is crucial and if it is at all substandard then I'm groggy and more lethargic all day Monday. Like the day before, if I sit around I get stiff, and because I have a desk job, pretty much my legs get sore on Monday. I'm hungry all day. Weight is up without fail.

Tuesday: Slightly better but still some stiffness in the legs. Still hungry and weight is still up.

Wednesday: The weight gained after the ride is finally going away. That never happens before Wednesday. Stiffness disappears easily, and I feel stronger on the bike, but at the same time still tire more quickly than before the ride.

Thursday: All weight gain is gone, legs feel better all day, and constant hungry feeling has eased or is gone.

How does your post ride recovery transpire?

rob hawks

[Jenny Oh Hatfield]

On Wednesday, April 2, 2014 9:28:06 AM UTC-7, rob hawks wrote:

I'm wondering what other riders experiences are like in the days just after a long ride.

When I first began riding long distances, the definition of 'long' was different for me, and 100 miles was the absolute upper threshold. In 2000, I began riding double centuries, and I recall the recovery after that. I was destroyed by that, and vowed I'd never do it again. I walked stiff-legged for a week after that.

When I started randonneuring last year, my longest ride to date was 110 miles; I recall after my first 300k, I couldn't walk down the stairs the next day (and going up was out of the question.) But after this year's Davis 300k, I felt great - took the dogs to the park on Sunday and was itching to ride on Monday! I didn't feel any fatigue at all. I think eating much better on rides has helped immensely and I make sure to eat enough afterwards, too. I also stretch and use the dreaded foam roller.

I'll be curious to see how I feel after the 1200k, which will be my first this year and my longest ride to date!

Cheers,

Jenny

[Kevin Fitzpatrick]

Sunday: I usually look pretty bloated. If it was a 400k or longer I'll be dealing more with lack of sleep and balancing spending time with the family after having been gone all the previous day with getting naps now and then. My legs will sometimes feel weakish going down stairs. I'm usually very hungry but at the same time I can't eat much. I'll tend to crave spicy fatty foods - I.e. the opposite of my ride food. If I'm dehydrated my family will point it out because I'll get very very cranky. A few glasses of water and 15 minutes later I'll be recovered from that though. (Oddly I'll pee clear but be dehydrated in these instances. The 24 to 48 hours after a long ride is the only time that combination happens.) My body will be a furnace all day radiating heat, especially noticeable once I get in bed. My pulse will be quite high.

Monday: I'll feel human again. Hunger will be back in check. Legs will feel almost normal. Weight will be up but the bloated look I get at the end of a long ride will have gone away. If I forgot to stretch immediately after the ride they'll be stiffer on Monday. If I stretch right after the ride my legs recover a lot faster. My contact points with the bike will be slightly tender. My hunger will be gone. Back when I did mostly liquid fuel my hunger would last until late in the week. Not any more though. I often sleep fitfully. My blood pressure will be very low. My pulse may still be a bit high.

Tuesday: I'll feel normal. Weight will still be still up. I notice a little breathlessness going up stairs. My sleep pattern will be back to normal. My blood pressure will be low. My pulse will be back to normal.

Wednesday: I've usually gotten up a dozen times to pee during the night (as I did last night) and my weight is back down. I'll usually do a light workout and recovery ride on Wednesday. In truth I think maybe waiting until Thursday *might* be better but I'm usually Jonesing to get on the bike by Wednesday. If I try to go fast the speed isn't there though. My contact points with the bike will feel normal. Any temporary numbness in a finger or toe will usually be gone by now. My blood pressure and pulse will be back to normal.

Thursday: I'll feel light on the bike and often have a lot more energy. Depending on the length of the long ride my slight breathlessness may linger a day or two more.

If the ride was a 600k I often have pretty bad indigestion the day after a ride.

Almost none of the above applied to the one 1200k I finished, The Gold Rush last year. The day the ride ended went as expected but then after a night's sleep I felt perfectly fine. No muscle soreness, not weakness, no breathlessness. Pulse back in the normal range with blood pressure a bit low. I was still very hungry. But no bloating or weight gain/loss. I had heard horror stories at PBP about legs swelling and all that but I experienced none of it.

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[Rob Hawks]

Some similarities and some differences:

Walking down stairs is more difficult on Sunday and a little on Monday.

Walking up stairs seems easier, I think because it more closely mimics the pedaling motion so maybe it is the set of muscles being engaged.

