Running and rest?

citizenklik

I've been running more than usual lately, last nine days in a row. I usually walk five, run twenty, run five. I run at a speed of about 4.5 mph. My wife says I shouldn't run every day...any thoughts?

erdunn75

Listen to your body. If it feels sore, take a day off. They say you should rest one day a week. 6 days on, 1 day off. Or at least do something lighter on the 7th day. This is to avoid injury and to not get burnt out.

RAFValentina

It's fine. 4.5mph isn't especially fast as that equates to my dog walking pace! You're fine if you feel fine.

jeffrodgers1

When you run, you are applying stress to the muscles in your body. Rest allows time for those stresses to repair themselves and become a better runner. If you don't rest, your body may at some point force you to rest in terms of injury or illness.

I'd try to take a day or two off a week to allow for your body to repair itself.

knowwhentoshutup

I'm just a novice runner, but I try to run only 4 days a week. Rest days are important for your body.

I've trained and completed a half marathon using this model, and am currently training for another one. I tend to run faster and have better endurance on my runs with rest days. Besides, it is a heck of a lot nicer to my joints (especially my knees) that way.

nickhuffman74

Yeah you need a rest day ever so often. I am training for a half and I still take two days off a week.

arc918

Keep on running, you can rest when you're dead!

Just listen to your body, I reject all those rules of thumb about how often to run and rest.

bigdawg025

I'm a runner, and I never run more than 3 days in a row MAX... I try not to run even back to back days. I also find that I gain speed faster by taking the rest days in between. The best advice is listen to your body, and hopefully you'll know when you need to rest before it's too late and you become sidelined with an injury.

Good luck!

ruggedBear

I alternate running days with strength training days, with rarely a day off for 10 months now. I recently had to take a few days off, and when I got back out there - I was able to run about 5 miles (~60 min straight) - which is 1.5 more miles (and about 15 minutes more) than my usual. I'm beginning to think that there might be something to this "rest day" idea.

On the down side - my strength training session after that rest period was brutal!

Dudagarcia

When you run, you are applying stress to the muscles in your body. Rest allows time for those stresses to repair themselves and become a better runner. If you don't rest, your body may at some point force you to rest in terms of injury or illness.

I'd try to take a day or two off a week to allow for your body to repair itself.

^ this is great advice and listen to ur wife or she might be telling you "I told u so"

quill16

As long as u feel OK without shin splints or knee pain, I think you can keep going. I just started running in Jan and I run 6 days a week at 6 MPH for 5-7 miles. I did overdo a couple of times and got sore toes and shin splints. Your body usually tells you when its too much.

MorganLeighRN

I am a runner (man I love saying that!!!) and I run two days and take a day off, run two days and take a day off. You really need to let your body recovery or you will most likely hurt yourself and than you won't be running for a while. Listen to your wife and your body.

melissapaige313

I'm on my high school's cross country team. For the first two weeks, we are training twice a day five times a week. We run for about an hour in the morning, and then do cross training in the afternoons. Later in the season we alternate hard work-outs and long runs Mon-Fri, and Saturday mornings we race. We train like this all summer until the start of November. People get injured, but it's usually because they are not taking care of themselves to recover. You MUST stretch and work on strength training, and do some cross training like swimming, to avoid injury. You can run as much as you want as long as you are taking good care of yourself to prevent injury!

Dudagarcia

I am a runner (man I love saying that!!!) and I run two days and take a day off, run two days and take a day off. You really need to let your body recovery or you will most likely hurt yourself and than you won't be running for a while. Listen to your wife and your body.

Awesome advice

michellekicks

And then since you're running 4.5 mph and are not in high school, I recommend a day off each week.

Mellie289

I'm a runner, and I never run more than 3 days in a row MAX... I try not to run even back to back days. I also find that I gain speed faster by taking the rest days in between. The best advice is listen to your body, and hopefully you'll know when you need to rest before it's too late and you become sidelined with an injury.

Good luck!

I'm more of a novice runner, but this is what I try.

I find I have better runs after I've had a rest day. To me, it drives me forward to run longer and faster over time, so the rest days are important for me to achieve this goal.

RAFValentina

When you're running long distances and continuously and at faster paces I'd take rest days when you've "beasted" yourself. You know when to take a rest day cos you'll feel absolutely ballbagged after your run. Without being patronising, you're not running especially fast so I'd keep what you're doing until you can run continuously. I used to run 10-14Kmevery day for 40days solid and never had mcuh trouble then came the day I felt ballbagged, had a day off and was fine. The alternative too to keep up the good work is to cross train...if you can get on an ellpitical trainer or even a bike. Strength/resistance training should be integrated too a couple of times a week. Its a personal thing and what is strenouous to one person may be moderate or easy to another person. If you're feeling like you really have to push it and you're feeling crap, take a day off.

