Just curious how often people take a rest day. I hate taking them and honestly haven't taken one in 3-4 weeks, but feel like I am recovering well and legs are not tired/fatigued. However feel like I probably should since its been awhile.
Just curious how often people take a rest day. I hate taking them and honestly haven't taken one in 3-4 weeks, but feel like I am recovering well and legs are not tired/fatigued. However feel like I probably should since its been awhile.
Don't be dumb and ignore the importance of off days. Look at them as days where if you ran, you would have gotten an injury, and not running that day avoided it. That's what I do. I take a day off or cross train every 2-3 weeks.
I never take a day off but do a lot of 2 or 3 mile easy runs. A few years ago I had a foot injury. I raced a 5k every weekend for like 10 weeks and took the other six days off running but xtrained. Another year I took every 4th day off after two hard and one easy days.
Everyday
Once a week, keeping the sabbath day holy.
I take a day off every week. Usually it's the day after my long run, but it can move if I want to do something after work one day.
I've actually gotten faster since I started doing this, as I don't get injured anymore, but it makes your total mileage a little lower.
I use to be one of those guys thats never took one day off, then this june I started a new training cycle under a new coach. Started doing the 6 days and 1 day off cycle. Also increased my mileage of long runs etc. it does wonders. But yet again every ones body responds differently to running plans. The key is to find one that works for you!
i typically feel worse after an off day than i did before, so i only take them if i'm outside of specific training for a race or if i've got a nagging injury that i think an off day will take care of. i just went two full months without an off day, but there are definitely some days in there where i didn't run much more than 30-45 minutes. it's key to know when your body needs an easy day and to just relax if that's the case.
These days, every third day is an off day. : (
Ayylmao wrote: Look at them as days where if you ran, you would have gotten an injury, and not running that day avoided it..
Is that true though?
Who knows
My college team takes a day off every week. That is while still running 70-90mpw. I hated it at first, but I've grown accustomed to it and have stayed healthy.
Every 9th day. As an old man I've ditched the Sun-Sat calendar and moved to a 9-day mircocycle.
oscar's deli wrote:
Every 9th day. As an old man I've ditched the Sun-Sat calendar and moved to a 9-day mircocycle.
This. I'm on a 10-day cycle, but only take an off day every other cycle (19 days on, one off).
Stagger Lee wrote:
oscar's deli wrote:Every 9th day. As an old man I've ditched the Sun-Sat calendar and moved to a 9-day mircocycle.
This. I'm on a 10-day cycle, but only take an off day every other cycle (19 days on, one off).
I like this more than taking the same day off every week. I think there is some value added when you train for 9 - 15 days straight before taking a break. You do have to be smart/careful and have some recovery runs when needed. Biggest thing is listening to your body and know when you need that day off.
The runner's mind is geared toward "more more more". We're a self hating lot, that always thinks that if we "had just done X" then the race would have gone better, so we punish ourselves by bumping up our miles, by never missing a day, by now doing 2 a days, by severely restricting our diet.. We must do some form of penance!
When you feel guilty about taking one day of every week or so, try to take a deep breath and think about it sanely and ask yourself if that 4 mile shake out run is REALLY the only thing that's keeping you from hitting your mark. Chances are, it's not.
Shorter answer: I generally take 1 day off every week.
What about just taking a day off of work when you're not sick or don't have specific plans?
Off days are overrated. If your sick or injured, take a day off. If you're tired, take an easy day but don't take off. How is not running going to make you better at running? I'm a college runner doing between 90-110 mpw and I haven't taken an off day in 2 years.
mostly don't take days off
Popper and Wittgenstein hated each other, see the "poker incident"
Pretty much the only times I take days off are (1) if I am injured or worried about a particular pain developing into an injury, or (2) if I am extremely sore to the point where I can't run with normal form. This usually leads to me taking about one day off a month nowadays, but I've gone 800+ days without a day off before when training is going along nicely.
On days that others might recommend taking off, I might do a very easy 3 mile jog. I think this is better for my body than a day off would have been.
Am I living in the twilight zone? The Boston Marathon weather was terrible!
Des Linden: "The entire sport" has changed since she first started running Boston.
Matt Choi was drinking beer halfway through the Boston Marathon
Ryan Eiler, 3rd American man at Boston, almost out of nowhere
2024 College Track & Field Open Coaching Positions Discussion