Coaches Roundtable: When to Resume Training After an Epic Event

In the spirit of Unbound Gravel just wrapping up, we thought it would be timely to have a discussion about how to proceed forwards after an epic event.
In this episode of the FasCat podcast, Coach Frank, Allie, Isaiah, Jake, and Zack do a deep dive into their own standard protocols for their riders for navigating recovery after an epic event.

How many weeks should you take to recover, what should your nutrition look like, when should your next event be, and what should your first workouts look like are just a few of the questions they get answered for us! 

Read the full discussion below or give the pod a listen:

Coaches RoundTable

1. Define Epic Event
2. What to Look at in the Data
3. What to Listen to / How Do you Feel
4. Common Coaching Sense Guidelines
5. Practical Guidelines 
6. Age Ability Related Recovery Guidelines 
7. Timing for Next Goal

Zach

Relative to the athlete, definitely 6+ hours, or averse conditions like extreme heat, cold, etc. Something that pushes an athlete beyond their normal riding level. 

Jake

Depends on the athlete. For some it may be 6 hours but others maybe over 8. But also it is important to not overlook the amount of training stress and time that goes into preparation for one of these epic events. Is the accumulation of it all as well.   

Christian

My theory is an event is Epic when it’s so big that it damages, not builds fitness. 

If we take a snapshot of a rider’s fitness 1 week before Unbound and one a week, two weeks or even three weeks after, most amateurs will actually be LESS fit due to the amount of recovery they need from the event. 

That of course depends on the riders level; World Tour riders use Grand Tours for training. But practically speaking, beyond 8 hours is when I begin to plan on recovery time being substantial, beyond 10 hours I’m even more careful. 

Allie

Epic event - that is relative to the athlete! 4 hours might be the biggest ride they’ve ever done, a bike packing trip, or a 15,000ft climbing day. 

Isaiah 

An athletic endeavor that pushes an athlete to a high degree (often times higher then what they will normally do in training). In most cases pushing an athlete to the point of full body exhaustion.

Lauren

It depends on the athlete (as other coaches described), as well as the conditions. An athlete could do an event that may not be extremely taxing fitness-wise, but if it snows, rains, has deep mud, slick conditions that cause crashes (mtb specifically), has remarkable winds, or other conditions that are not typical, recovery needs to be extended beyond that initially is considered 

Ricky 

375+ TSS 6+ Hours, pushes riders limits in time, distance, physically, mentally. Agree with Christian, usually the fitness you gain does not outweigh the recovery needed so you lose fitness.

Zach

TSS first, how big are we talking?  Then total time, kilojoules burned, and cardiac data - what % of max HR and for how long, what is the cardiac drift compared to power for the total event.  Also ambient conditions - temperature, humidity, etc. This gives me an idea of the overall stress on the body for the day. 

Jake

First thing I usually always look at TSS. See how big the ride actually was. These are mostly over 400 TSS days. Look at average power for the event. See how hard they started to where the power was when they finish. See if it was dropping due to fatigue. Then do look to see heart rate to power data. Does heart rate increase and power drop, does power and heart rate both drop? Also look at cadence from start to finish

Christian

All the other coaches are making great points about looking at TSS, distance, and HR data. 

I would add that I think it’s helpful to get an idea of what recovery time might look like BEFORE the event, when we might not have access to that data (if the rider hasn’t done the event in previous years). That’s where it can help to have other athlete’s data, data from similar events, or talk with riders who’ve done the event before. 

If I know a 25 year old 12-hour Unbound finisher is whipped out for a week, I can be sure a 50+ 15 hour finisher will need 2-3 weeks of recovery. 

Allie

Start with TSS. If the TSS is mega 350+ that is a good indicator that rest is needed afterwards! Check power and HR data - how hard they started to where they finished the ride… 

Isaiah 

Event data : TSS crossed with the demands of the race per what you know of the athlete. (example Hot race and you know that heat really pushes them vs an athlete that does well in the heat). KJ’s, HR change, segmented analysis for viewing polarized vs steady output. (example 30+hour event at .45IF vs a 4 hour race at .88IF)

Post Race : TSB. For events such as Unbound it's normal to see a -50TSB. Then from working with an athlete you can go off of past builds to know what range to bring them to to start seeing freshness response. Sleep data. Cardiac response. 