The 'itching to ride' phenomenon is usually there for me and I really need to reign it in in order to allow recovery. That said, facing rain on my commute to work and back on Monday and Tuesday totally killed that. I still rode, but didn't have that 'itch' to do it.

Eating well on rides was very illusive for me and has only become a somewhat solved problem for me in the last few years. (I think PBP 2011 helped there, as I had never eaten so well on a ride before then.) This actually brings up the issue of what other factors have changed for me over the years. One is better nutrition both during rides and on either side of rides. I now eat better all the time, and there are things I no longer consume on rides, like soda. Instead, I drink mineral water which seems to help with digestion a lot. I know Max seems to pull of these rides on little more than bananas and cola, but I just can't do that. Anyway, the *earlier* I eat on rides the better it will be both on the ride and later for recovery.

When I first started doing doubles, and then well into doing brevets of all lengths, I often drove myself to the point where I could no longer eat on the ride, and couldn't eat for a long time after the ride. I think eating better, and eating on the ride earlier has addressed that for me, to a very large extent.

Losing weight has made a huge, huge difference to recovery. I finish rides feeling much, much better now after dropping over 20lbs in the last year and a half.

I do not dread the foam roller. I know it is painful, especially just after a long ride, but the payback is orders of magnitude higher than the discomfort of actually using it. 

rob

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[Jenny Oh Hatfield]

I know Max seems to pull of these rides on little more than bananas and cola, but I just can't do that. Anyway, the *earlier* I eat on rides the better it will be both on the ride and later for recovery.

I was wondering about that, after reading his excellent 400k ride report. Max - it seems like you eat very little on a ride! Or do you eat mostly on the bike while you ride to avoid lollygagging at controls? Or you're just superhuman? :) 

Cheers,

Jenny

[Patrick Herlihy]

I've yet to do anything longer than 210 miles but your recovery timeline exactly matches mine, Rob.  I never understood the temporary weight gain - often I'll be down a couple of pounds right after the ride but once I rehydrate I'll pop way over until Thursday.

On Wednesday, April 2, 2014 9:28:06 AM UTC-7, rob hawks wrote:

[Rob Hawks]

Patrick,

I may totally misunderstand the mechanism or mis-remember what I was told about this, but here is what I heard at one time.

The act of cycling in the way we do what we do creates small micro-tears in our muscles. When our bodies work to repair these small tears, they are filled with fluids. This might explain the muscle soreness we feel, and also the weight gain (water weight?). The excess fluids retained during the time of repair eventually get flushed from our system as we return to a lower weight.

Again, I could have that wrong, but that is what I heard.

rob

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[alex plumb]

Rob, I have a very similar recovery pattern to yours.

One difference is that I do not gain weight on long brevets. My weight stays the same or drops a few pounds if the ride is especially warm.

On Sundays I'm usually recovering from a combination of the ride and a bad night's sleep. I get my laundry done, take a leisurely walk around the neighborhood, eat, and nap. That's it. 

On Monday mornings I have an important weekly staff meeting at 9 AM. This is the most dreaded moment of my recovery period. It takes all my focus and energy to remain professional and upbeat through all the presentations and discussions. I am emotionally fragile and cognitively challenged for about 48 hours after a huge ride. My wife does her best to ignore me during this period.

I commute by bike daily and use it as a gauge of my physical recovery. I usually find that by Wednesday afternoon my legs are near 100%, but my overall stamina takes a day or two longer. 

I don't sleep well on the first night after big rides. I had a big problem with this on the GG 1,000 two years ago. On day 1 We got in with enough time banked for 3 hours sleep, but I slept for less than a hour.

On the GRR I had no problems sleeping, probably due to the evening start time and riding without any sleep for the first 36 hours. My body had no opportunities to complain. 

Alex Plumb

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From: Rob Hawks <rob....@gmail.com>
To: SF Randonneurs <sfra...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 2, 2014 9:28 AM
Subject: [SFRandon] Recovering after a long, challenging ride

[Kimber Guzik]

