by Patricia Schwager

My July blogpost is about how to deal with an injury. I chose this topic because I’m just getting back from an injury and that’s why I’d like to write about it. Being inured was a hard time for me and I learned a lot about myself during this time.

Being injured probably taught me a lot more than if I would have been racing and training like planned. I think that I’m an easy athlete to work with but things are definitely different when you are injured. Have you ever been injured and had to take time off the bike?

Of course, I have been injured during my long career as a pro cyclist. I’ve crashed, had broken ribs, injured my knee(s) etc. But as crazy as it sounds, I never actually had to take a lot of time off or miss races due to it.

So this situation was all new to me. The difficult thing was that my injury was an old injury that had returned. This means I made the first mistake by getting back on the bike and I kept racing even while the original injury was happening. Now I was forced to pay for that mistake. The only thing we could do was to figure out what is causing that pain in my right thigh and how to solve it. I could not keep riding my bike through the pain.

Yes, I was struggling with just riding easy, resting a lot, and not racing for almost 2 months.

I just love to ride my bike and if I don’t ride my bike, I like to be active and do other things. I can enjoy a rest day and taking it easy, but spending a whole day on the couch, watching TV just isn’t my thing.

Of course, as a pro athlete it is even harder if you are forced to take time off during the race season. There is a lot more pressure to perform or deliver results. Everything you think about is to be back on the bike and racing as soon as possible.

I still hoped to be able to race my Nationals, but time was running out to get fit and ready to have a good race. This added even more stress on me.

ABOUT PATRICIA SCHWAGER

Patricia Schwager began cycling in 1998, racing as a junior. After racing on the domestic level and completing her Diploma as Pastry Chef, she got her first pro contract in 2006. 2015 will be here 10th year of professional racing. Patricia has a lot of experience racing in the European peloton. In 2013 she started working with Shawn Heidgen (Current ALP Cycles Coach) as her personal coach. In 2014 she changed her focus to racing in the US. Patricia is a 6 time national Swiss champion and has represented her home country, Switzerland, at the World Championships 12 times.

For 2015, Patricia will race for Team Tibco. Along with racing she’s looking to share and pass on her knowledge in her new role as an ALP Cycles Coach. Visit her online at https://indyfreelance.com/

By: Jennifer Sharp

Last Monday morning hit a little harder than usual. And no, it wasn't from post Super Bowl festivities. As a full-time coach and endurance cyclist, the bulk of my workouts are completed on the weekends and come Monday, I'm more than ready from a rest of day. But this Monday was different. I had some lower back pain and given my chronic trouble with my lower back, I assume I'd be okay given my daily core regimen.

Injuries come in many shapes and forms. Some are visible to the naked eye, some from over use. Regardless of how they occur one thing remains constant. REST is an important component for recovery.

Yet things persisted. That night when I taught a yoga class, I noticed a new pain when forward folding. It heightened my awareness to the sensations in my body but still, I continued with intervals on the trainer the next day and upkeep my strenuous Ashtanga yoga practice. If it doesn't hurt while you're on the bike - things shouldn't be that bad, right? On Thursday, my back had enough. It had been trying to tell me to slow down and this time it put me on bed rest lockdown.

The Erector Spinae runs parallel to the spine and is a back workhorse. Practically every move you make involves it.

Injuries are tough. Cyclists are tough too - often battling through pain while on the bike: lung-busting intervals, mountain top summits, FTP tests, pushing through when everything in your body is telling you to stop. Admittedly, cyclists/endurance athletes pain scales are skewed as a result. It's hard to know when to push through the pain and when you need to back off. Yet the body knows. The body always knows.

A visit to a chiropractor is a blessing and a curse. Turns out this is a new injury and not the chronic back pain I've dealt with in the past. I sprained my erector spinae muscle on the left side of my spine and the only way to heal is through rest. Rest, just so you know, is a four-letter word.

REST?!? You mean stick to just easy recovery rides on the bike?

Nope. Rest. Stay off the bike.

Okay. But what about x, y, or z races? What about this huge foundation of training I did? What? How? When? Why?

