Rest Days

elizabethmae1214

In the past I've tried to keep myself on a two days on one day off run schedule but due to changes in my life (work and social) the days I have free to run are Sun-Thurs. Friday and Saturday just don't work, and I'm a bit concerned about running 5 days straight. But I definitely want to get in 5 days of running. I'm just wondering what other people do (versus what everyone says you should do) and if ya'll have any tips. I know there are runners out there who never take days off, but I don't know how long it takes to work up to something like that.


Thanks!

arc918

I run 6-7 days per week. Sometimes I go 3+ weeks without a rest day. Just listen to your body and you'll be fine.

The trick is some days you run really slow & easy and other days you run hard.

essjay76

^^ Agreed. It depends on what your running goals are, too. Since you want to do a half marathon, build up a good base mileage slowly before you start a training program. General rule of thumb is to increase either your mileage or speed by no more than 10% a week - if even. I say be conservative with how you add on miles or speed.

If you want to build up to running longer distances, slow down your training runs. Keep your pace somewhere between 30 to 90 seconds slower than your race pace. This way you have more time on your feet, and minimizing the risk of injury. Sometimes people will run too fast all the time, and it can burn you out. It's not a race everyday.

With that said, try to rest after a hard workout (example if you did speedwork that day or ran much faster than you normally do... or if you do a really long run), take a rest day. You'll be able to safely build up to a point where you can run 5 days a week, or in a row. Doing too much too soon is a recipe for disaster (I know, I've been there!)

I run anywhere from 40-45 miles a week now, with one or two rest days, but it took me about a year to build up to this. I injured myself in late 2010 and couldn't run for the first three months of 2011. When I started running again, I started with a few miles here and there, every other day, and slooooooowwwwwed down my training runs considerably.

So yes, listen to your body and schedule those rest days just like you would a workout day.