Go easy. Yes, EASY. That means no sprints, no intervals, and no monster climbs.
One problem: like most cyclists, I really don't know how to do that!
I took Monday off the bike completely and then rode an hour or so at a low to moderate pace every day.
On the trainer, it's pretty boring. You just pedal along without much resistance. It's days like that where I pay more attention to what I'm watching and have faster music on the iPod to keep me going. On Thursday and Friday, I did a couple of short opener efforts to start getting my plasma volume back up. Decrease in plasma volume is why you feel so terrible after several days off the bike and a little intensity helps maintain it.
I also did a couple lunch-time rides this week and it took everything I had to let the other guys attack on climbs and pull away from me on flat roads when they decided to up the pace.
In terms of training, last Sunday I reached a monstrous CTL of 111.5 and an ATL of 136.3, giving me a TSB of -24.8, and I'd been seeing numbers like that most of the previous week. In less technical terms, my body really needed a break.
Recovery weeks are also hard because of how my body reacts. When training hard, the body releases endorphins to suppress the pain. After a few easy days, the endorphins are gone and you feel every bit of how tired you actually are. Small climbs that I usually rocket over had me getting out of the saddle and wincing at the feeling in my legs.
Psychologically, it was really hard to take the break. Aside from not chasing my friends, it also means that every day I'm worried about losing fitness and gaining weight. I had to watch everything I ate so that I wouldn't balloon in size. Most weeks, I burn between 7500 and 8000 calories on the bike. This week, I burned about 5000.
As of this morning, my Performance Manager values are CTL 103.1, ATL 87.8, and TSB +5.5. Much better.
My weight went up just a hair, from 174.6 to 174.7. Not bad.
Now that my body is better rested, it's time to get back to training!
