First post here. I really like the both the content and the forum of this site.
I have a question regarding recovery from LSD.
I am a recreational cyclist doing around 450 hours of cycling every year. I am 48 years old and weigh about 65 kg. Subjectively my threshold is 240-250ish depending on the day (I have learned it is not a fixed number lol).
It seems fairly given that there are adaptions you only get from long endurance rides. But what are the “cost” of doing longer rides?
I am asking, because subjectively I feel they require much longer recovery than shorter rides. At least to me personally, it seems like the TSS for a long endurance ride does not quite match the perceived fatigue I feel following longer rides. In part I feel muscular fatigue but also tend to experience decreased heart rate the following days (especially if I do intensity in the same week).
There could be several explanations. One being that I am just not very used to these very long rides. A breakdown of my ride length this season is:
Under 1 hour 28
1-2,5 hours 94
2,5-3,5 hours 18
Over 3,5 hours 7
I find it fairly easy to crank out endurance rides up to 2,5 hours and can recover from these without problem (also in weeks where I also do intensity). But beyond that they start to require extra rest and consideration.
Another issue could be that I simpy ride them too hard? I don’t know my LT1 per se, but subjectively I have a turning point around 139-140 bpm. I ride my longest ride with an average HR 135-140 (though typically in the lover end of that range).
The feedback I’ve picked up from the Fast Talk Labs coaching team:
I’ve found a huge difference in recovery in my LSD rides when I make sure the intensity is correct. After getting my Inscyd test I found that my Fatmax (easy ride) was significantly lower (~25w) than I thought and lower than my LT1 (both lactate tested and DFa1 tested).
Another key consideration I learned from my Inscyd test… Even at these really easy levels, I’m burning more carbs than I can eat/digest so I’ve started to really work on eating more (now aiming for 400cal per hour). By eating this extra amount I notice less fatigue immediately after the ride and the following day.
Even doing the above I’ve found I’m not ready for a high intensity effort the next day though can do these LSD rides now the day after a very high intensity effort when I couldn’t before doing the above two things.
It could be a touch too intense. Two winters ago, I did a Seiler style polarized base, designed around the early podcasts with Dr. Seiler. I chose 60% of HRmax that Dr. Seiler recommended in those podcasts and at first that was really slow. It was so slow, I bumped it to 65%.
I call it polarized because I continued doing my club’s Saturday group ride.
I did 11 weeks of this, starting at 6 hours per week and ending up at 13 hours per week. By week 8, I was breaking every PR I had on Strava and my FTP was up by 20 points.
This block also gave me the “durability” they talk about. Group rides no longer left me hammered on the couch for the rest of the day. I could do 5 hour rides without much issue afterwards.
I am probably too optimistic in thinking that my “turning point” at 139-140 bpm should also be the intensity in which I should do my longest rides. Very interesting that you found your FatMax to be quite a bit lower than you thought (and lower than LT1).
I have also experienced that not fuelling right leads to poorer recovery, so this is definitely something I am focusing on.
Food for thought that you were riding at such a low percentage of HRmax and yet still able to produce personal records.
I would probably categorize 60-65% HRmax as “painfully slow”. For me it would be arund 115-125 BPM. On the other hand it would give me the opportunity to enjoy nature on long gravel rides
My main conclusion here is, that if I get too knackered by long rides I am most likely doing them too hard, and that its time for me to start experimenting with lower intensities.
It’s hard to believe when you out there riding so slowing week after week but the effect was exactly what Dr. Seiler described. I essentially shifted my lactate curve.
Also, my speed at 120bpm got faster and faster. At first, it was like 12mph (ridiculously slow) and later it was up to 18mph or so.
I will also say that I tried this identical block the year after and I did not get the gains and 20 watt bump in FTP. I figure that I carried my aerobic through the year and thus there was no more shift left in the lactate curve.
One thing I’ve heard from a lot of the Fast Talk podcasts is there are different kinds of easy rides. Ones right at your turn point, and ones much below. I think for the LSD you should be aiming for the “painfully slow intensity” that eventually becomes hard at the end of the long ride. For my shorter easy rides I tend to ride at higher intensities (aero turnpoint) and / or with low cadence
The other thing I was going to say that ramping up to 13 hours per week over 11 week @ 65% of HRmax, I was able to do this week after week without a “rest” week. A day off here and there was all that I needed.
Yes, there are some great points in this thread, and I am certain that controlling intensity is something I need to work more on. I have started to experiment with endurance rides with even lower intensity than normal.
In regards to fuelling - I am aiming for something like 400-500cal per hour after the first 60-90 minutes. One thing I do notice is that I seem to forget fuelling the last hour or so of the ride because I feel I am almost home. Stop fuelling doesn’t hurt performance, but perhaps hurts recovery?
In the end I willin theory end up with approximately the same intake, but more evenly distributed instead of trying to gulp it all down in the middle of the ride (which I suspect I often don’t manage to do anyway).
Thanks for alle the good points in this thread. I will take them into consideration. I am also (re-)listening to some of the relevant podcast episodes, such as this one:
