Going through it right now. I took a considerable amount of time off (or rode very little/inconsistently) last fall while moving. Restarting a couple months later I was refreshed mentally and physically. Last week I did a 10 minute power test and hit number I haven't seen in a decade. Don't know yet, but suspect the longer duration step away from worrying about fitness will enable me to get back to a higher level than past couple years.

Yes.

I think having time totally off (usually in fall or winter) because of injury, illness, and life has ended up being good for me. Had really good seasons twice after herniated discs in off season. Part of it was surely the pt and a lot of core work, etc.

Similar to you, I had time off in fall 2019 to resolve a long case of PF. Have been consistent with exercise (bike/run) since early 2020 and have been feeling like time away from it this past winter would have been good.

I think covid may have done me wonders. Last year I had to work crazy work rosters, covid lockdown and having to quarantine for two weeks in a room three times meant my training dropped away... My coached tried to lean on me before Christmas when life started to resemble some normality but mentally and physically I wasn't feeling it so had him back me right off and just ticked over enjoying life and that period for a bit. We started ramping up in January and my body and mind has never felt so fresh. Slight tightness or those little niggly issues I had are gone, I'm starting to feel really fit again and we are about to go full gas with an upcoming 70.3 and IM in the coming months. Easy runs and swims at the moment have never felt so easy and I am starting to hurt all the young big hitters on my local cycling club Saturday ride with my strength and endurance. I have my tri club tittles coming up in a few weeks but I'm looking forward to a true measure of where I am at...

I struggled through most of last year. Long story, but I got hit by a car in my bike in May. Came away really lucky...no broken bones or other major injuries. After letting the immediate soreness from the impact die down a bit, I tried to get right back into it. As a result I had injury after injury, much like you described. First it was my calf, then hamstring, then shoulder, then calf again. Every time I thought an injury had resolved, another one popped up within a week or two. I couldn’t get any consistency. I kept hoping there might be a late season race so I was trying to push through. Finally, I just had to stop and really let my body heal deep down. The frustration of always being injured made all the training not enjoyable anyway. I accepted that there would be no races in 2020 for me and my biggest workout for about a month was going for a walk.

Maybe around mid to late December I started easing back into serious workouts again looking forward to the summer of 2021. I am registered for Norseman and wanted to start rebuilding my fitness. I’ve since deferred to 2022 for that, but my fitness has definitely been coming back. I wouldn’t say I came back stronger because of the break, but I never would have been able to maintain fitness without it because I’d always have shit training sessions or injuries. Bottom line for me... I had to listen to my body despite my stubbornness and addiction to routine.

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Yes

Almost Everytime :)

Good luck with your recovery. I would try to find something else you enjoy, even if it’s just walking or yoga, and trying to have “fun” while w you’re at it

It does sound like you need a break. My suggestion would be to rehab/strengthen those problem areas that injuries keep popping up and find a good prehab routine to ensure you don't keep getting injured during your low volume period (specifically hip-area for runners).

I'm doing much better about shedding fatigue than i used to.

I would do workouts in a fatigued state and dig myself deeper and deeper into a hole.

Now I take a short break every once in a while to recover if I've gone to far.

One way i tell if I've gone to drop is when it's tiring to climb steps, I need a break.

I take a hardcore break from training once or twice a year. As a coach, I suggest my athletes do the same thing. Too many people are afraid of losing fitness and as a result never fully recover and come into the next build already fried.

A personal example too - Last year I over did my run training prepping for a virtual half where I really wanted to PR and ended up close to a stress injury. Since it was the end of a season anyway I took 10 days completely off then eased into swimming and a little biking for another week. After 3 weeks of no running I eased back to running and it was almost like I hadn't taken any time off. After a couple weeks of consistency I was at the same fitness again and could focus on an Ironman block.

My point is that a true break will do wonders. I also find it makes me mentally fresher, especially if you were already coming from an injury cycle where everything seemed to go wrong.

Thanks for the replies everyone!




