All I wanted to do is sit on the porch and have a beer.

I should have been excited, I was flying to France the next day for a two week holiday and Paris-Brest-Paris. But I felt worn down. 2003 had been a hard year. I work full time running the UMCA, editing the magazine, and coaching. Add in the brevets and training and I had all I could handle. But I also had to help care for an ailing parent and I'd volunteered to teach two classes a quarter.

All the stress caught up with me on Monday, August 18. Instead of riding the PBP prologue, I was in bed with a fever and congested lungs. Lulu told me I had no business riding PBP, that I'd be risking a long-term problem, like the virus getting into my heart muscle. Sadly, I agreed.

On Tuesday while my friends were riding to Loudéac, I huddled in bed sipping hot tea spiked with cayenne pepper, trying to sweat out the fever. By Friday I was able to get out of bed to greet friends at the finish.

In his book The Stress of Life, Hans Selye makes the point that all stress is cumulative on a person. My body and spirit don't differentiate among work overload, family dynamics, grief for a parent and training load. It all adds up and in France it caught up with me.

I use the personal experience to introduce an article on recovery to make the point that recovery is an essential part of the annual training and riding cycle. And if you don't build time for recovery, your body may well take time off anyhow!

This article will discuss:

1. The physiological basis of overreaching and overtraining.
2. Techniques to improve recovery and reduce risk of overtraining.
3. The benefits of an off-season vacation to recover from hard training and if necessary from overtraining.
4. The transition back to working out.

I. Physiological basis of overreaching and overtraining
Improved performance is based on the super-compensation principle which includes the breakdown process (training) followed by the recovery process (rest). If there is balance between training and rest, then improvement is the result. However, if there is an imbalance, then overtraining results. The right balance between overload and recovery depends on the exercise capacity of the athlete as well as the athlete's tolerance for stress. Exercise capacity and stress tolerance vary from rider to rider and also during an individual rider's season. In March, I had the capacity to ride 100 miles without overtraining, but not a 600 km brevet! In July, when my Dad was in the hospital, I didn't have the tolerance to ride a century.

Physiologists distinguish between overreaching and overtraining.

Overreaching (or short term overtraining) is most likely associated with insufficient recovery in the muscle and with a decline in ATP levels. Overreaching usually lasts a few days to two weeks and is associated with fatigue, reduction of maximum performance capacity, and a brief interval of decreased personal performance. Overreaching is a normal response to a very hard ride such as a double century or a brevet.

Overtraining or staleness is a more generalized physiological problem. Overtraining may be related to failure of the hypothalamus to cope with the total amount of stress. Overtraining may be the result of many weeks of training at a level that exceeds the athlete's physiological limits or the result of completing an ultra event. Except for a few very talented athletes, any ultra event that lasts more than two days will result in overtraining: PAC Tour, PBP, RAAM, etc.

Overtraining can result in weeks or months of diminished performance. The condition is usually resolved in one to two months. However, if the athlete returns to hard training too soon, overtraining may continue or recur.

There is also a psychological component to overtraining. Some athletes are very competitive, goal oriented and performance driven. If these athletes are suffering from overreaching, a short-term decline in performance, they may push themselves even harder, exacerbating the condition.

Further, for many of us our sense of well-being is heavily dependent on success in our chosen sport(s). Success doesn't mean winning, but performing up to our own expectations. And if we're not able to meet our expectations, then the result may be chronic fatigue and depression.

Thus, finding the right balance between overload and recovery is essential, and the right balance keeps shifting, depending on daily vicissitudes of life. The wise athlete will pay attention to the indicators of overtraining.

II. Techniques to improve recovery
Remember that overtraining is the result of an imbalance between exercise and exercise capacity. You can improve your capacity by practicing good recovery techniques after hard rides.

Good nutrition during rides and immediately afterwards can improve your ability to recover. Immediately after a hard double century or brevet you may be in a state of overreaching, but by paying attention to four components, you can avoid progressing into a state of overtraining:

1) Replenishing fluids and replacing electrolytes
In the July 2003UltraCycling, Lulu Weschler described in detail the water and sodium needs of cyclists. While we try to meet these needs during rides, the weather may be too hot (or we may be negligent.) After a ride, drink! Studies have shown that drinking plain water is not as effective as drinking a sports drink. The carbohydrate and sodium in a sport drink increase the water absorption in your gut. Sodium in the drink stimulates your thirst, so you drink more. Carbonated beverages are not good for re-hydration since they tend to make you feel full before you've really drunk enough fluid.

