I’ve got a question for you. I finished my season about a month ago, and after that I took one easy week and one full week off. Now I’m back at it for two weeks, and honestly, I didn’t expect to have lost that much fitness. When I stopped, I was in shape to run around 31:00–31:20 for 10K, and now I’d be surprised if I ran under 32:20. Putting aside this drop in form, which I hope to recover soon, it got me thinking—especially after watching an old interview with Michael Phelps, where he said he didn’t miss a single day of training for 6 or 7 years straight, training three times a day, grinding nonstop without ever taking a break. I know swimming is different from middle-distance running, especially because the impact from running doesn’t allow for such huge training loads. But my question is: does it really make sense to take breaks like the ones I took once you’ve hit peak form (which I held for about 20 days)? Or maybe it’s better to just take a couple of easy days with soft runs and then jump back into training—not aiming for a personal best the next month, but starting right away to prepare for the next race?
I’d like two answers: one for an average athlete (which I consider myself), and one for the Olympic-level athlete.
Mental side: sometime you need a break Physical side: As I have gotten older I have realized the most injury risky times come when trying to get back in shape after a break. You are fit enough to go out and pound a 20 miler but skeletal muscular part of you isn't strong enough to take the load. my solution for this is always stay running if you at all can.
What this doesn't mean... this doesn't mean you should run close to your max milage all times. you may take a month or 3 of easy running with little to no workouts or hard long runs.. that is great! then you can build back that speed pretty quickly. but trying to start from zero after 2 weeks for me is rough. you get sore that first week with or without workouts. then the next 2 weeks the injury risk is elevated running through that soreness. the human body will lose it if you don't use it for sure.
Now addressing that you feel much slower.. it really doesn't take that long to get back in shape when you look back on it. but during the bounce back Fone it may seem like it takes a while