Encountering an injury is similar to the stages of grief: shock/denial, pain/guilt, anger & bargaining, depression/loneliness, testing, and acceptance. You may experience one or all of the stages and not necessarily in order. One thing remains constant: the more you lay off now and address this minor acute injury the sooner you may be healthy again.

And one thing is for sure, if you've been doing a sport for long enough, you're more than likely going to encounter an injury.

One thing I've found that helps navigate the emotional trauma associated with forced time off the bike is instead of focusing on what you can't do, FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN DO.

Here are some things you can actively do to improve recovery:

1. Just as in sport, nutrition and hydration impact your ability to recover. During the initial phase of injury, inflammation occurs as the body's natural response to heal the injured area. Pain, swelling, redness and heat occur. Focus on anti-inflammatory foods such as olive oil, avocados, flax oil, oily fishes, and mixed nuts and seeds while avoiding processed foods high in saturated fats, vegetable oils and foods with trans fats. You can also include garlic, curry powder, and berries. Icing those tender areas for 15 minutes every hour can greatly reduce swelling and get you on the road to recovery.
   
   
2. Once the pain and swelling has reduced, your body enters the proliferation and remodeling phases. Your metabolism can increase 15-20% from being sedentary so it's important to fuel yourself enough protein, balanced dietary fat, eating a diverse mix of fruits and vegetables and eat enough whole grain minimally processed carbs.
   
   
3. Have extra downtime now that you're not doing the sport you love? It's time to sharpen those often neglected mental skills. My favorite book of all time is, "Thinking Body, Dancing Mind" by Jerry Lynch. And another favorite by Steve Peters: "The Chimp Paradox: The Mind Management Program for Confidence, Success and Happiness." Stay off social and educate yourself in the meantime!
   
   
4. Get body work. Massage, acupuncture, and cupping. If you've had trouble finding the time to fit these into your schedule, now you can. Find out from other cyclists who their favorite body work person is and give it a try.
   
   
5. Be diligent about your physical therapy. If you've been shown various exercises to increase your mobility - do them!

Happy healing friends. And if you have an injury healing tip you'd like to share - pease do!

ABOUT JENNIFER SHARP

Jennifer Sharp, a USA Cycling Level 1 Coach, started racing in 2004 as a means to fulfill her competitive itch. Previously a national level boxer, she grew tired of getting hit in the head and decided to pound the pedals instead. She bought a pink Kona road bike completing several recreational rides and found herself passing as many people as possible. Since then she has multiple podiums at elite track national championships, master track national championship titles and world cup finishes under her belt.

Poor advice or over enthusiastic training can lead to a relapse

A frequent challenge as a coach is when clients come up against periods of illness. The need to manipulate training and lifestyle to allow for a return back to full health and training routine without hindrance to further progress takes precedence. A trusting relationship with a coach is crucial at this point.

Poor advice or over enthusiastic training can either send the athlete back into a relapse of illness or prolong the period it takes to resume full regular training again.

3 STEPS GET BACK TO TRAINING FROM ILLNESS

These basic steps in training were developed by the Australian Institute of Sport (Pyne et al. 1995; Young 1999) which we recommend to use as a guide when working with athletes:

Frequency
Duration
Intensity

1. FREQUENCY

When resuming exercise, take care to allow the body to adapt again to the physical strain without the possibility of lowering the immune system. A gradual increase in frequency of training is the path to take towards full training again e.g. a light training ride every 2-3 days, progressing to a block of riding a bike for 3 days on, one day off. This may be a 1hr to 1 1/2hr easy ride every 2-3 days until progressing to 1-2hr training rides back to back for 2/3 days in a row without adverse symptoms.

2. DURATION

Increasing the duration too soon while maintaining the frequency can put a strain on the body. It requires listening to the body to ensure it is a gradual process without risking the immune system for a second time. Only once a regular pattern of training durations are accomplished pre-illness the last step in the process can then be implemented, e.g. increasing the training to 2hrs per ride building to 3hr rides on back to back days will enable the body to handle a considerable amount of stress through prolonged durations of exercise without intensity.