2) Replacing muscle glycogen
During long, hard rides, especially without support, it is difficult to eat enough to match your caloric expenditure. One of the causes of overtraining is progressive glycogen depletion. Start the day with a good breakfast with plenty of carbohydrates. After you get off the bike, try to eat one gram of carbohydrate per pound of body weight. (One gram of carbohydrate equals four Calories.) At dinner, cover your plate with carbohydrates.

3) Rebuilding muscle protein
Hard training damages muscle cells and protein is needed for growth, maintenance and repair of muscle cells. However, athletes who are riding a lot do not need excessive amounts of protein. Each day if you consume 1.2 - 1.6 grams of protein per pound of body weight, that should provide enough protein for cellular repair.

4) Reducing muscle and immune-system stress
Hard training depletes the immune system and more frequent sore throats, colds, etc. are one of the signs of overtraining. Further, exercise produces free radicals, highly unstable molecules that are short one electron. Free radicals can damage muscle cells and are one of the causes of muscle soreness. Some studies indicate that taking vitamin C (250 - 2500 mg per day) and vitamin E (up to 1200 IU per day) may be helpful.

In addition to good nutrition, several other techniques can hasten recovery and improve your capacity to recover from hard exercise. The next three techniques warm the muscles and increase the blood flow, which speeds the removal of waste products and the replenishing of nutrients:

5) Active recovery
Going for an easy bike ride, hike or swim the day after a hard event will hasten muscle recovery and reduce soreness. Total rest (the couch potato) will actually slow recovery!

6) Massage
Massage improves the circulation, enhancing the exchange of nutrients and waste products between the muscles and the blood. Massage also reduces swelling and muscle soreness. If you don't have access to professional massage, self-massage is quite practical. Self-massage is particularly effective if you lie on your back with your legs propped up on the couch or wall, to improve the return blood flow from the legs. For more information see Josh Simonds' article on Self Massage in the March, 2000 UltraCycling.

7) Stretching
Stretching before exercise has several benefits: warming the muscles, improving the circulation and increasing the supply of nutrients to the muscles. Stretching afterwards will help to remove waste products and to speed the re-fueling of the muscles. An excellent resource is Bob Anderson's video "Stretching" from Body Trends (800) 549-1667.

8) Heat
The above techniques are active ways to warm the muscles and increase blood flow. Soaking in a hot bath or hot tub, sitting in a sauna, or applying a heat pad can have the same benefits as well as helping you to relax so you sleep better. If you have inflammation (swelling), then heat is not recommended. And don't forget to drink plenty of water while you're soaking in the hot tub!

9) Icing
For inflammation, the most effective treatment is to ice the affected body part for 15-20 minutes, two or three times a day. Icing may also reduce the risk of injuries. For example, if you have a history of problems with your Achilles tendon, applying ice after each ride can reduce inflammation and prevent further irritation.

III Benefits of an off-season vacation
Sometimes working out can feel a lot like, well, work! Even if you haven't done a major event that leaves you overtrained, by fall the discipline of working out and the monotony of following a training program can leave you burned out. Take a vacation from "training".

During this vacation, active recovery is one of the keys. Take part in physical activities that are low intensity. You should be able to carry on a conversation not just of one-liners, but full paragraphs. You want to maintain some aerobic fitness without forcing yourself to go hard.

During the vacation, do something different, that will be fun. If you are truly addicted to road-biking, this can be as simple as riding different routes. Or perhaps going on a club ride with a slightly slower group of riders, who like to stop for coffee. Or call up a friend who's just starting to ride and invite him or her on a ride.

During this vacation, try different activities. Yesterday I hiked to the top of Twin Sisters (11,400 feet) in an early-season snow - delightful! Hiking and jogging are great off-season activities, because they are weight-bearing. Weight-bearing exercise is important for bone density. Studies have shown that extensive cycling may result in loss of bone density - and not through crashes.

Mountain biking is another excellent change of pace - it will challenge your motor skills while providing different scenery. Mountain biking on a challenging trail may also get your heart beating so hard you can't carry on a conversation. That's okay as long as you don't feel like you must go hard.

