post-ToS plan

:smile::rofl::innocent::upside_down_face:

Is your problem that you have trouble taking rest days?

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Long story, but you asked. :smile:

Yes and no. It’s more like having problems balancing my short and long term goals and having conflicting short term goals.

When I’m doing a 12-week plan I am very good about taking rest days and following the recovery weeks.

But when I’m not on a plan I have a hard time regulating myself either way. Especially after a hard event. Since I do 99% of my exercise early in the morning, I end up either sleeping-in and skipping my workouts or trying to do a recovery week and end up doing too much.

Like now, I have a goal of riding 6,000 miles for the year which approximates to about 115 miles per week. I was close to being on goal, but my bike trainer died and I only rode 46 miles one week and 26 the next before doing 102 the week before TOS and then 162 the week of TOS. So now I’m 200 miles behind my goal and have a recovery week this week. If I do a recovery week and then do the HM/FF plan the next and a recovery week again right after that then I’ll be behind even more.

I want to at least do a new FF. I would be okay with just doing HM, but I would prefer to do FF. I also want only 1 recovery week and don’t want to dedicate 2 or 3 weeks just to doing FF even tho I definitely need at least a week or 2 recovery from TOS.

But this week is my birthday and while I won’t be riding at all on my birthday, I also want to ride 46 miles one one day for my birthday (TOS stage 7 doesn’t count) and to get at least 115 miles to either creep back closer to my goal mileage or at least not get even further away - even tho I know in my head that I have plenty of time to make that up.

So I’m trying to figure out if I can do it all. Maybe a 3 week plan instead of 2 weeks. A recovery week, but end it with a long ride. Then maybe do a week of full riding before doing 1 week of test prep ending in FF.

But then maybe I should just suck it up and do the test prep on week 2 ending with FF and move on from there.

The only thing for certain is that I will definitely overthink it (already have) no matter what I end up doing. That’s why I like the 12-week plans that I trust and know I can do without having to do my own thinking.

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First of all, if I ask a question, I am prepared for an answer no matter what form it takes.

Second, I think part of the problem is we need to reformulate what we mean by rest. Rest is when the adaptation occurs. Recovery is a better term, but even that does not do it justice. Perhaps a better term would be Rejuvenation because it describes what is really going on (and it also starts with R :slight_smile: ). The rejuvenation part is just as important as the workout part.

Finally, we often focus on our formal goals without considering why we have those goals. So would it really be so terrible if you wound up doing only 5000 miles in the year? I presume you would still have an awesome improvement in fitness. Trying to catch up, and missing your Rejuvenation/Recovery/Rest days will probably wind up decreasing your fitness. After all the process, and the results you are aiming for, I presume, is the real goal, not doing a certain number of miles or workouts.

In my opinion (for what it is worth), trying to catch up is counter-productive. Reformulate your goals from your current situation, and forget what happened in the past. It probably would be the best birthday present you could give yourself. Let go of the past, and focus on the future.

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Yup. :smirk:

Just wanted to say that I crushed the Recovery spin session yesterday. :muscle:t3: My friends joined in to keep me company.

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+1 for Muppets! well-played.

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Slowly coming out of my TOS pile of rubble. Decided to try “All For One” form the Inspiration Series. Great spin, Fantastic story. SYSTM for the win!!

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I did a 30 minute recovery spin on Monday. Took Tuesday off. Then did Recharger on Wed. Did yoga on Monday and Wed. Tried to do an easy rowing machine session on Wed and my back tightened up, so I’ve only done yoga on Thursday and Fri. Tomorrow I had a long ride planned but instead I’ll be sleeping in and doing more yoga and lower back recovery. Hopefully I’ll be able to do another recovery spin on Monday and then figure it out from there. Guess you could say moved up my week 3 plan up directly to regrets.

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Amen.

Took the bike to the shop, finishing my last yoga this weekend for the All Yoga badge. Got the bike back yesterday ( :heart: :heart: :heart:) so a couple of easy rides this weekend, then a HM/FF week next week.

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My baby is getting a fresh application of grease in her bottom bracket today…can’t wait to get outside. This is the first year in over 10 that I have been ‘skunked’ in both January and February. And we just received another 6 in of snow last nite! Bollocks!!!

I am still recovering from the cold-that-devolved-to-bronchitis and that made me abandon the TOS after the third stage. I couldn’t even manage an active recovery ride until Thursday. I did an endurance /L2 session yesterday for 40 minutes. Breathing issues made it harder than it should have been. I’m hoping that I can manage an actual interval session after another week without coughing up a lung.

On deck today: another active recovery spin.

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My relic came back cleaned, lubed, and SO shiny! Yup, ready to get out…except for the March blizzard today. :roll_eyes:

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Recovery week officially NOT wasted!

gcn yoga

#achievementsunlocked

:smirk:

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I have seen it snow in Boston in May.

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sigh

#truth

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Pyranees :heavy_check_mark:
Provence :heavy_check_mark:
On Location don…

GvA be like
image

Off to the Mediterranean :biking_woman:t2:

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Don’t think I’ve recovered from ToS :rofl:

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A Week with Ian :heavy_check_mark:
A Week with Phil :heavy_check_mark:
Starting a week with Sir Neal :rofl::sob::face_with_peeking_eye::face_with_spiral_eyes:

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HA!

:joy: :rofl: :joy:

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