Rest days

hello everyone,

is it just me or does anyone else struggle to have rest days, for the last 2-3months i've been doing a high mileage to train for Chester marathon (October 7th) but i`m finding it increasingly harder to take rest days each week because it just feels weird not to run, sounds daft but how do others have the self discipline to hold back even when they don't feel they need a day off.

Andy I agree but you must try and see it as part of the training schedule if you can!

As it happens I've recently started trying to get used to not having one, and having an easy day instead.  But when I did have a regular one I found it more than easy to cope with.  It was always rest day Friday, coming after a hard session on a Thursday (normally long tempo run or similar depending on what I'm training for) to set me up for the weekend.

Instead of the usual weekday routine of running straight after work in the evening I'd just relax before dinner, then contemplate going down the pub.  So it was a nice routine in itself really. 

I know how you feel - for many years I ran everyday - it was the only way I could get the sort of mileage in that I felt I needed - was running twice/3 times a day to get into the 100s - Even now after a 12 year break from running I run everyday and hate the idea of missing a day - although I do know that ideally I should take a day.

  I love my rest day.

In fact I've just done my Wednesday Medium long run, so i have 1 1/2days off

I have my rest day in between a medium long run, and reps, and it's needed.

i`ve tried to have an easy one but it never happens because once i`m out the house a good 60-90mins of running seems to dissapear without thinking about it. Maybe when the Chester marathon s out the way if i make some of the training runs quick then i`ll feel the need to take rest days more seriously.

just wanted to know the thoughts of others though, cheers.

I too struggle with rest days but as I break quite easily I substitute swimming or bike riding on non-running days. When in full tri training I'm usually scheduled a rest or 30 mins easy run day once a week - and will always take the 30 minute run option!

I know how you feel I was doing way too much in a week but I've managed to cut my main workouts down to 1 every 3 days. Cutting down was hard in itself, but now I like it because I can train a lot harder and am beginning to see some improvement

I think rest days are very much a mental thing, and you are struggling to have one against an addiction to running - and an overload of energy if you don't use it up!

I discovered that if you stress the importance of recovery in improvement, you can justify, and therefore it gets easier to accept, a rest.

Also, you can just get older.

Andy – I think it’s just the routine you get into. Once you get used to running everyday it’s hard to break the routine. Conversely once you get used to taking one it’s hard to go back to 7 day weeks. If you decide you want to include regular rest days I think what Rob says helps – you have to view it as part of your training. I’m currently taking a 2 week break after 18 months of no downtime. Rather than worrying about not getting the training in I’m just seeing it as a necessary part of letting my body recover fully so I can push onto faster times. In other words it is training of a kind!

Edit - What Ratzer said - he put it more eloquently than me!

robT- alot of people say that but it just feels like such a shame not to run when you have a nice day, rather simplistic i know but i`ve never been an indoors person.

PhilPub- in your post you say about how you found it more than easy to cope with. i`m properly struggling to get to grips with it now. allmost going doolally with boredom.

Grendel3- its not that i "try to get X miles per week" i just enjoy running any distance over any terrain for practically any amount of time, this used to mean at couple of years ago going out and doing 27-30mile runs on the weekend just because it was a nice day (any excuse) although now i tend to run mostly on roads with a basic structure to training because of wanting to make the most of my ability. i like you though hate having a day off though because i seem to become very irritable and argumentitive because of not having done any running to relax/get fresh air ect.

Stevie G- i dont know how you manage to love it. sitting here now thinking to myself "rest days are sooooooooooo boring, uuuuuuuuurrrrrrgh" it was a lovely day out today and i feel like i just wasted it completely.

Little M.iss Happy- fair enough in your case because getting injured is a pretty big incentive to getting on the bike or in the pool away from the impact of running. i`m lucky in this way as i hardly seem to get injured atall really thank god.

Paul J-R- that seems to be the classic mistake. when i started i remember building up to doing a flat out 5miler 5 days a week and wondering why i couldn`t break 30mins even on a good day, shortly after i joined a club and began learnning how to train properly with slow runnng, so like you i dropped down to 2 key sessions a week and worked on gradually improving the steady mileage from 15ish four years ago to 90-110mpw now injury free aswell which is nice.

Ratzer- thats a very good point mentioned there about addiction but i`m not really sure how to tell at what point it becomes an addiction rather than trying very hard to progress up the ranks. Also apart from running i dont know how else a runner can deal with an overload of energy, i feel i could be miss understanding something here.

Mr Viper- are you not going stir crazy with all the rest your having?