3. INTENSITY

Only when recovery from both frequency and duration of training sessions is back to a regular pattern is it time to load the body with another increased intensity e.g. this must be completed in small increments as the body can respond negatively to an increase in intensity. Adding intensity on certain days initially, building up the intensity to handle training at a higher intensity on back to back rides. This can take from 1 week to 1 month again depending on severity of illness and ability to recover. So be patient!

The above process can take perhaps a week, a month, even many months depending on the severity of the illness.

ILLNESS PREVENTION

Training – Careful management of training durations and intensities; periodised approach to training and recovery.

Environmental – Limit exposure to adverse conditions; cold, rain, humidity, heat etc.

Physiological – Teaching yourself to self manage stresses that come with training and competition and be able to monitor your body’s responses to training.

Behaviour – Increasing your awareness of how diet can affect your immune system and balancing nutrients and timing calories around training patterns along with limiting your potential exposure to illnesses and common infections.

Clinical consideration – Medication and supplementation, immunisation to certain illness. Daily pro-biotic can aid prevention along with cycled uses of Echinacea during high periods of high physical stress or exposed to others with illness. Vitamin C also can aid recovery from illness along with First Defence Nasal Spray when first feeling symptoms of sickness.

ILLNESS SYMPTOMS

Poor recovery between training sessions.

Under performance during competitions and training.

Elevated heart rate during training and rest.

Weight fluctuations.

Mood swings, loss of enthusiasm and lethargic feeling.

Increase pains and soreness post training that is not part of the regular adaptions to training.

This time of year can be very difficult for any athlete and often leads to a great frustration and de-motivation. However, if carefully thought through and intelligent decisions made recovery will be quick and full.

Coach and athlete contact is even more important than ever at this time. Trust what your Coach is telling you. It is for a reason…normally because they have been where you are. They understand your frustrations and have probably made all the wrong choices to get to the point of knowledge to guide you with the right advice.

You will get back to full health. You will be able to train at your maximum and more again…to make those gains. But listen to your body, make intelligent decisions and you’ll be back fighting fit in no time.

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Dig Deep Coaching provides unrivaled complete coaching solutions from specific coaching packages to an array of sports professional services. includes sports massage, sports nutrition, performance testing, power meter rental, professional RETUL bike fit and more! 

Visit digdeepcoaching.com for more information.

By: Jennifer Sharp, ALP Cycles Coaching

"How many of you have overtrained?"  asked Dr. San Millan to a room full of 25 coaches and athletes.

Every single person raised their hand.

Everyone, at some point in their athletic lives, will overtrain. In the summer time it's easy to throw in extra mileage even though you've done 15 hours of riding that week and it's only Friday - what's the harm? And while it's ok to pile on the extra miles every once in a while, making a habit of it means you'll eventually find out why rest days are super important. And that lesson could cost you a week, a month, a season or a full year. 

Myth: Overtraining only happens to professionals.

Myth: Overtraining is curable in a few days.

It’s actually pretty easy to over train. We’re bombarded with TSS and CTL and ATL charts and graphs. We’re obsessed with tracking our upward growth and it’s hard to not be a slave to a performance manager chart. We get used to pushing through pain. But what those CTL’s, ATL’s, TSS’s and TSB’s don’t show in flashing red lights: “CAUTION - OVER TRAINING AHEAD” until it's too late.

Can you tell when an athlete is prone to overtraining?

As coaches, we’re constantly monitoring our athletes data. Thankfully power coupled with heart rate data can paint a picture of that individual athlete’s reaction to training stimulus on a daily basis. We watch for trends and see if we can explain patterns. And we’re also reliant on our athlete’s feedback to clue us into things we may have missed on first glance. Like decoupling of the heart rate,  lack of motivation, stress, insomnia, or mood swings. All of these factors come into play for each individual in their own unique way. Unfortunately in regard to overtraining, there’s no one specific marker that is the cause. Rather it’s a combination of factors.

So, how do you track different metrics to see if you’re headed down the path of overtraining?

One suggestion is to do a blood test in the offseason to obtain a baseline measurement. You could include this into your annual physical requesting your hematology, biochemical and hormonal markers. Then about  1-1.5 months prior to your peak event, do another test. Have a trained professional compare the results and determine if you should back things off if needed or continue the training as prescribed. 