It sounds like most of us have similar recovery patterns, with minor variations.
Sunday is usually a good day for me. I'm tired, but not overly sore. Maybe the adrenaline is still pushing me from the ride. I definitely feel slightly euphoric, so I try to keep moving on Sunday with light activities. I'll do a little cleaning, go for a walk, etc. I'm not very mentally focused on Sunday though, so we almost always eat out for lunch. I do make a point of preparing dinner, because I feel nutritionally depleted after the weekend. I don't think we eat well during and after a ride. That's something I'd like to improve.
Monday is always the worst day. The euphoria has worn off, and I always feel slow, swollen, and emotional. My weight is still up (about 4 pounds), I'm grumpy, and I know it. I have gotten better about recognizing it, and not taking it out on the family (I think). I try and keep Monday low key, and plan for an unproductive day.
By Tuesday, I feel back to normal, but my legs still feel weak. I raced Christopher up a flight of stairs yesterday, and my legs were NOT responding!
Tuesday night I'm up at least twice as the excess water finally comes off. By Wednesday, I'm ready to go, but my output is still down. I usually do a one hour spin class, and I can tell my muscles are still recovering. My thresholds are lower, I can't maintain an all out sprint as long, etc.
My blood pressure drops while I ride, and is usually low on Sunday as well.  My resting pulse is higher for a couple of days after, but by Monday my numbers go back to normal.

Kimber

[Rob Hawks]

Hi Tina,

The choice of distance for the following weekend on my part is not scientific. It is whatever I can get away with without pissing off the spouse. This weekend I will do a 10-20 milers on Saturday, depending on what I do otherwise during the day, and on Sunday I'll do an early morning 55 miler and be home by 11am.

That said, my riding schedule after our 600km will be to do the Davis Double the weekend after. My first year of brevet riding I think I did a 400, Davis Double and 600km on successive weekends. That too was unscientific, to say the least.

If your goal is to do a 600km and be tuned up for it, you might not need to do 200kms even. This is all individual of course, but I find that after reaching a certain level, as long as I do at least a hard or fast (for me) 50-60 miler each weekend I can stay on top of conditioning. If you are at the stage where you can still gain useful feedback/knowledge from doing a 300km then fit that in earlier rather than closer to the 600km.

rob

On Wed, Apr 2, 2014 at 2:25 PM, Tina Forsman <tinaf...@comcast.net> wrote:

This is Al great information. My recovery is similar too. 

What I'm wondering is how long of a ride do all of you do this coming weekend. Do you do a 200k, 300k. Or a shorter ride? I was thinking I needed to do back to back 200k or 300k to keep up with my training for the 600k?

Tina

Sent from my iPhone

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[Tina Forsman]

This is Al great information. My recovery is similar too. 

What I'm wondering is how long of a ride do all of you do this coming weekend. Do you do a 200k, 300k. Or a shorter ride? I was thinking I needed to do back to back 200k or 300k to keep up with my training for the 600k?

Tina

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 2, 2014, at 9:28 AM, Rob Hawks <rob....@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Massimiliano Poletto]

Hi Jenny, I eat mostly on the bike, not just to save time at controls but to avoid ever becoming hungry. I try to eat 250-300 Kcal/hour. That works out to a water bottle with 100g (~2") of home-made maltodextrin/soy mix (similar to Perpetuem), or one Power Bar. On 200s and 300s I carry a couple small plastic bottles of the malto mix in my jersey pockets. On longer rides, I carry a tub of it in a saddle bag.

My favorite "real" food at stops is chocolate milk and bananas–works well and tastes good. I tend to avoid sodas except when I'm tired/sleep-deprived, which has been a lot recently. (A 10-month-old will do that to you.)

As for recovery after a big Saturday ride:

- Sunday: feeling happy, slightly elevated resting heart rate, moderate physical activity (maybe a tandem ride or swim with my older daughter), focus on drinking water and eating lots of protein (I'm a vegetarian, so protein means egg whites, dairy, legumes, whole grains).

- Monday: feeling cranky and tired, heart rate is back to normal, hunger is gone, but legs still feel empty. Normal intra-SF commute + errands on a bike.

- Tuesday: feeling much better, longish (40+-mile) but easy commute down the Peninsula.

- Wednesday: spin class, 45 minutes at high cardio intensity. At this point I've pretty much recovered.

max

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[Jenny Oh Hatfield]

Ah, that makes sense! I tend to limit my liquid consumption of calories to Osmo Nutrition but don't rely on it for my main source of nutrition. I still prefer chewing on something to get me through the day (habit/preference), although drinking it would be far more efficient. I should experiment on some permanents in the future. Thanks!

Cheers,

Jenny

[Mick Jordan]

I share most of the symptoms particularly regarding the weight gain/loss cycle.

The worst thing for me is (usually) feeling absolutely drained on the Sunday after a 300K and up, including a bad taste in my mouth that nothing seems to clear. The feeling is more than just tiredness and I don't like it, to the point where I have seriously considered swearing off rides over 200K. I suspect it may be related to dehydration.

Mick