I was talking with @GregHoge at FBF last night and commiserating about the difficulty of actually resting well during a rest week.  

I don't find it easy, either.

Seems like a good moment to start a "Recovery Week" thread, crowdsourcing what people do to make sure they rest and rest well.

I try to:

I always find eating to be difficult during recovery weeks. My body is used to wanting more calories but since I'm not burning as many I tend to overeat. I've started just munching on carrots, celery and cucumbers since you can get a decent bit of volume to feel full without the calories.

Anyone have any suggestions or things they like to deal with this?

I and set recovery goals the same way I set training goals. I want X amount of sleep every night, my recovery rides will never have power higher than HR, etc.

@Matt Budofsky Drink lots of water - you should be doing that anyway during harder blocks, but it tends to fill you up.  Also do for higher protein foods before carbs.  That helps two-fold in that it'll really help repair muscles from training, but also keep you satiated. 

My biggest struggle is sleep and keeping my rides actually recovery (I jus' wanna go fast!).  @Jules I like your strategy of keeping power below heart rate.

Apparently high carbohydrate diets decrease the recovery time as well as post-exercise soreness.
"Drink lots of water" is fairly well debunked - drink when you're thirsty and that should suffice.
Sleep really is head and shoulders above all others in value to an athlete. Dose yourself as heavily as you can.

@Matt Budofsky

I think along @GregHoge 's line of thinking.  Lots of liquid, cut carbs, increase protein.  When I can't seem to avoid nibbles in the late afternoon, I sometimes make popcorn, as it has relatively low calorie density and has some fiber--but it's definitely better to make than buy pre-packaged.

The one thing I'll add is replace some of that water with Nuun/Zym/SIS drink tab mix.  Flavor, some salt: keeps drinking a bit more interesting and probably does less upsetting of the electrolyte balance.  

@GregHoge Riding with people who are also interested in riding slow can help with the riding slow thing.  Look sharp, ride low gears.

I've found high carb to be good for short term recovery.  (Hell, this season I switched to using sugar and salt in my bottles for workouts and that has worked WONDERS for day to day recovery during a hard block)  High carb (80+ g/hour) fueling during hard workouts can also curb appetite between workouts (you don't end the ride in such a large caloric deficit and end up bingeing).

For long periods of recovery, you need to not only replenish your glycogen stores, but also repair the muscle you've been working.  Keeping a high carb diet for the day or 2 after your last hard workout shouldn't be an issue, but there isn't too much point to keeping a high carb diet if you're not burning that energy.

re: water- I'm not suggesting to chug gallons of water, but as long as it's not a detriment, there's no reason to not keep fluid intake up.

Sub-topic in this conversation: Recovery week for Parents.

When we train as parents we tend to put everything on the back burner in order to find the time needed. Partners seem to understand that but it becomes a harder sale when we say we have to do as little as possible around the house because it is a recovery week.

I personally realized that I do too much on my recovery day/ week because it is the only time slot I have available. Cooking meals for the week, laundry, bike maintenance, etc...I too often neglect the yoga or other recovery technic I should do then.

Would love to hear tricks and solutions from other working parents.

Might be a controversial position but nobody ever lay on their death bed wishing they'd spent less time with their family and more time "recovering"
#Itsonlyabikerace