Another cheaper method of tracking is through daily monitoring of your resting heart rate. You can expect to see a 5% fluctuation from day to day heart rate but anything above or below that could be a sign of overtraining. If you see a big outlier in your heart rate, play it safe and smart and call it a day.

How do you avoid overtraining in the first place?

First of all, listen to your body. If you’re tired, rest. Use a heart rate monitor, as mentioned above, to track your resting heart rate.  You can use the metrics portion of TrainingPeaks to log your sleep quality, overall feeling, soreness, menstruation, fatigue, weight and more. Use it! Eat a well balanced diet and stay on top of hydration. If you have a prescribed off day - take it. It pays to train smarter, not harder. 

Metrics located in TrainingPeaks are a great way to track various markers that paint a clearer picture of your coach. 

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ABOUT JENNIFER SHARP

Jennifer Sharp, a USA Cycling Level 1 Coach, started racing in 2004 as a means to fulfill her competitive itch. Previously a national level boxer, she grew tired of getting hit in the head and decided to pound the pedals instead. She bought a pink Kona road bike completing several recreational rides and found herself passing as many people as possible. Since then she has multiple podiums at elite track national championships, master track national championship titles and world cup finishes under her belt.

Jennifer, a Seattle native, joins the ALP Cycles Coaching with a background in road and track. Her experience as a USA ParaCycling team tandem pilot, part-time work at USA Cycling in the Coaching Education Department and love for all things cycling is a welcomed addition to the ALP Cycles Coaching team.

By: Jennifer Sharp, ALP Cycles Coaching

We’ve become obsessed with data and athletic performance: watts/kilo, time spent in specific zones, nutrition, strength training and conditioning - yet very little emphasis is placed on the importance of sleep as a means to optimize athletic performance. You work hard at hitting your numbers during interval workouts, gaining strength at the gym, logging your every move - but are you sabotaging your efforts by not getting enough sleep? 

The benefits of sleep are many: recovery, repair and rebuild of muscles, neurofunciton, injury avoidance, increased response time, etc. Reducing the amount of time you spend sleeping can have a big (and negative) impact on your training. Want to increase the quality and amount of sleep you’re getting each night? Try the following methods:

- Sleep rituals. Brushing your teeth, putting on your pajama’s, making a cup of herbal tea before bed, etc. all are ways to unwind from the day so start by setting your own ritual around going to bed. 

- Turn off electronics. Roughly 1-2 hours prior to getting into bed, shut off your phone, tablet, computer or other electronic devices. Our thoughts can keep us up late into the night and illuminating your face with an electronic screen can mess with your melatonin.

- Regular sleep time. Make an effort to go to bed at the same time each night and wake up at the same time each day.

- Sleep in a cave. Or darken your room. Make sure it’s cool too (as in temperature). Get rid of any lights (digital alarm clocks, night lights, etc) and use black out shades if possible. The darker and cooler the cave, the better. 

- Avoid caffeine, especially after noon. 

- Avoid hyper-hydration. Drink too much right before bed and you may find yourself waking up frequently to urinate. 

- Read before bed, but nothing too stimulating. And yes, I’m talking old school hard/soft cover books (remember no electronic screens!). 

Improve your length of sleep and you’ll see improvements in performance. A study conducted in 2008 on a group of healthy student swimmers extended their sleep to 10 hours per day for six to seven weeks concluded that "athletes across all sports can greatly benefit from extra sleep and gain the additional competitive edge to perform at their highest level.” (For details on the study, click here.)

Want to read more about the benefits of sleep and how to fall back to sleep before competition? Check out the following links:

https://indyfreelance.com/2015/05/recovery-how-does-sleep-loss-influence.html?q=sleep

https://indyfreelance.com/2016/07/recovery-recommendations-for-improving.html?q=sleep

https://indyfreelance.com/2014/09/many-athletes-report-worse-sleep-in.html?q=sleep

Here’s to a good nights rest and quality training!

PS - Join us in Tucson this January 23-29, 2017 for our annual training camp! More details can be found here. 

