Recovering at an HR under 150

Learning from my mistakes in the past, I am focusing heavily on recovery right now. I have learned that my body is willing to take the abuse of training without whining too much. But when I ask it to race, or step up the intensity, then it likes to revolt for a couple of weeks. Generally, I feel good but I know I am not ready to resume any training at a high caliber. Therefore, I implemented a maximum heart rate of 150 on my workouts for two weeks.

Last week, I didn't do much. My focus was eating right and getting solid sleep each night. I also squeezed in a massage. I only worked out for about 4.5 hours. Most of it was easy riding on the bike to flush the legs out.

This week however, I increased my volume a bit. I will likely hit about 8 hours of training. All of it is light. I am running slow and taking note of all the aches and pains. I hope to log some solid miles on the bike this weekend. I love the idea of a casual 2 hour ride. I will probably turn my PM off so that I won't be concerned with my data.

My hope is that I bounce back better than usual. The aches and pains in my legs come and go. I still suspect there is something wrong internally that is preventing me from recovering properly. Hopefully, bloodwork in the next few weeks will put that issue to rest. It is just an odd feeling to wake up with legs that hurt...especially after 8.5 hours of sleep.

So I have about 2 more days on my recovery trail before I need to step it up a notch. One week after a big race is easy to take off. Two is asking myself for some major patience. Not sure I can ask for much more. Hope to be back at it next week!