Lauren

Power and HR the first hour compared to the last hour. This can tell me not only their fitness and power, but also how they fueled (carbs and electrolytes) both before and during the event, and even the night before. I pay attention to the terrain and elevation changes since a technical mtb race will have more punctuated power surges even within a climb vs a gravel race, which can ‘skew’ the overall data if not taken into consideration. 

Ricky 

Data from the event, looking at time spent in HR zones, cardiac drift throughout the event, KJs burnt. Obviously TSS. Post race data: HR data zone 2/3 , low HR, non responsive, power to HR. If the athlete has a wearable, tracking that HRV data for 1-2 weeks post event. Obviously you can’t take the HRV and RHR data as gospel but it’s a great snapshot to see how the athletes recovery is progressing.

Zach

I think that tone and inflection in someone’s voice can really give you an idea of how they’re feeling, same thing with their physical appearance if we can meet in-person, or chat via zoom - oftentimes athletes approach epic events with the understanding that they’re going to feel very fatigued or sore after them, and that preparation can mask how tired they actually are.  I am always asking how they perceive their recovery, how their sleep and energy levels are, what their resting HR is, and an assortment of questions to get them to think about recovery in more holistic terms - are you rolling out of bed, or jumping out; if you had to pick your own workout for today, what would it be?; does training sound fun today?

Jake

I feel I hear all different type of things. If they had a good event most are really excited to start training right away and try to carry that momentum. Some just want to train more to make the next event  better. Some on the other hand are completely exhausted while content with completing what they just set out to do and never want to do it again. 

I think the best thing is to talk to athletes two or three weeks before this event to discuss what the plan is for after. Discuss how they will have really two to three weeks of full recovery before resuming structured or intense training. You want to give them a few days after the event to process all that has happened, give their body and mind actual time to recover before even discussing the next event or training objectives. But at least by discussing the road ahead they have an idea what it will entail and they will get their recovery. And also to those highly motivated athletes that they will be better for the recovery, not lose all their gains. 

Christian

I start with a ‘minimum recovery time’ and just expect them to feel bad during this period. If they don’t, I don’t really care, they should still rest! 

Then a ‘transition period’ where I hope to hear that 1) sleep is normal, 2) soreness is minimal 3) markers like HRV, morning resting HR, and energy levels during the day are normal, but, they might not feel great on the bike. This period we ride easy, do light workouts to check response, and gradually ease them back into training. 

Allie

It’s dependent on the athlete and their goals. But all athlete’s WILL benefit from recovery. Some will need 2 or 3 full weeks off, some will need a week and half off then start riding z1/z2 by the second weekend before going back to structure. It’s important to know how they’re actually feeling a few days post event. How they are sleeping, how their HR is while resting, how they’re eating… all things recovery. I also want to know how well they actually fueled/hydrated during the event because if they’re in a large deficit then recovery potentially could take longer. 

Isaiah 

I listen for energy levels. Ask about the daily schedule (athlete usually put things off before a large event…chores and such), energy of walking around the house, playing with their kids, and other such things. Set an idea of what the recovery will look like ahead of time and then I actually ask my athletes to read their body each day, that might not change how quickly we get back to it but it can change their understanding of their body and WHY they actually need this recovery time.

Lauren

Depends on the athlete and how the event unfolded for them. Some of my athletes want to keep the momentum going since they feel so strong due to our perfect peak timing :), while others understand that they need recovery to then ramp back up. We also focus on eating clean right after a big event and for a few days after - although it’s tempting to eat an entire cheese and pepperoni pizza with a pint of beer or 3 to celebrate, that’s “pouring gasoline on a fire” - adding inflammatory foods onto already-inflamed muscles - and will substantially slow recovery time and recovery quality. Their metabolism will be on overdrive the days after a long event, but it’s important to stoke that fire with clean, anti-inflammatory foods to speed up recovery.

Ricky 

- Younger athletes will often think they’re ready to get back at it before allowing enough recovery

- Tell athletes to give it at least 3-4 days before assessing how they’re feeling

- Listen to how they’re sleeping (can expect sleep quality RHR, HRV to suffer)

- Eating post epic (How the metabolism is responding, can expect gut to be wrecked)

- Motivation / Post race blues (expect a level of depression that comes post epic)

Zach

The time we’re taking away from training shouldn’t be absorbed into your work schedule, there’s still plenty to do!  Get extra sleep, either nap or go to bed earlier.  Hydrate and fuel like you’re training lots, that extra fuel gets utilized, promise!  Utilize massage, dynamic stretching protocols, and other recovery modalities to speed up your recovery timeline.  Be patient, it’s going to take longer than three days, regardless of what your TSB says.

