As expected, I didn’t sleep well last night. The combination of the wine and late social media session has made me groggy and tired this morning.
I didn’t even have to check, I knew that my HR and HRV scores will show the damage to the body. I take readings every morning, and I follow them religiously. They help me to understand the impact on the daily training, how hard should I push on the next session, or should I just take the day off.
It wasn’t as bad as I expected, but still, the scores were way of the chart. My regular morning heart rate is around 47 beats per minute, today it was 55. The HRV, which measures the impact of the stress on your nervous system, was way to low.
My body was was in full recovery mode.
”No hard session for me today” I thought. Instead, I decided to help my body get back on the track. There are many things you can do guide the recovery; relaxation, gentle cardio session, swimming, cold water dip, sauna, relaxing massage, meditation to name few.
The idea is that you completely relax. You should avoid any stressful situation too; if you decide to watch the movie, choose comedy over the horror, try to limit the TV time and spend a lot of time outdoors, ideally away from traffic, cars, people, mobile phone reception and fast food joints. Woods, lake, mountains they are all good destinations, go for a wander, with no particular goal in mind, just enjoy nature.
Treat your self with a portion of good food. Something nourishing and fresh. You need to feed well, and more antioxidants, vitamins and minerals you can give your body, the better. I found the large green salad, with lots of different vegetables and a good cut of the organic meat does the trick for me.
Coming back to your full strength depends on many factors. I found that after a couple of hours of taking care of myself, I feel much better; give it a day if you have been exhausted.
Sometimes, especially after a long race, like Ironman Triathlon, recovery takes me not hours, not days but weeks.
But this topic for the next chapter.
Leszek
