I’m really struggling with my recovery after rides at the moment. As in feeling borderline unwell, like I’m coming down with a cold/virus within hours of getting home.
Anyone got any tips to help improve this situation? I seem to remember that iron plays a role in the rate and level of recovery but, being the sort of person who can’t be doing with taking supplements of any sort, I’m not much of one for solutions that can’t be incorporated into my everyday life.
We all know from various doping cases that testosterone does as well and it’s pretty easy to get stuff in over-the-counter products. I’m pretty sure that if I could be bothered I could read up on the list of things I can’t take but it’s Sunday night and I can’t be arsed.
Incidentally, I went out for my first Saturday morning training ride in months this weekend. I put myself in the back group for reasons of fitness, which seemed to be me and Steve (who I’ve ridden with before) plus quite a few of the increasing number of women now riding with the club. We kept a good pace and I felt reasonable after the four laps which somehow saw us whittled down to all of three out of eight who started in our bunch.
I think I might have been slightly dehydrated as I was starting to cramp a bit towards the end. It was definitely milder that I had thought it would be when I left the house but I think I’m a bit out of shape *surprised face*
Certainly, riding at a slightly less intense pace highlighted a few things that have gone lacking since the beginning of September: a top end, a middle engine and a lower end of recovery. At least that leaves room for improvement.
My form on the bike was OK, even if I was riding my cyclocross bike which is a bit short at the front now for me, unless I’ve failed to set it up properly for me rather than my girlfriend. I’ve been trying to work on holding my shape while climbing and I liked the feeling of being able to dance a bit more on the pedals than I used to.
So I guess it’s that time of year when I’ll have to apply myself and keep chipping away at building up for the next year’s challenges which are simple:
- Get out of 4th Cat racing
- Win a race
- Complete the Etape in a decent time