We're getting to that time of year when we're in the full swing of race season- a lot of us have either already done or are about to do our big goal race for the spring. One of the biggest temptations is to get right back at the training to take advantage of your race fitness and build on it. It's easy to think "I ran X time for that race, so if I push on with more hard training I can build on that and knock more time off."
If you try that, maybe it will work- maybe you'll be able to pull off another great training cycle, and run a great race in a few weeks or months, but it's a high risk training strategy.
The way I approach my training cycles is generally a build up of 16-18 weeks, then my goal race, and then a few weeks of rest and recovery before starting into the cycle again. I consider the recovery time after the race to be a part of the cycle, not a detractor from my next training cycle.
My last race was the Boston Marathon- 2 weeks ago. For the first 5 days after the race I didn't run at all, and then since then I've slowly been working back up, but with no pressure at all- just running at whatever pace I feel like, for as long or short as I feel, and when I feel like it. I really feel like my body needs time to recover. My training for this marathon was tough- 18 weeks of hard workouts, much of it in nasty weather, and I felt pretty worn out by the time it was done. I really wanted to give my body sufficient time to get rested up, and I also felt like I needed some time for mental and emotional recovery. After training with such intensity for a specific goal, when it's done it can feel like a bit of a let down- sort of a "what now?" type of feeling.
For me, the "what now" means having a few weeks were my legs aren't constantly tired, where my wife says "do you want to watch another episode of The Office" I can say "sure!" because I know my alarm won't be going off at 4:45am for a long tempo session, where I can go through a day without always having "THE RACE!!!!" lingering in the back of my mind somewhere.
If I was an elite, I'd probably dig into the science of the optimal recovery period a bit more, but I run for fun, so I'm quite happy to give myself this time to recharge, so that when I get back into the training routine in another week or so, I'm jumping into it with enthusiasm, and not with a sense of weary resignation.
The racing season is long, and there's lots of time to train and race. Sometimes it's better to play it safe, and err on the side of caution to give yourself a bit more time to recover so that you can have many more healthy years of running and racing.
If you try that, maybe it will work- maybe you'll be able to pull off another great training cycle, and run a great race in a few weeks or months, but it's a high risk training strategy.
The way I approach my training cycles is generally a build up of 16-18 weeks, then my goal race, and then a few weeks of rest and recovery before starting into the cycle again. I consider the recovery time after the race to be a part of the cycle, not a detractor from my next training cycle.
My last race was the Boston Marathon- 2 weeks ago. For the first 5 days after the race I didn't run at all, and then since then I've slowly been working back up, but with no pressure at all- just running at whatever pace I feel like, for as long or short as I feel, and when I feel like it. I really feel like my body needs time to recover. My training for this marathon was tough- 18 weeks of hard workouts, much of it in nasty weather, and I felt pretty worn out by the time it was done. I really wanted to give my body sufficient time to get rested up, and I also felt like I needed some time for mental and emotional recovery. After training with such intensity for a specific goal, when it's done it can feel like a bit of a let down- sort of a "what now?" type of feeling.
For me, the "what now" means having a few weeks were my legs aren't constantly tired, where my wife says "do you want to watch another episode of The Office" I can say "sure!" because I know my alarm won't be going off at 4:45am for a long tempo session, where I can go through a day without always having "THE RACE!!!!" lingering in the back of my mind somewhere.
If I was an elite, I'd probably dig into the science of the optimal recovery period a bit more, but I run for fun, so I'm quite happy to give myself this time to recharge, so that when I get back into the training routine in another week or so, I'm jumping into it with enthusiasm, and not with a sense of weary resignation.
The racing season is long, and there's lots of time to train and race. Sometimes it's better to play it safe, and err on the side of caution to give yourself a bit more time to recover so that you can have many more healthy years of running and racing.