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ABOUT JENNIFER SHARP

Jennifer Sharp, a USA Cycling Level 1 Coach, started racing in 2004 as a means to fulfill her competitive itch. Previously a national level boxer, she grew tired of getting hit in the head and decided to pound the pedals instead. She bought a pink Kona road bike completing several recreational rides and found herself passing as many people as possible. Since then she has multiple podiums at elite track national championships, master track national championship titles and world cup finishes under her belt.

Jennifer, a Seattle native, joins the ALP Cycles Coaching with a background in road and track. Her experience as a USA ParaCycling team tandem pilot, part-time work at USA Cycling in the Coaching Education Department and love for all things cycling is a welcomed addition to the ALP Cycles Coaching team.

by ALP Cycles Coaching

A lot of us use exercise to improve our sleep. However, for many of us, after a hard training ride, it can be tough to get a good night sleep.

Here are some tips to help ensure a better night sleep after a hard bike ride.

-Timing: Aim to do your workout earlier in the day. This is because when you finish a workout, the body takes a long time to calm down. Endorphins and other chemicals have been released to make you more alert and energetic. Your body is also slow to fully cool down and calm down after exercise, and until this happens, you will be fighting an uphill battle when trying to relax and sleep. In fact, exercise can cause your core temperature to be increased for four or five hours after working out.

-Caffeine: As cyclists, we all like coffee and caffeine. In fact caffeine can be a performance enhancer and help us torrid harder, longer. However, caffeine late in the day can be a sleep inhibitor. Caffeine can stay in your system for as long as 8 hrs, so aim to have your caffeine intake finished by 2pm. This includes recovery drinks. Many recovery drinks add caffeine or ingredients that contain caffeine.

-Electronic Devices: The blue light of electronic devices (TV’s, computers, phones, iPads, etc.) prevent the release of melatonin, a hormone associated with nighttime. Instead of watching TV or looking at a computer before bed, read a book or magazine to relax.

-Aches and Pain: Your body may be sore after a hard workout and your legs may ache. Wearing compression socks, foam rolling, stretching, etc., after a workout is recommended. However, you may still go to bed with aching legs. In this case, I recommend taking Ibuprofen. There are many theories on Ibuprofen, both good and bad, but my thought is if you aren’t sleeping due to aching legs, then you are not recovering. So it’s better to get rid of the aches and pains so you can sleep and recover.

-Hydration: Hydration plays a huge role in performance and recovery. Drinking enough water throughout the day, especially around exercise, can help regulate the sleep cycle. Dehydration can also lead to melatonin deficiency, which disturbs the sleep cycle.

If all else fails, try taking a melatonin 30 min before bedtime. I also like Valerian rood ant tart cherry juice (tip from Stacy Sims).

Sleep well!

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ABOUT ALISON POWERS

Alison Powers only recently retired from cycling, finishing her final season on the UnitedHealthcare Women’s Team. Her career has spanned a wide array of wins, including the 2013 USA Cycling Professional Criterium National Championship where she won in memorable fashion by soloing after an early breakaway that obliterated the pro women’s peloton. Other standout results during the 33-year-old’s 2013 season include the win at Redlands Bicycle Classic, second at the Tour of Elk Grove, third at the US National Road Championship and the US National Time Trial Championship, and stage wins at Cascade Classic, Tulsa Tough, Tour of the Gila and Redlands Bicycle Classic. Hailing from Fraser, Colorado, Powers has been racing bikes professionally for eight years and is a true athlete with her career beginning as a teenager in mountain bike racing. In her mid 20s, she added in alpine ski racing before switching over to the road. In addition to being the current Criterium National Champion, Powers has two other national championships (Time Trial, Team Pursuit) and 2 NRC titles (2009, 2013).

by  ALP Cycles Coaching

Everyone at the camp has been working hard with long endurance rides with pack handling skills, how to get up and over punchy climbs, technical fast downhill cornering, climbing in and out of the saddle, and eating cookies at the Cookie Shack atop Mt. Lemmon. Add in some bonus mechanicals (broken chains, flat tires and a broken derailleur) and everyone was ready for a rest day.

