Serious triathletes put a great deal of attention on training, nutrition and recovery to cover all that is needed to train and race at the top of the game. Here, I try too. As of late, I've been working on the third component -- Recovery. Like a well-designed training program and a customized nutrition program, do you have a Recovery Program? What I mean by that is a Recovery Program that is scheduled, well-planned and based on periodization training like your workout sessions and training and racing nutrition? I just started a Recovery Program for myself and for athletes whom I coach. Last March through October, I pounded and pounded. I woke up every weekday morning at 3:30 a.m. and I would usually hit the pillow at 10:00 p.m. The latest I'd wake on the weekends was 5:00 a.m. I was wiped out by October. Looking back, now that I'm all rested and feeling awesome, it was obvious, as most of us know, that without proper recovery, we endurance athletes will not last as long as we could if we had the adequate rest. It's always the same, if we push on without getting the R&R, we will work harder while getting less and less positive returns. Our efficiency and progress slow down, the body becomes depleated and we just get beat up more and more. This year, I am scheduling recovery on a detailed plan that is based on periodization and the annual training plan, just I like schedule long rides.
Like swim, bike and run workouts are components to the training program, and protein, carbohydrates and fats are components to a nutrition program, the components to a recovery program are sleep, massage and mental relaxation (meditation.) I am working on them all, how about you?
So, while developing my recovery plan for myself and those whom I coach, I am considering these items:
Adequate sleep. Are you getting enough? Lately, I've been loving it. I have been staying up much later at night in the past two mon
ths. I have much more energy at the end of the day because I am not putting in 4+ hour training sessions some weekdays... and I've been hitting that snooze button on the alarm clock as much as I can. However, now that my training volume and intensity are increasing, I plan to wind down earlier in the evenings so I can start the early morning sessions again. How much quality sleep do we need? It depends on how much stress we have and how active we are -- again, periodization. I can usually sleep like a little baby most nights after a 6+ hour ride. Few triathletes with busy lives and families have the luxury of consistent quality sleep, so it takes some scheduling and planning to get it in. Schedule a sleep-in when you are training hard -- wear the jammies, ahhhh, think periodization. Increase sleep when training volume and intensity are increased.
Massage, the second component of an effective recovery plan. I wish I could get one every day. Schedule them into the program, just like track workouts and long open water swim sessions. I am getting one every week from now until April. Good stuff. With a heavy training volume, the quads hurt, the hammies hurt, everything hurts. 'Everybody Hurts'... I always have that REM song playing in my mind from April through October. The foam roller is awesome too... I love my foam roller and use it a lot during heavy training up to key races. Again, think periodization with massage (from a qualified professional or self massage) as you ramp up training volume and intensity.
Mental relaxation and meditation, the third component. I am having a hard time on this one because I am very extreme. I have that kind of personality where I need to know what's up, what's going on and how I can be a part of the action. 'Letting go' in meditation is a challenge for me -- I fight it the more and more I try to do it, then I'm more stressed out. OK, I'll keep working, and if you have ideas for me, I'm all ears. Under pressure and especially in a race, I can mentally relax. I can focus too. I have strong focus when I want it. Day-to-day, I am a big joker so I am always goofing and laughing, which is relaxed. I guess it's active relaxation. I still have trouble and fight with myself over trying to listen to the silence and stillness of my body and surroundings in meditation... ahh, I am horrible at it.. I fidget, squirm, huff and puff. It is a skill and takes practice. I need work. ahhhhh. Seriously though, one great thing about meditation that I DO get is meditative breathing and the restorative benefits of an adequate oxygen supply. I try breathing exercises. To try some easier meditative practice, recently, I downloaded some white noise to my IPod and I play it on my IHome while going to sleep. It's a seamless continuous track of a waterfall recorded in a frequency that slows the brain-waves to the delta-wave pattern (which are the deepest wave patterns and they bring forth the most recuperative sleep.) That's why I am hitting that snooze alarm lately. I am loving the delta-wave waterfall sound -- it's great. It's helping me sleep so soundly that when the alarm sounds, I immediately think first thing that the morning trainer rides and runs gotta wait until later! I need to find a beta-wave pattern to wake me up. Beta-waves stimulate brain patterns. So again, as training volume and intensity increase, so should mental relaxation and meditation.
What we all want to avoid is over training... Over training is similar to having an injury. That is why we use periodized training plans -- to hit peak performance at the precise times while reducing the risks of illness and injury. Same with a recovery plan. Recovery should not be static and it should fluctuate in volume and intensity as training and nutrition do. Plan it out. Talk to your coach about developing one. All good stuff. I wrote mine out for 2008 over the weekend while I refined my race schedule and now I'm sleeping like a baby and ready to rock my races. Get great recovery and check in with me at cherri@peaktrainingsystems.com and on www.coachtroy.com. See you out there!
