It has been almost eight hours, since I finished my long ride on the bike today.  My ride was not only long, but it included three, higher effort intervals and the weather was hot.  All in all, it was a very demanding workout and it took a toll on my body.

From the moment I finished my ride, I have been focused on recovery.  I need to recover quickly, because I have a two hour and fifteen minute run tomorrow.

The first thing I did when getting back home after my ride, was to start re-hydrating.  I unfortunately lost a water bottle from my back cage during my ride.  Pennsylvania roads can be very rough and this happens from time to time.  The problem today was not that I lost a bottle, but that the bottle was full of water.  Not having that water available, meant that I ran out of water, with about fifteen minutes of finishing my ride.

I obviously drank lots of water soon after my ride, but also included a couple of glasses of electrolytes, to replace lost salts. I also drank a soda, because sometimes you just need a treat.

I also have been eating a lot this afternoon and this evening. I burned a lot of calories on my ride, and need to replace these quickly.  I have been eating good quality food and including a lot of carbohydrates and heathy fats.

What might surprise some of you, is that I also went for a short run late in the afternoon.  How does this help recovery?  I did that run at a very slow pace and at a very low effort level. Running very easy like this, gets my muscles working again and flushes out all the unhealthy by-products that had built up in them, from this morning’s exercise.  My legs felt bad at the start of that run, but much better at the end.

Finally, I have been using my Normatec boots this evening, to again boost my recovery.  My legs still feel tired, but hopefully, a good night’s sleep will help make them feel OK for my run in the morning.