Out of curiosity, how many times a month do you skip runs altogether or alter your pace to be slower?
Do you think if you do this often it is helping your training or do you think it is a sign of over-training?
Out of curiosity, how many times a month do you skip runs altogether or alter your pace to be slower?
Do you think if you do this often it is helping your training or do you think it is a sign of over-training?
If I'm fresh 100% easy runs are around 7:30/40, if I'm tired around 9 min pace. If I force the pace on those dead legs 9 min pace days I'll pay the price afterwards, usually injuries creeping out or tiredness that mess up workouts.
Listener wrote:
Out of curiosity, how many times a month do you skip runs altogether or alter your pace to be slower?
Do you think if you do this often it is helping your training or do you think it is a sign of over-training?
As a leading athlete (I ran a 200+ mile endurance relay as a solo effort) I make it a rule to skip no more that 16 days of training a month. While you may believe that this is too many days you must realize that I am juggling my running with many other facets of my life. I am a great man and am a spokesman for many brands. If you have eaten beef in the past few years you can thank me for making this possible.
I don't skip days due to soreness. Injury or sickness, yes. If I am sore, I back it down significantly (9:00/mi). Recovery runs ought to be slow and easy.
my favorite thing to do is simply listen to my body. it's that simple. i trained for a marathon a few years back and was super anal about my regimen. i had every week and every run listed out in an excel and followed it to a T. did the same for a half ironman. while i did well enough in both, i tried a slightly different approach for a half marathon last year and now this is my mantra. this time around i didn't log anything. i just tried to run 2-3 hard runs a week and 2-3 rest runs a week, while making sure my mileage was between 35-50 miles a week.
guess what? i dropped from a 1:28 half to a 1:21 half marathon. 7 minutes. my training mantra was simple - if i went out on a hard run and my legs didn't feel up to snuff, or bouncy enough, i saved it for another day. or if i went out for an easy run and felt great, i pushed myself to the max. i would normally rotate days, but some days felt better than others (even two days in a row), so i pushed myself on those days. what i think i did that was great was that i maximized potential on days my legs felt fresh and didn't try to push myself too hard when i was run down. a 7 minute improvement over that time represents almost a 10% drop off my overall time - that's seriously significant.
so in summary, just make sure you get 2-3 rest days a week and alternate them for when you need them. and when you feel good, GO. push yourself to the max and maximize your potential. listen to your legs, man.
What is the threshold that separates a "hobbyjogger" from a "sub-elite" runner?
Caitlin Clark thinks she can beat Eagles draft pick Cooper Dejean in 1 on 1
Cade Flatt with yet another DNF, this time in the SEC Championships
Do "running influencers" harm the competitive nature of the sport?
NCAA D1 Conference Outdoor Championships Live Results and Discussion Thread