The Distance
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The Importance of Rest
After your season, it is very important to take some time off from running and rest. This doesn't mean you have to stop activity altogether though. You can still lift, do core, yoga, etc. Greg McMillan noted how he saw "a bad habit forming in many runners: the lack of a recovery cycle after their big races or racing seasons," in an article he wrote for Runner's World about the importance of rest after your big races or racing seasons.
If you don't take the proper time to rest, you could eventually burnout and end up hanging up our running shoes for good. If you don't allow the right time to rest, you could also, "reach a performance plateau after a few races and fall well short of their true running potential."
Did you know that even some of the top athletes incorporate annual breaks into their training? If you're worried about gaining weight, don't worry, the top athletes do it too. Besides, as soon as you start training again, you'll loose any weight you could have gained while allowing you're enjoying things you otherwise can't while training. Nick Symmonds, a retired mid-distance USA Olympic runner specializing in the 800m and 1500m, would go fishing after a track season.
Taking time off is important to give your mind and body time to rejuvenate. If you don't allow your body the proper time to rest, you could end up being taken out of the sport by injury instead. "Science is discovering that the chemistry of the brain, the hormonal system and the immune system are compromised during hard training. Breaks rejuvenate these systems, allowing us to train better, . . ."
In his essay, "A time to Rest, Reflect, and Recharge: The Importance of Down Time in between Seasons," Mark McManus compares runners to an agricultural field and a med-school student. "Just like overworked agricultural fields and exhausted med school students after exams, our minds and bodies can become equally overworked and depleted from the racing season, and like them, we need time to replenish, to breathe, and allow time to reflect on what we have produced and challenges overcome."
It is challenging to keep a higher level of "physical intensity and mental focus for a long period of time without a break." It's important to allow our body to rest, but it's just as important to allow our minds to rest. Your body might need time to rest any muscles that were overused, but your mind might need time to get over any slump or "psychological barriers."
After I collapsed towards before the finish line at the second league meet of the season my junior year of cross country, I wanted to get right back at it and show everyone that I was okay and stronger than before. It didn't take more than five days before I was in my head and doubting my ability to accomplish what I wanted to. That finish, that race, was now in my head and keeping me from doing what I wanted to do, both for fun and in races. I was all of a sudden scared to push myself, because that's what ultimately lead to me falling. Once the temperatures cooled down some more and my knees healed from crawling in the gravel, I was almost back to my normal racing self, but it wasn't until after I rested after my season that I felt better.
If you don't allow your body time to rest, sure you will be able to have high performances at the beginning of the year, but when it really counts in the season, "i.e. regional, national, and world championship events," chances are you've already peaked earlier in the season.
When you do start training again, make sure you ease back into it. You'll have to build your mileage back up again. "You'll need to plan on three to five weeks of rebuilding to your full training load."
CITATIONS:
McMillan, G. (2013, April 18). Give It A Rest. Retrieved January 12, 2018, from https://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/give-it-a-rest
McManus, M. (n.d.). A time to Rest, Reflect, and Recharge: The Importance of Down Time in between Seasons. Retrieved January 11, 2018, from http://www.wholeathlete.com/assets/documents/A_time_to_Rest.pdf