Conventional wisdom says to take 1-2 weeks completely off between seasons. Is there any proof this is a good idea? Since your injury risk is highest right after you start back again (plus you lose fitness) could it be better to just take 1-2 weeks very easy while still running a bit?
Conventional wisdom doesn’t say that
Take like 5 days if you’re feeling good out of season and you don’t loose any fitness but even a week would be fine
Just listen to what you specifically need
Maybe for a more undeveloped runner, 2 weeks off would be necessary but most are fine with just a few days
Some pros take 30 days.
Don't Kenyans take a couple months off? Whatever you feel like doing is best. I always liked a week or two between seasons when I was in college.
Alexi Santana wrote:
Conventional wisdom says to take 1-2 weeks completely off between seasons. Is there any proof this is a good idea? Since your injury risk is highest right after you start back again (plus you lose fitness) could it be better to just take 1-2 weeks very easy while still running a bit?
The break is not just good for your body but also for your mind.
Go on a trip and see something else (that is probably not going to happen this year). Do something you don't do otherwise. Challenge yourself, go on a 5 day hike.
Breaks are great.
cramister wrote:
Conventional wisdom doesn’t say that
Take like 5 days if you’re feeling good out of season and you don’t loose any fitness but even a week would be fine
Just listen to what you specifically need
Tinman has proven this wrong. According to him, fitness is lost quickly after periods off and it can take several months to get back in shape (for example 2 months just to get back to where someone was before after 2 weeks completely off).
1-2 weeks off are only fine if there is some other activity to move and keep the HR at least somewhat elevated - whether it's hiking, cross-training, random walking or cycling, doesn't matter but u need to keep moving or the blood volume and VO2MAX drop rapidly.
Being a couch potato for a full week that many are doing just sitting around will have a significant effect on the fitness. Done it many times myself and seen the big impact.
Elites are often downplaying their off-season times. For example Lagat's 30 days off - he spends a lot of time playing with his kids, or walking with them, so he isn't totally inactive for the 30 days. So while he didn't run a single mile in these 30 days, he was still moderately active with his lifestyle which helped.
And it's not even just fitness/VO2MAX, the muscles also get weaker quickly. Take 2 weeks off and you could experience calf pain or similar things after the first harder sessions.
I always took a week off. I'd be absolutely shattered by the time we got to the last race of the season.
This is a week off twice per year.
Once after track
Once after indoor/road/XC.
For the college runner or pro, a couple weeks off of routine running is good, but this should not rule out easy shorter runs under 1 hr, IMO. For the average Joe and Jill, they are not doing that much anyway. They should just back down the intensity.
Easy shorter runs will still keep base fitness levels up, and face it, our bodies are use to running- sometimes 14 times a week, and we like to run- usually. We need this like food and water. Just cut way back, meaning no tempo or Vo2 Max, no super long stuff, take a day or two off, Just think of it as a long taper and recharge the batteries. Then ease into the harder stuff coming back, with Fartlek and easy Lrs. Just my 2.
This is what I’m leaning towards now as well. After running 90 miles a week for an extended period of time, 60-70 miles is seen as a taper where we are really rested prior to a race. So I figure running 30 miles for a “down” week should leave me totally rested and ready to go after that while also minimizing injury risk when coming back.
The mental break part definitely makes sense. Things feel different now during COVID when the opportunity cost of running is lower since there isn’t much to do instead. The big thing for me is being able to eat and drink what I want, so I’ll be putting down some nice craft beers over that week or two easy.
I’m not even sure that going back to a full base or general prep phase is necessary. Why lose fitness if you are not in an overtrained/overreaching state?
Everybody is different, and it’s never a bad idea to take a break to recharge physically and mentally- but in my personal experience, even taking a week off leaves me feeling like garbage for the next couple weeks of running. Like what other people have said, my preference is for an active break of easy running however much you want, or some sort of other active activity to compensate
I'm not a hater, but Tinman hasn't *proven* anything.
LateRunnerPhil wrote:
Tinman has proven this wrong.
Rest is an important part of training and improving as a runner. This is true for day-to-day recovery as well as how you structure your seasons and training plans. You can't be in peak shape all of the time, so it's natural to have some time for recovery and rebuilding between seasons or big training blocks.
Everyone is different, so it's an important part of development/maturing as a runner to figure out what the best down time and recovery plan is for you. Don't be afraid to experiment with different type of cross training, different lengths of time, etc. It's also good to look back at your last recovery phase and think about how that worked in the training time that followed.
If you are a high school runner, I would definitely recommend some time between seasons when you are not running at all. For me, the mental and emotional aspects of no running are more important than the physical. High-achieving, young runners often feel like more is always better. They are highly-focused, pushing themselves and their limits. Taking the foot off the gas and coasting for a while is a good thing. It often makes you hungrier and more focused when the break is over.
When you give yourself permission to take a break, it helps cement an understanding that you're not going to permanently and irrevocably lose a ton of fitness. It helps build a healthier attitude with respect to the balance between rest and hard work.
everybody has this theory (that you don't need a break after every season) until they actually get injured or overtrain or start going backwards in time. General overtraining, (where you just start going backwards in fitness) is real, it happens, and its devastating. Take a week or two off after every season. And not just that, have the next month of training be easy running as well. Trust those who have experience with it lest you become one of us.