RECOVERY: Go out and play!

One of the hardest workouts for most cyclophiliacs and other athletic types is the RECOVERY DAY.

Why are we so reluctant to take a day off from our workout routines? Is it because we still haven't left the 1980's, when 'No pain, no gain' was our mantra? Do we really think we're going to lose all of our fitness if we decide to bag a workout?

I've been following a lot of training philosophies since my Jane Fonda aerobics videotape days. Thankfully, fitness science really has evolved since then.

Trainers like Phil Maffetone, Chris Carmichael, and Joe Friel (my favorites - I'll write more about them in the future) emphasize the critical nature of rest in any training plan. And I have to admit, the older I get, the more important recovery days become, not only to ward off injuries, but also to reap the most benefit from my training.

Personally, I like my recovery days. They let me take guilt-free time off from riding or running, and allow me to indulge in other fun things like working out in the yard or walking the boys or going out with friends.

Here's one of my secrets: I always take off at least two days before an important event. Prior to Double Duathlon Weekend, my last training session was on Wednesday, and it wasn't a hard workout, either. (Yes, I know I did a duathlon the day after a duathlon, but that was because of the planning capabilities of the event organizers - not my choice).

Monday and Tuesday were both recovery days for me, because of the intensity of the back-to-back workouts and because my life was pretty much consumed by race preparation stuff the entire week prior. In fact, I started 'recovering' early, with a celebratory Cucumber Margarita at Momocho!

Recovery doesn't have to mean 'no workout', either. It just means 'easy'. Leave the heart rate monitor at home. Go out and play.

My favorite recovery workouts:

• Walk with the boys or hike in Bedford Reservation
• Ride my Rockhopper on the Canal Towpath, preferably with Jackie and Dave, preferably with the Winking Lizard in Peninsula as a mid-point ride destination.
• Running, at a slow pace, on the Hike and Bike trail
• Yoga! I like the classes at Namaste Yoga Studio in Sagamore Hills.

What are your favorite recovery day workouts?

Double Duathlon Weekend

What an exciting weekend this was! Back-to-back duathlons: Nordonia on Saturday, and Twinsburg today.

Nordonia Duathlon

No rain, but it was really humid at the race start. I was sweating buckets. There were about 150 participants, a pretty good turnout considering the OTHER duathlon the following day. Jackie's FIRST duathlon - the first of many, I suspect. Every photo Dave took of her she's smiling, so I think she's hooked.

Jackie's goal was to finish, and she did that just fine. What's next year's goal, Jackie?

My goal was to finish well, with the same or better time as last year. I did that, which got me a second place finish for women (all ages). I got a coffee cup and a $50 gift certificate to Fleet Feet. I'm gonna get me a new pair of shoes!

Click here for the results.

Twinsburg Duathlon

Inaugural event, bad planning and/or no communication with the event planning committee in Nordonia but it wasn't as bad as I thought to run two of these races back-to-back (not that I really want to do that again). Maybe Mike's paella and Diane's cake last night fueled me up for the race!

Race started early early, and when I got up it was POURING rain, big thick ominous clouds, and it just looked downright scary. Not to mention the tornado warnings until 9 AM - yikes!

Stayed dry for the race, even the roads weren't so bad (probably because of the wind gusts).

Lots of Grunt Girls were doing this race, many of them for the first time. You GO, girls! What a great group.

Mark, Cindy, and the girls came out to cheer me on during the bike leg, which pumped up my motivation in time for the climb up Glenwood Drive. Fast, fun course. Good traffic monitoring. Weird awards.

I took first in my age class - not bad for my tired legs!

Congrats to Shelley, Andrea, and Diana - and to all the other Grunt Girls who finished the race.

Click here for the results of the 2010 Twinsburg Duathlon.