Holy snickerdoodles I was knackered this morning! I had sprints on the schedule, but I figured last night that if my DOMS wasn't any better (given that it was being incorporated into my dreams it was so bad) I should do a recovery run instead. Sadly, it was in fact better, although I can definitely feel every single muscle between my knees and my hips!
That meant that I decided to do the sprints, but not absolutely kill myself over them - I didn't want to risk an injury, so I thought I'd be sensible about it. Well that was the plan anyway ... What I'd forgotten is that ALL my competitive side comes out with this particular work out, so when I realised I was at a similar level to last week (my current PB) I nearly killed myself trying to beat it. Oops. I didn't quite manage to beat it but I did match it with another 1.97km which I was soooooo proud of! Even if I did almost fall off the treadmill at the end, and I couldn't put my makeup on for an hour after I was done because I was still sweating so much.
This DOMS has definitely been one of the worst I've had - I don't know WHAT I was doing to my quads on Tuesday! However it's been a good kick up the arse to work out how best to manage recovery. Even though I've more or less managed to run over it, I can't help feeling somehow that that is not really my best strategy ... As I was lying prone on the sofa last night, one of my WhatsApp groups started chatting about Ride Across Britain, which two of my friends are going to be doing next week. Since that's the cycling version of a multi-stage ultra, I immediately started quizzing them on recovery each night throughout the event, especially as on of the other girls in the group is a doctor of sports medicine (sneaky!). Our strategies are all pretty aligned - here's a basic summary
- Keep fuelled throughout with good quality nutrition
- Take an electrolyte drink throughout which contains magnesium and sodium
- Eat good quality protein immediately after the day is finished
- Drink a good recovery drink immediately after the day is finished (does Mars Refuel count?! Bwahahahaha)
- Stretch fully at night
- Put compression tights on as soon as possible after the day is finished, and sleep in them overnight
- Sleep as much as possible
- Drink a milky drink before bed so that the casein aids recovery throughout the night.
As you can see, having a sports doctor providing advice is definitely a winner! Thanks Jess ;). With all that in mind I've been shopping on Wiggle for compression tights, I've lined up a playlist on YouTube of a bunch of good stretch videos, and I'm going to roadtest some recovery drinks this weekend. I am feeling totally efficient right now!
Just for the record, today's splits are here:
1. 0.12
2. 0.25 (+13)
3. 0.38 (+13)
4. 0.52 (+14)
5. 0.66 (+14)
6. 0.79 (+13)
7. 0.92 (+13)
8. 1.06 (+14)
9. 1.19 (+13)
10. 1.31 (+12)
11. 1.44 (+13)
12. 1.58 (+14)
13. 1.71 (+13)
14. 1.84 (+13)
15. 1.97 (+14)
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