Most of us follow a structured weekly training rhythm. You're on vacation - forget the structure. Maybe you decide you want five days of outdoor activity a week, but don't write out a plan. Be spontaneous and do what feels right on Tuesday.

Active recovery is important to maintain a minimum level of cardio-vascular fitness. However, a vacation from training isn't just to heal the body, but also to nourish the spirit. Try different activities that stimulate the senses. Hiking, running and biking on trails - at a pace where you can suck in the beauty - is one way to enrich yourself. You can also use some of the time you'd been devoting to training to go to a museum, concert or the theater.

For ultracyclists riding is a primary source of pleasure, both from the endorphins and from the satisfaction of accomplishing goals. When you cut back during the active recovery phase, it's important to include other activities that you enjoy. Don't just take the hours that were filled with the training routine and start down your to-do list. That's no vacation, that's just changing stressors.

How long a vacation from training do you need? That depends on how beat up you are, as well as how patient you can be. The best way to judge how long a break you need is to pay attention to how you feel: are you feeling fatigued or energetic? Is your enthusiasm for riding returning? I've been on a vacation from training for a month and I'm starting to get excited about riding a century with John Lee Ellis.

IV. Transition to training
After a restful and enjoyable vacation, then you begin the transition back to working out. You're body isn't ready to jump back in to the full regime of training; it needs preparatory work in three areas:

1) Cardio-vascular fitness
During your vacation you stayed active and maintained a minimum level of cardiovascular fitness. Now is the time to put a bit of structure into your aerobic exercise. As you are starting to get back into training, frequent, regular aerobic activities are the most important. Ideally, you'd be exercising five or six days a week. Cross-training is a great way to get exercise - the workouts don't have to be cycling-specific. Intensity isn't critical, although you aren't ready to push too hard. Even though you're thinking about some long rides in 2004, at this point the workouts can be short: 30-60 minutes. Daily aerobic exercise is the foundation of aerobic fitness.

2) Strength, especially core strength and connective tissues.
A road cyclist turns millions, if not billions, of crank revolutions during a season. Each of these revolutions is at relatively low intensity and power. As a result a road cyclist's, and especially an ultracyclist's, legs are not very strong. Seems contradictory, but compare your power output to a track sprinter - they're strong! Resistance training can help to increase bone density, enhance connective tissues and prevent overuse injuries. The best leg exercises are ones that are weight bearing and tax multiple muscle groups across several joints. Lunges and step-ups are two excellent exercises. Pelvic tilts, leg raises and back extensions are good for core strength. For more information, see resistance training for distance riders.

3) Flexibility and stretching
Flexibility helps cyclists to improve bike handling, increase core strength, improve power and resist injuries. Muscles that aren't stretched regularly shorten over time. Many of us don't stretch enough during the regular season, so part of our preparation for next year is to work on flexibility.

Recovery is an integral part of the training rhythm, and if you don't allow for adequate recovery your body will insist on it, like mine did in Paris! Prevention really is the key. Pay attention to the indicators of overtraining. Listen to your body; don't just tell it what to do. Use the nutritional and other recovery techniques regularly, not just when you feel like you're on the verge of a breakdown. Finally, take a vacation from training. Your body will thank you and you'll come back excited about 2004.

References Order back issues

Anderson, B. Stretching, Shelter Publications, 1980.

Burke, E., Ph.D. & Hughes, J. Recovery for Long Distance Cyclists, pt. 1, UltraCycling, May-June 2001, pp 58-62.

Burke, E., Ph.D. & Hughes, J. Recovery for Long Distance Cyclists, pt. 2, UltraCycling, July-August 2001, pp 30-33.

Grainger, M., Winter Cross Training, UltraCycling, January-February, 2003. .

Howard, J., The Range, The Fit, The Power, UltraCycling, May, 2002.

Kehlenbach, D & Hughes, J., Resistance Training, pt. 1, UltraCycling, January-February, 2003.

Kehlenbach, D & Hughes, J., Resistance Training, pt. 2, UltraCycling, March-April, 2003.

Meagher, J. Sports Massage, Station Hill Press, 1980.

Raforh, R., MD, Overtraining, www.cyclingperformancetips.com.

Simonds, J. Self Massage: On the Road to Recovery, UltraCycling, March 2000.

Weschler, L., Water and Salt Intake During Exercise, UltraCycling, July-August, 2003