RECOVERY RIDES

Q What should a recovery session look like? Jason King

A A recovery session, as the name implies, should enhance or facilitate recovery. In doing so, it should not add any additional fatigue.

It’s arguable that, unless you’re an extremely efficient runner, due to the impact associated even with very easy running, that a recovery run can’t meet these criteria and, if recovery is the focus, then you’d be better spending the time doing some stretching, hitting the foam roller or simply putting your feet up.

A recovery ride is more doable and there’s no doubt that after a big ride or run a gentle spin can put a bit of life back in your legs. But to achieve this without adding unnecessary fatigue and/or junk miles does take a surprising amount of discipline.

It should be 30-60mins long and has to be super easy. That means pancake flat and strict zone 1 for both heart rate and power. Imagine that your cranks are made of glass and that if you push them too hard they’ll break.

Be honest, can you see your ego handling a ride like that? Judging by how many ‘recovery rides’ you see uploaded to Strava that are predominately zone 2 or even 3, I’d argue that for a lot of triathletes the answer is no. With those, all you’re adding is unnecessary kilometres and fatigue.

The controlled environment of the indoor trainer can help you achieve a genuine recovery ride but again be wary of that ego creeping in. Using Erg Mode set to hold you in zone 1 is the best solution if you don’t think you can trust yourself!

Even with all the recoveryride boxes ticked, that niggling question will remain – ‘Could I be doing something better with this time?’ Pool drills, say? Yoga or Pilates? In most cases, the answer is yes, so before taking the ‘recovery ride’ option, just check-in and maybe do something else instead.

Nik Cook