Jake

Eating and sleeping. Take that extra time you would be training more to maybe take a nap, go to bed earlier or wake up earlier. Then also make sure you are eating. Don’t worry about any calories or plans you were on before. You can still win in the kitchen with the right quality of food but don’t necessarily worry about the quantity. 

As for training, if you don’t feel like riding or get riding and are tired, just go home.  No reason to push it too soon or jump right back into it. This is another reason you want your other goal or target event to be several weeks / months away. Don’t worry about CTL or any of that. It’s just a number. Don’t feel the need to ‘test’ yourself with unnecessary intense efforts. 

Christian

Again, awesome points made by all the other coaching, so again, I’ll hit on my pre-planning: make sure athletes have no events planned too close to the epic event they just completed, brief them on how much time we’re planning to be away from the bike as a minimum, prep them mentally for how they might feel once they resume training. 

Allie

Any sort of relaxation - sleep, massages, epsom salt baths/ice baths… EAT but make sure it’s balanced. Drink a lot also. Don’t get on the bike until you actually miss it… mentally this is tough because you can feel like you’re detraining but in reality the rest will be good and you wont have to miss out later if you started training too soon. 

Isaiah 

SLEEP. But beyond the body Mentally step back. That could be journaling, going for walks, any way of mentally processing what happened and being able to look to what's next. This often gets overlooked.

Lauren

Massage, extra sleep, lots of water to flush the system, lay off the drink mixes and ‘ride food’ for a couple of weeks and focus on whole, unprocessed foods, take long walks to get the bike-energy out of your system, stretch a lot, don’t look at any of your tracking devices for a week or 2 - it’s nice to get your head out of the data for a while; take this time off the bike to reconnect with the family, read that book that’s been on your nightstand, etc. 

Ricky 

- Eating hydrating properly to recover

- Sleeping well and monitoring sleep and vitals 

- Take multiple days off to allow the body to recover

- Don’t force getting back on the bike before recovered and motivated

Zach

There should be a series workouts you have to “pass” before going onto a workout of higher intensities during this recovery period.  During the recovery phase of these events, your anaerobic power takes the longest to recover, and that timeline is different for everyone.  I typically give folks some easy riding, then progress into high cadence tempo work, sweet spot, SST with bursts, then some progression intervals from endurance pace to VO2, ending in a sprint.  If HR tracks with power, the athletes are able to recover between efforts, and cadence can be lifted/dropped, there is a good chance they are recovered.  If an athlete “fails” a step, we take a day to recover or ride endurance before trying again. 

Jake

Just to start slow and first riding should be easy zone 2. Once you are feeling ok you can try to raise the intensity for some test workouts such as high cadence, tempo or even sweet spot a week or two later. `

Christian

Don’t expect to feel good for awhile: at first because you’re exhausted, and later because you’ve rested so much that you’ll need to clear the cobwebs/rebuild some fitness once you get back to training. Remember above, that’s how I defined an ‘epic’ event. 

Allie

Enjoy your event! Prepare for it and research it, then get your nutrition dialed to help you during the event. THEN REST. I promise you will not miss out - you’ll benefit from rest and recovery. Then you’ll be able to train hard again/ or harder!! 

Isaiah 

As previously mentioned. Tester workouts. But this doesn’t have to be something crazy, it can be as simple as an endurance ride with a few tempo efforts. With some athletes and goals its a good idea to get an athlete fresh enough that you achieve high HR to power.

Lauren

Muscles can only get stronger when you’re NOT using them. You have to rest to get faster! 

Ricky 

No matter what, the body needs multiple days to recover. Some highly motivated athletes will want to get on the bike a few days post event but as the coach you have to be firm. I think there are a series of ways to progress. First is a system check from the athlete, how does the body feel, how is the mental state, how is the motivation, what has sleep been like, diet, all the normal things aside from riding the bike. Then progress onto light endurance with spin ups. Similar to Zach I have a workout I give almost every rest week to kind of gauge recovery. 3x5min zone 3 high rpm and 1 minute on 1 minute off  high zone 4. If I see the HR responding to the high rpm that’s a good sign, if I see recovery in between the 1 minute efforts that’s also a good sign. 

