Recovery - An Investment in Your Long Term Performance
by Randy Stueve
When most of us got started in triathlon, we focused our efforts on the three main pillars of the sport -- swimming, biking, and running. We'd add volume and intensity over time, and we realized an improvement in our fitness level. It was a simple recipe for success: time + effort = improved fitness. Of course, we also jumped to the conclusion that if increase the volume and intensity of our training, we'd see even bigger gains in fitness and speed. Go harder and longer more often, that's gotta be the path to success. Common logic, right? Reality check time! If you follow this pattern for very long, you will quickly encounter injury, chronic fatigue, and declines in speed and fitness. What went wrong? While triathlon is comprised of swimming, biking, and running, there's a fourth component that many people ignore -- R&R or Rest and Recovery. I prefer not to view recovery as separate from training, but rather, a vital part of training. It's really the most important part in my mind. Recovery is when is your body actually gets stronger and faster. When we train properly, we overload our muscles and tear them down. Given the proper rest and nutrients, our body rebuilds the muscle stronger than it was before. Fast twitch muscle is replaced with slow twitch muscle. The number of mitochondria in our muscle cells increases. This change is not isolated to our muscles either. Changes occur in our cardiovascular system as well. Our heart and lungs become more efficient over time. The blood supply to our muscles is expanded by the creation of more capillary beds.
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These changes are our body's way of responding to the physical stress of training. It's simple adaptation, and adaptation takes time. Part of this time is spent doing the actual physical work, but part of this time must also be dedicated to rest and recovery so the changes can occur. Think of training and recovery as financial investments. The training you put in is similar to deposits made to an account. As you train more, the account grows. Recovery can be viewed as the interest that accrues on your account. Different types of training are similar to the various types of investments. Long steady base building is like long term investments. It's a slow growth, but it's guaranteed with minimal risk. This growth also remains in your account much longer. Power Intervals and Hill Repeats can be seen as short term investments. They yield much bigger returns, but they you can lose them just as quickly as you gained them. In order to realize the potential growth from these, you need optimum recovery. This type of training is very productive, but it is also very hard on the body. Recovery is essential. As any financial consultant will tell you, your investments should be balanced between long term, safe investments, and short term, riskier investments. It's the same with training. If you only put in long slow rides and runs, you'll get very good at competing at a slow pace. However, if you only put in hard interval workouts, you'll eventually burn out due to injury or fatigue. It takes a balanced approach, and for growth to be realized, you need to allow you body to recovery properly. Come race day, you'll cash in this account. If you've recovered properly, you'll find extra fitness in this account thanks to proper recovery.
Randy Stueve is a top age group triathlete residing in Durango, CO where he works as a Pharmacist.
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