LorinaLynn

I prefer not to run on back to back days. Being out for 6 weeks with a stress fracture taught me that rest is important.

MissFit0101

I agree to just listen to your body. Your body will know when it needs rest, and the important thing is that you listen. HAPPY RUNNING!

bradp1979

To all of the people saying to listen to your body, great advice. Any other advice may be right for that one person, but it won't be right for you. I ran 5 miles a day, 7 days a week, for 3 years with no ill effects. That doesn't mean that your body can take it, or even that my body could take it now. Your body is the only thing you really should be listening to.

camrunner

I run "every day" and take a day off when I start feeling worn down. Lately that equates to about 6 days a week. Or maybe I'll only run 3 miles one day instead of 7+. Every body is different, so just trust what yours is telling you

falsecho

Listen to your body, but use the suggestions provided as a guide.

At one point I was running everyday, pace began to slow, body was aching, my mind became indifferent. Began to hate running in the morning. Took a couple of days off, changed my route and I was good to go.

clover5

Well you're only talking about 20 minutes. If you're happy and it feels good, don't worry about it.

I run 3 or 4 days a week and on the other days, I swim, bike, play tennis, skateboard, or whatever crosses my mind.

klewlis

everyone is different, which is why "listen to your body" is the best advice. It's hard to learn, but worthwhile. If you feel tired and achey, or unmotivated, or overly sore, then take a day or more off and get back at it.

I've been running for 9 years and I don't run every day, even when my mileage is really high. My body likes at least 2 days off every week. I've had 100km weeks where I only ran 5 days.

Other people run every single day for years on end and they are fine.

Figure out what works for you, and don't be afraid to take days off if you need them!

wolfchild59

4.5mph is still a pretty slow pace. I started out around that pace when I first started getting myself up to running more and found that running everyday was fine at that pace with walking breaks and shorter distances. I think the longest stretch I went without a night off from working out was about a month and a half during that time.

Once I upped my pace and distances I found I needed rest though, otherwise I'd end up bonking runs more frequently and feeling more aches and pains in my knees and ankles. Now I have one dedicated rest day where I don't work out at all, I do my long runs on Sundays, then half length (of the long run) on Tuesday, speed or hill training runs on Wednesday, and a three mile run on Thursday. With strength training on Monday and Thursday and cross training on Saturday. So it's not constant running and I also love looking forward to Friday nights when I have no workouts (and no food to prep for breakfast and lunch the following day. heh)

So if you're feeling fine, keep going as long as everything is good. But, as most have mentioned, listen to your body and if it feels like you need a break, take one.

MoreBean13

I'm surprised I didn't see this in my cursory read of the answers- When you're building mileage, you may be overtaxing your joints and tendons more so than your muscles. It takes a while for your body to acclimate to the regular pounding of daily running. Unfortunately with joint and tendon issues, you might not feel the injury until it's too late- and joint/tendon injuries tend to take a longer time to recover from, setting you back in your training.

I would incorporate more rest if I were you- you can replace some of the running with cross-training or active rest, so you can still burn calories and work on CV fitness without the joint pounding.

Cooriander

I used to be against rest days, and especially when I was younger. Now, recently and with a stress fracture behind me I have changed my mind and I believe that you need to incorporate rest, walking, or cross training into your running program.

I did not rest much at ALL, maye one day a week, and I ddi not rest even even after running a half marathon, instead I went out and did a 'recovery run' the next day. A month or so behaving like this I ended up with a stress fracture in my heel bone, I feel it could have been avoided with rest days. Females are more likely to develop stress fracture than males, I read 3 to 11 times more likely but in general more likely in the literature.

Now you are walking, running so I don;t hink you are stressing your body too much, unless you are coming from a totally sedentary background. I would incorporate a a couple of a few rest days, I think it is a great tool to avoid injiry and it also keep you fresher and more motivated (of-course depending on what motivates you). BUT like I said, it is really up to you, you know best... but from my experience I did listen to my body - I FELT GREAT! until I hobbled around during a 10K race in excruitiating pain. It was just came from no-where.

http://www.med.umich.edu/whp/information/female-common-injuries.htm
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6295&page=28
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20120208/Female-soccer-players-more-likely-to-suffer-stress-fracture-or-ligament-injury.aspx