Zach

The older you are, the longer it will take to fully recover, and the more attention you need to pay to the off-the-bike activities related to recovery.  In older adults, completing some of these epic events in the heat can create high levels of cardiac stress biomarkers, so allowing for adequate rest and measuring HR and HR response to exercise is very important.  

Jake

The older you are the more recovery you are going to need. 50 and over you are going to need at least 2 weeks of full recovery. One thing that can be super helpful is historical data. Look to see how you felt last year or a previous epic event. How long till you felt recovered? Did you start training again too soon? 

I believe experience plays a huge part in the recovery process. The more training and events you have done the quicker you are able to recover. 

But at the end of the day whether you are young, old, experienced or a newbie you really need to listen to your body and never force yourself to start training before your body is ready. Know what you perceived exertion, heart rate and power should feel like. Use HRV or resting heart rate as well to determine how rested you are.   

Christian

With athletes I coach, recovery from these events is very individual. Age is something we factor in, but I coach 50 year olds who recover better than 25 year olds. Population data is population data! However,I do tend to be conservative with masters age athletes. 

For un-coached athletes, as they move into their 40s, 50s and beyond, they should be really patient with recovery from these types of events. There’s no magic, just rest, recovery and patience. 

Allie

The older you are the more rest you’ll need! The younger you are the less rest you’ll need BUT that is event dependent and dependent on how hard you actually went! 

Isaiah 

Read the entire picture, not just the label. Same process regardless of age / ability. Give yourself time and build back slowly while listening to your body.

Lauren

In general older need more recovery but it’s very personalized. SOme of my athletes (myself included) need to get back on the bike for easy spins within 1 week after an epic event or things start to shut down; others can take 2 weeks completely off the bike and like it that way. Very personal, and life-specific. 

Ricky 

As everyone has stated, the older you are the more recovery you typically need. Similarly the older you are typically the longer the event is and generally a higher overall TSS. I might even recommend hiking, walking, or other cross training before getting back on the bike. Just very low level work to start the system back up. Sleep is going to be an important indicator as well. I’ve seen a lot more sleep quality decline in my older athletes than younger. 

Zach

The more “epic” the more time between events.  Understand that your physiology, age, training status will dictate how much time you need, but stacking too many events on top of each other can backfire.  The general rule for Unbound 200 is that you don’t race for the rest of June with any expectations - it’s that hard on your body. 

Jake

Really feel like you can only adequately do 1 - 3 of these epic events a year to be fully recovered and prepared. Ideally the next big goal should be at least 12 weeks away. 

Christian

Tough to say. Spacing them out by a couple months and having time to cycle through our training phases is great. But, lots of great events happen over the summer, so that can be tough. I’m happy with 6 weeks if that’s what we have to do. 

Allie

Consider having 2 epic events. So you can go through the base/build/interval phase and then recover. Give yourself enough time to do this so you’re ready for the next event. 

Isaiah 

This is a good one to touch on “athletic maturity”. Example would be if an athlete has built up through 10 years of training to do 5 Brevet’s a year, then adding another one in for the following year would make sense. But if your in your first year of riding bikes, 1 event could be enough. Always a good idea to keep macro view in mind of what you want the bike to mean to you in a few years. Hard to do with motivated athletes though as they tend to want it all NOW.

Lauren

2-3 per season is generally feasible, though MVP proves us wrong all the time :) 

Ricky 

Realistically this should be done pre season and as the coach you have to be the one to say, hey maybe doing unbound and crusher 5 weeks apart is not the best idea. As stated before, you really decline in fitness in the weeks surrounding an epic event. Obviously CTL might go down in a taper and peak, and the amount of recovery needed will have that CTL decline as well. So if you have to take off even 4-7 days you’re going to have to go back to a certain amount of base before thinking of building. So take Unbound and Crusher which many people are doing, that gives you a week to recover, let’s say two weeks of moderate base, and then two weeks to try and build or taper. It’s just not possible to prioritize both. So plan, plan before the season, give yourself months not weeks in between events.

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