Forced Recovery
First off, sorry for the lack of posts for the last three weeks, I've been busy with working, training, reading (shocking I know), and an even bigger shocker, a small foray into cooking/baking. As a result, I haven't been motivated (inspired?) to write at all. That changed when my training schedule came to an abrupt halt last week, both literally and figuratively, when I went into the side of a small car while coming home from intervals. As someone who often rides 15+ hours a week, that's a huge deal.
My initial reaction once I found out that I hadn't broken anything was "I wonder if I'll be able to race on Sunday?" (three days later). Rest and recovery is something I've always struggled with. Last year living in Winnipeg about half my one on one conversations with the provincial team coach ended in him telling me to take a couple days off. When I hired a coach this year my first week was all chill rides (admittedly I was going into a stage race that weekend). Regardless, I'm sure you see the trend, I don't know when to stop.
This puts me in an interesting predicament, on the one hand, I like to ride my bike fast and far, not riding is mentally difficult for me. On the other hand, I know I have shortcomings when it comes to rest and recovery, and I'd just finished a solid training ride at the end of a solid training block before getting into the accident. Despite still wanting to ride, after talking to my favourite pro cyclist and friend Oliver Evans, my coach, and some fellow cyclists who have also been in car accidents, I've decided not to rush my return to the bike. Here's why.
Believe it or not, when you go on a hard ride, you injure your body. Not in the same way as a car accident mind you, but you are breaking down your muscles with every pedal stroke, you get stronger when you finish your ride and your body builds your muscles back stronger. The issue comes when your brain comes into the equation. When you have a couple good rides in a row you get into a good headspace, making you more likely to keep pushing until you become overtrained. This issue becomes exacerbated when you don't have a coach or mentor who can recognize the signs of overtraining and tell you to ease off.
So how does this affect me? Even if I was getting overtrained when I was forced off the bike, I'm definitely not overtrained after a week consisting of mostly of sitting down with one of seven good books (one of which I've since finished). The reason is my body needs time to heal still. Some days I'll ride to work (this takes less than five minutes) and I'll feel fine, other days I'll be on the verge of tears because I moved something the wrong way or pushed too hard, and there's no way of knowing how I'll feel that day. The longest ride I've done since was actually riding to the race I was planning on doing. Despite the fact that I didn't race, I got dropped by a group of guys (and Megan) who were riding at "chilling to the coffee shop" pace, a not-so-subtle sign that I wasn't ready to get back on the bike yet.
What does this mean for my race season? I don't know yet. I foresee a couple trips to a lawyer and at least one doctors visit before I'm properly back on a bike (note the use of "a" not "the", since THE bike is no longer safe to ride). For the time being, I'll be off the bike, doing everything in my power to ensure that WHEN I can get back to riding, I'm mentally prepared (believe it or not car accidents are hard physically AND mentally), and hopefully with a few more life skills than when I started this stint of forced recovery.
Stay cool internet ;)
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| The current reading list |
My initial reaction once I found out that I hadn't broken anything was "I wonder if I'll be able to race on Sunday?" (three days later). Rest and recovery is something I've always struggled with. Last year living in Winnipeg about half my one on one conversations with the provincial team coach ended in him telling me to take a couple days off. When I hired a coach this year my first week was all chill rides (admittedly I was going into a stage race that weekend). Regardless, I'm sure you see the trend, I don't know when to stop.
This puts me in an interesting predicament, on the one hand, I like to ride my bike fast and far, not riding is mentally difficult for me. On the other hand, I know I have shortcomings when it comes to rest and recovery, and I'd just finished a solid training ride at the end of a solid training block before getting into the accident. Despite still wanting to ride, after talking to my favourite pro cyclist and friend Oliver Evans, my coach, and some fellow cyclists who have also been in car accidents, I've decided not to rush my return to the bike. Here's why.
Believe it or not, when you go on a hard ride, you injure your body. Not in the same way as a car accident mind you, but you are breaking down your muscles with every pedal stroke, you get stronger when you finish your ride and your body builds your muscles back stronger. The issue comes when your brain comes into the equation. When you have a couple good rides in a row you get into a good headspace, making you more likely to keep pushing until you become overtrained. This issue becomes exacerbated when you don't have a coach or mentor who can recognize the signs of overtraining and tell you to ease off.
So how does this affect me? Even if I was getting overtrained when I was forced off the bike, I'm definitely not overtrained after a week consisting of mostly of sitting down with one of seven good books (one of which I've since finished). The reason is my body needs time to heal still. Some days I'll ride to work (this takes less than five minutes) and I'll feel fine, other days I'll be on the verge of tears because I moved something the wrong way or pushed too hard, and there's no way of knowing how I'll feel that day. The longest ride I've done since was actually riding to the race I was planning on doing. Despite the fact that I didn't race, I got dropped by a group of guys (and Megan) who were riding at "chilling to the coffee shop" pace, a not-so-subtle sign that I wasn't ready to get back on the bike yet.
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| Post-race coffee (I watched, that counts) |
What does this mean for my race season? I don't know yet. I foresee a couple trips to a lawyer and at least one doctors visit before I'm properly back on a bike (note the use of "a" not "the", since THE bike is no longer safe to ride). For the time being, I'll be off the bike, doing everything in my power to ensure that WHEN I can get back to riding, I'm mentally prepared (believe it or not car accidents are hard physically AND mentally), and hopefully with a few more life skills than when I started this stint of forced recovery.
Stay cool internet ;)
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