Mate, you look tired..

I'm drafting this from Gatwick Airport, feeling a bit lost. I'm sat here with my helmet, my shoes, all my kit...but no bike! It's strange travelling anywhere without her. However! Have no fear! I'm off to the motherland, my beautiful Isle. This weekend I get to borrow a bike, a Specialized to be exact. I'm rather excited. I've never trained on anything other than my own two trusty steeds, this should be an interesting experience. What might be most interesting is that for the first time in my year of cycling I will not be climbing on a compact..... Oh dear.

Anyhow, I digress. This weeks post seems to be something which is featuring quite highly in the "this should be in your priorities list, why isn't it?" category for a lot of riders I've been speaking to lately. It's the skeleton in the entering-peak-season closet. It's that thing we all think we can get away with ignoring for the sake of a few more miles. Yep, you guessed it, recovery.

A sports massage can be painful but worth it.
Treat yourself to 1 a month when training is quiet.

One of the biggest lessons for me since I began racing has been that although I feel good, although I can walk, although I can wake up on time every morning - every time I race I literally use up the stores of "awesome" I've been generating throughout my training blocks. I learnt this last weekend, when I did a 90 mile sportive and realised there was nothing left in the tank after the three previous quick succession criteriums. Falling far behind my friends and team mates on easy rolling terrain was not a happy experience, it was frustrating beyond frustration itself. While I finished the ride feeling slightly jaded, I quickly realised that this was an important revelation.

I've never, until now, experienced the physical changes that are now happening to my body, as my coach and I work to finely tweak my capabilities to ensure maximum benefit throughout the summer. I feel physically tired sometimes and others completely on top of the world. Mentally I'm up and down, dependent on what sort of workouts I get to do. After each race I spend a lot of time in bed. Sometimes I find it hard to motivate myself. This appears to be all part of the process. It seems to be the mental aspect of these big training regimes that poses the biggest hurdle. Allowing yourself to follow instructions meticulously enough to peak, without destroying your hard work, while at the same time remaining enthusiastic and focused. These balances are so trim and neat that the act of controlling all of these points can consume every minute of your life.... If you allow it.

So it should be at the very top of your list of important stuff that you take care of yourself, inside and out. Ignoring the need to recover can mean you damage yourself, sometimes beyond repair. So listen, and make sure you include recovery as as much of a priority on your calendar as intervals or racing or sportives.

Stick bananas, a spot of cinnamon and milk
in a blender and drink before bed, your muscles
will thank you. 

Recovery is not just taking a day or two off your bike and eating your greens and drinking your milk. Recovery is shift in your "cycle consciousness" to make sure you remain refined and ready for your seasons goals. I'm not a sports scientist, nor am I a coach, so I'm not in a position to tell you how to recover. For example during my recovery I don't actually take any time off the bike, as its more detrimental to my current state, including my mental state. This approach really, really doesn't work for everyone, a lot of people will need to take time off, be it days or more. You need to figure out how to recover for yourself, research it, ask the advice of a coach. When you figure it out, make sure you do it properly and don't skimp or cut corners.

If you aren't recovering properly your fitness will begin to diminish. You will begin to feel depressed and you will find your self confidence, eating habits and sleep patterns begin to falter. You will not feel enthused to pick up the bike. You will become short tempered and generally feeling fed up. Not only this but you will gradually start to cycle slower, without form. You've worked SO hard to get to where you are, don't let the obsession become the reason you fail.

So I can't tell you what you should do to combat all of this, but here are some little bits and bobs I've picked up (sometimes the hard way) over the last year;

1. If you aren't performing the way you're used to performing, you're probably tired.
2. Feeding intelligently off the bike, outside of pre and post ride meals, is just as important as on-bike nutrition.
3. Don't kid yourself into invincibility, you will only do more harm.
4. Ignore peer pressure, every ride is not a competition.
5. Sleep, nap and chill out as much as you feel like it. You're not lazy. Putting your feet up is training too!
6. If your brain is misbehaving, it's probably because its trying to warn you. See step 5.
7. It's ok to ride slowly. Treat yourself to a couple of easy spin sessions each week, keep your heart rate low and just find a nice rhythm for an hour.
8. Fatigue can sneak up on you like a ninja, keep your eyes peeled for warning signs like de motivation, overly high or low heart rate and changes (normally decrease) in appetite.
9. You really have to be doing a lot to experience overtraining and fatigue, don't let it concern you, you will know when/if it finally hits. Until then keep enjoying yourself!
10. Your body is not only a temple but a very intelligent communication device, listen to it.

So there's my two pennies on the matter, I'm finishing this off from bed, because I'm now ill... ironic, isn't it?

Recovery - might as well enjoy it right? 

Oh and if anyone's interested, it was a (circa 9 year old) steel Spesh Allez, running a 53. A bitch on the steep climbs but a total demon on the flat. Next investment may involved a few more sprockets!