Four Secrets of Active Recovery!

I'm pretty sure this is not exactly how Chris Carmichael would prescribe active recovery on the day after a long, leg-burning ride, but it seemed to work for me:

1) Eat a disgusting number of melt-in-your-mouth Krispy Kreme donuts after Mass.

2) Spin for an hour in Zone 1-2, at a serene 15.5 mph-pace.

And here's the part you'll never read about in the Bicycling magazine fitness tips:

3) Spend the rest of the afternoon with a 5-year-old daughter on the cusp of turning 6, with 26 just around the corner. Ride bikes with her. Listen to her brag to her friend about her dad. Take her to Petland and watch the unbounded, fascinated elation as she cuddles a Guinea pig and snuggles with a tiny Siberian dwarf hamster, and wrestles gleefully and giddily with a way-too-feisty pug. Watch her giggle and laugh as some sort of cage bird flutters across the store to land on her shoulder, then climbs on her head and stays there until she coaxes it to perch on her finger. See her nose crinkle as she discovers it pooped on her hand.

Then (after she washes her hand!), have her jump into your arms and say, "I love you so much, Daddy! Thank you for taking me to Petland. That was the most fun!"

4) Finally, put her to bed, read her a couple books and give her butterfly kisses and eskimo kisses. Because you can. For now, anyway.

I couldn't imagine recovering much better.

JN