Recently, a running friend sent me an article about recovery. I have only read a part of the article so far, but I didn’t need to read that much before I realized that what I was doing was OK, which was—not running. The article, in plain language, simply states that nobody, and that means no-body, can sustain a running habit 365 days a year without taking time to recover. And, further, it insists that at least some of that recovery time should consist of not-running.
For several months, now, I have effectively been in my off-season. I have run a couple of races, but I did not do any extensive training for them. My running has been confined to the weekends, and sometimes I have not run for the entire week. To be honest, I didn’t miss it. I wasn’t climbing the walls, straining to go out for a run. I was enjoying the not running.
Now, I have a marathon coming up in seven short weeks. I’ve run enough marathons that I know I can finish this one, and I know that I can get in good enough shape to finish this one in the time remaining. I won’t have a great finish time, but by gearing down and lowering my expectations, I should be able to easily finish the marathon and enjoy the run while I’m doing it.
I ran in the foothills of Harvey Bear last Sunday and didn’t do as badly as I thought, and today I ran five miles in my own neighborhood. I went out today to run easily and comfortably and ended up running somewhat faster than I expected, given how much downtime I have had. And, more importantly, the run was fun. I think that, more than I had realized, I really needed that downtime so that I could get some rest and come back to running refreshed and excited to begin again.
Maybe you are training for a fall race—there are many coming up—but after your fall season is over, you should consider scheduling a break for yourself. Take December off, maybe January too. And then start your running training again in the spring. During your time off you don’t need to just couch-surf, you can still be active—just be active in something, anything except running.
Gotta (start) run(ning again),
Craig Lore
