Rest Days

Rest at Harvest

Adolph William Bouguereau paintings

Unless your doing something stupid like running every day for a year, your training schedule will include rest days.

Here's the thing that most runners don't know... rest days are NOT days off.

Just because you aren't running doesn't mean you get to do nothing.

Rest days are a chance for your legs to recover... so you can beat them up some more.

Your legs get to rest, not you.

On rest days spend some time helping those legs recover.

• Stretch. Often. Better yet, hit a yoga class.
• Break out that foam roller you bought at Target, used once, and put in the corner. 
• Rehydrate - don't go anywhere without a (reusable) bottle of water.
• Take care of your core. Maybe do a little work on the upper body.

Oh, and don't pig out, either. You aren't on vacation.

Rest days are just as important as long runs, tempo runs, and intervals. Use them to prepare your body for more training, not as an excuse to undo the training you've already done.

Good running,
Doug