active recovery..?

luke

what do most people do after a hard race? I had a couple long and hard races this weekend and am feeling pretty energetic today... is it bad to go for a paddle, should i be letting my body recover? what about a super easy paddle.. i'm thinking that by the time someone answers this it'll be too late for me to paddle, but what do people usually do the day or week after a long race?

Submitted by luke on Mon, 09/13/2004 - 10:55am

bradh

We do a 40 minute "recovery" run (about 50-60% max effort - able to jog and carry conversation at same time, kind of pace) the day immediately following a distance race. The theory is to actively keep blood flowing to speed recovery to the whole body, especially after extremely long workouts like the Ayau and Molokai.

Rest is important too, and re-hydration of course.

A recovery paddle might work too, but also might aggrevate the same muscle groups a little too much. Depends on the conditioning of the paddler

#1 Mon, 09/13/2004 - 4:16pm

I have an older Trek mountin bike that I changed into my cross-training / recovery bike. It has an extended stem with old aero bars attached to the handle bars and smoother tires. It is great on the day after a long training day or a race. No body stress, different musceles than paddling and I pick my heart-rate zone and easily keep it there for recovery. I have 2 bottle racks on it for extra day after hydration.
Because of the wider tires than a road bike, it has a little more resistance and can be ridden on rougher roads, in scetchy weather or jump sidewalks in town, plus I can still go slightly aero on stretches of smooth road. You can put together a rig like this on the cheap through a used bike store or old parts from the garage. The most expensive part was the quality smooth tires. :D Train Hard - Recover easy.

#2 Wed, 09/15/2004 - 7:42pm

luke

so i did a lot of hard paddling this weekend, and then monday i pretty much slept all day instead of doing my recovery workout. I figured sleeping was more important. Yesterday i lifted hard and did a 4 mile easy run. Today i meant to go back on my regular training schedule and i went on the ellipitical machine (don't call me girly cause i use that machine, the thing is great) and could barely get my heart rate over 130 (i'm 19, so thats like 65% of my max, my usually training is to keep it around 160), then i went on a surfski and again could not get my heart rate above 130-140. What is wrong? Does that mean i need more rest? My body feels fine i just can't push myself, and now i'm afraid i'm about to get sick.

#3 Wed, 09/15/2004 - 8:15pm

nekine

Luke,
I told you that you should get a bike, to help in your training. But I bet now that someone on ocpaddler said that they use a bike, you are going to get one now. :wink:

#4 Thu, 09/16/2004 - 9:31am

luke

I would love a bike... but having a nice bike in hawaii is different than having one in Los Angeles, i dont think it's too much fun riding on the freeways, i'm happy paddling where i can't be run over by anything but a barge. Plus i have my ellipitcal machine and a whole gym full of stationary bikes a minute from my room.. so no sense drop the money on a bike when i can use it for a digital video cam...

#5 Sat, 09/18/2004 - 7:54am

I guess it's all in your perspective, I spent an eight year career with TGI Fridays in Los Angeles in the '80s before moving back home to Hawaii. I biked while living in West L.A. (on Robertson), in North Redondo and in Marina Del Rey, as well. If indoor works better for you, go for it.

#6 Thu, 09/23/2004 - 7:15am

haris

I do either a light gym workout and some yoga or a nice long swim and some yoga, just to warm the muscles up without stressing them.

#7 Fri, 09/24/2004 - 9:35am

SteveC

I have a few beers, so does the rest of our crew.

Sometimes a few too many. :wink:

#8 Sat, 10/09/2004 - 6:21pm