But what is a rest day? And why do you need one?

Humans are not machines. In a robotic world you could just keep your body to the same level of intensity day after day after day. But we’re not robots. If we keep pushing our bodies to a high level, eventually our fatigue level would be so high we’d either fall over, get injured or dig ourselves into a hole so big we may never get out (interested in reading more? Google “Overtraining in cycling”). So in order to reap the benefits of all of the hard work we’ve done over the past several days, today was an easy rest day.

Recovering on the bike is actually harder than it sounds. I like to think of easy rides in terms of not letting my power exceed my heart rate. But if you don’t have a power meter, it should feel like taking an easy walk on the bike.

Recovery rides can also be referred to as noodling. So all 17 of us noodled on down to Presta Coffee Roasters in downtown Tucson after a quick stop in the park to do some skill drills: emergency braking, cornering, bumping, wheel touching and cone pick up drills. We split up into four stations where each coach taught athletes a specific skill they can incorporate into their training.

We then noodled back to the condos and enjoyed a few extra hours of downtime before our nightly coaching meeting followed by another delicious meal cooked by Chef Patricia.

Recovery days are important. And sometimes taking an easy active recovery day is just what the doctor ordered. We have one more day with a long ride on tap with some sprint drills thrown into the mix.

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ABOUT ALISON POWERS

Alison Powers only recently retired from cycling, finishing her final season on the UnitedHealthcare Women’s Team. Her career has spanned a wide array of wins, including the 2013 USA Cycling Professional Criterium National Championship where she won in memorable fashion by soloing after an early breakaway that obliterated the pro women’s peloton. Other standout results during the 33-year-old’s 2013 season include the win at Redlands Bicycle Classic, second at the Tour of Elk Grove, third at the US National Road Championship and the US National Time Trial Championship, and stage wins at Cascade Classic, Tulsa Tough, Tour of the Gila and Redlands Bicycle Classic. Hailing from Fraser, Colorado, Powers has been racing bikes professionally for eight years and is a true athlete with her career beginning as a teenager in mountain bike racing. In her mid 20s, she added in alpine ski racing before switching over to the road. In addition to being the current Criterium National Champion, Powers has two other national championships (Time Trial, Team Pursuit) and 2 NRC titles (2009, 2013).

by Patricia Schwager, ALP Cycles Coaching

The 2015 road racing season is coming to an end. A lot of racers start to think about the off-season and look forward to taking a break from training and taking time off the bike. Most do not want to think about racing or doing structured workouts. Many athletes don’t want to think about preparing for 2016 – it seems too far away. However, after the season, is before the season. The off-season is a very important time or part of the year, even if you are not competing during this time.

During the off-season, you can gain a lot by doing the right things, and this will help lead to a successful 2016. The goal of the off-season is to build upon all the hard work you did over the previous year. Doing the wrong things during the off-season/winter or letting training slide won’t improve your cycling or lead to better success than you had this year.

The first step in your off-season is to take a proper break off the bike. The reason for this time off the bike is, your body and mind need time to recover form racing, training and all the stress related to it. After 2-3 weeks off the bike, you will feel fresh, motivated, and excited to ride and to work hard to make yourself a better and faster bike rider.

After this post-season time off the bike, the next step is making a plan and structuring it through the winter months to make sure you are working on your weaknesses, getting stronger, building up fitness, improving skills, etc. Doing a good job in the winter months to prepare for the nest season is the key to success. If you only think about getting back into structured training in January, then you are already a big step behind. In order to have success, you need to have a year round plan and not one for only a few months of the year.

Making progress, making yourself better and stronger, and gaining confidence takes time and patience. You can’t cram great fitness in 3-4 months. A long term plan will pay off and help to reach your goals. Getting stronger simply takes time, there is no shortcut.

An important part of this long term planning is to have a plan that fits with the other things in your life, such as work, family, hobbies, weather, etc. It’s important to have someone that understands you, your lifestyle, and will guide you – this person is your coach. Working with a coach will make you better. Working with a coach for more than just one race-season will bring you a lot more benefits. It takes time to build the relationship between coach and athlete. Good communication between athlete and coach is the most important part in order to have success.

