You might feel like you don’t want to run at all for a week or so after the race. Or you might be itching to get back out there straightaway. Try not to be tempted to throw yourself back into intense training. Most elite runners do a couple of very light jogs or just some easy walks in the first seven days. After taking a week off, your training should continue to be very light for two weeks post-race.
The benefit of rest days. Rest should be considered a component of your training and can actually help you run better in the long term. All good training plans will feature ‘rest days’. This is because when we run, we create an impact load on our body which causes microscopic tears in our muscle fibres, as well as stressing our entire physiological system. Your cardiovascular system is working hard and we experience changes in our metabolism, as well as there being an impact on our immune system. We therefore need rest days to let bodies recover and adapt.
Depending on the type of training you’re doing, there is often a training response at a cellular level too. For aerobic endurance, this might mean changes in muscle mitochondria, which are at the heart of energy production. For resistance training, muscle cells add protein to allow more forceful contractions. It’s these adaptations which ultimately lead to an increase in performance.
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