Your coach has to get familiar with your routine, strengths, weaknesses, how much recovery you need and how much training-load can you handle. The demand that work, family, and other stresses places on you is another big factor too. The better and more detailed feedback an athlete can give, the easier it is for the coach to write a good training plan. After a season of working together, things should be dialed in. The best you can do now is to keep working with your coach over the off-season and into next season. Your coach can help you out with ideas on how to make you stronger and really work on things over the winter that you probably wouldn’t do on your own. The new race season will be even better because you and your coach can build upon the previous season. There is no new beginning because you and your coach know each other and understand each other.

All these facts will help you bring your performance a step higher!

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by Patricia Schwager, ALP Cycles Coaching

Are you doing enough to recover from training and racing? A lot of athletes underestimate the need for recovery and the power of recovery.

First important thing to do is cooling-down. Make sure you are doing a cool-down after finishing a race. No matter how good or bad the race went, spin out your legs for 15 to 20 min.

Ride at an easy pace and spin your legs during the last 10-15min of your training sessions. This is the first step to start with your recovery and it has an influence on how you will feel the next day.

After you finished your training or race, eat and/ or drink something easy digestible. Getting the necessary nutrients into your body within the first 30min of finishing your training or race is essential to recovery.

A recovery drink or a snack like a sandwich for example, are fast and easy options. You could prepare some recovery food before you head out for training or racing.

Make sure to eat/drink something with simple carbohydrates and a little protein- more protein and less carbohydrate if you are a woman.

After that, you should eat a normal meal within 2hrs after your race or training ride. Balance the calories you expended during the day of racing/ training with the calories consumed the rest of the day. Your nutrition will help you recover from the day and feel better

Other things to help with your recovery are:

– stretching

– foam rolling

– massage

– ice bath or another technic is doing hot/cold bath intervals

– wearing compressions socks or tights

– eat right

– listen to your body- means don’t overdo it with training/racing/working

– sleep

Getting enough sleep is very important and a key factor for effective training and recovery. Taking a nap after a hard training is the best you can do for recovery. Even if you just get to sit down and relax for 20min, this already helps in your recovery.

It isn’t a good idea to rush right away to the next thing on your to-do-list after completing your training ride. In that case you better shorten your training to have a little less stress and more time to recover.

Of course for many who lead busy lives and have cycling as a hobby it is hard to find enough time for recovery. Think about how you can fit life around riding and recovery and less about how to fit every free minute into training around work.

Talk to your coach about your work and life schedule. For us coaches at ALP Cycles Coaching, it is very important to include these facts into planning. We will work out a training plan that fits with your life instead just fits with the calendar.

What about an active recovery ride?

Spinning your legs on a rest day is a good idea. Ride at low- intensity on flat terrain or trainer/rollers and use a light gear. Make sure you just put minimal pressure on your pedals. Active recovery boosts blood circulation, which removes lactic acid from your muscles- helping facilitate recovery faster. However, this only counts as long as you keep your ride very easy. If you are going too hard on an active recovery day, then it doesn’t do anything for your recovery. This is because, as soon as you push harder and raise your heart rate you don’t ride in the recovery zone anymore and the adaptions you would get from recovery aren’t taking place.

Days off: don’t be afraid of taking a day completely off. If your coach is giving you a day off it has its reason- so enjoy that extra rest! Go hard on the hard days- take it very easy on the easy days.

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ABOUT PATRICIA SCHWAGER

Patricia Schwager began cycling in 1998, racing as a junior. After racing on the domestic level and completing her Diploma as Pastry Chef, she got her first pro contract in 2006. 2015 will be here 10th year of professional racing. Patricia has a lot of experience racing in the European peloton. In 2013 she started working with Shawn Heidgen (Current ALP Cycles Coach) as her personal coach. In 2014 she changed her focus to racing in the US. Patricia is a 6 time national Swiss champion and has represented her home country, Switzerland, at the World Championships 12 times.

For 2015, Patricia will race for Team Tibco. Along with racing she’s looking to share and pass on her knowledge in her new role as an ALP Cycles Coach. Visit her online at https://indyfreelance.com/