I definitely hope this will be true for me too, just don't know if it's wishful thinking.

I'm also not lacking motivation. I would love to be training more right now. That's what I find so hard – trying to force myself to take a break to get out of an injury rut while at the same time feeling eager to train and anxious about loosing fitness.

When I can't do one sport I have a strong tendency to double or triple up on another (which may be part of why I haven't rehabbed fully). Like a few weeks ago I did a 5.5 hr ride on the trainer at 15% higher avg W than my last IM, and the following week challenged myself to 200 miles on Zwift which ended up being just over 9 hrs at about 5% above my last IM avg power. So my bike fitness is still there and it's mentally hard to let that go. On the other hand, if I keep loading up on the bike while trying to hobble through uncomfortable runs I'm not doing myself any favors.


In February I started pilates 2x/week hoping it would help fix whatever's underlying the running related injuries. Never done pilates before and it's too early to tell if it's helping but I plan to keep with 2x/week while cutting back on other training. Fingers crossed it'll all be an investment in the future. At this point that might be the 2022 season but I guess it's better to swallow my pride and set myself up for next season and beyond rather than continue what I've been doing and risk several seasons.

Almost certainly my biggest fear is taking an extended break from running and then starting from square one when I return.

I'm less worried about coming back from a break from riding. I've done it several times before and seem to be able to get back into bike shape pretty quickly. I'm not a good swimmer so there isn't much difference between square one and regular training, mostly just feeling comfortable in the water again. But a break from running worries me. Especially since I haven't run well in over a year. It's been all fits and starts as I've bounced from one ache/pain to another. Looking back I've averaged only ~15 mpw over the past year and none of it was quality running, all just trying to manage. It'll be a leap of faith that I'll have some semblance of running ability to return to from an extended break.

I would trust that it will be there.

My N=1...while I wouldn't recommend this... I took about 3 YEARS off of any sort of running (from 2016-2019)... and got all sorts of out of shape (and about 20-25 lbs over typical race weight), and nearing age 50 in 2020.

But just started back one day. Slowly. Frequently. But short. Manageable. But frequent. And just trusted that everything would come back.

After 18 months (last September)... ran a 3:14 marathon in September (on of few races that actually happened)... and honestly, didn't specially train for it...was just off my regular mileage and ran it at what was easy-breezy pace for me.

So running did come back.

And now, at age 50, feel super strong (benefit of running 18+ months at 50+mpw). Can't wait for my next HIM and IM...whenever they come.

I'd say, just commit to your process. Your body will get there.

How long constitutes a break?

I took 2 weeks totally off after my marathon this past fall (well it was probably closer to 3 weeks with a pre-race illness and taper) and and considerably stronger now, but even within a month of getting back at it.

For a little more background, I trained super hard all spring and summer, doing a lot of time at near threshold and a lot of total hours (averaging 1000 TSS) while dropping 10-15lbs. It worked and I finally broke 3 in my marathon and BQed, but I was pretty wiped by the end.

After the marathon, took 2 weeks of no endurance training- though I walked for an hour a day and added in some easy yoga and strength work to keep moving (also diligently watched my diet to not put weight on). I was sick the week before my marathon and only did like 2 workouts before running, so it probably was like a 3 week break.

The first few activities back were absolutely awful. My HR was at the top of Z2 at <60% of my old FTP, and running at 9;30/mi resulted in the same HR as had running 6:44 in my marathon. Did an FTP test and dropped 10% (250 down from 280). I was super frustrated and said many times that I'm never taking a break again.

Did 4 weeks of literally no intensity and high volume Z2 training. I started feeling like myself again after 2 weeks. Hit my old FTP after 4 weeks back. The best part, I ran a half 6 weeks after coming back with literally 1 5k and 1 tempo run as my only intensity and dropped a 1:23 on a slow course (lot of hills and turns), which way exceeded my expectations and blew my mind how good I felt.

Been on the up since then as I've been adding in the intensity. FTP is up over 300W in aero now (held 324 normalized for 23' to win our local TT last week), won a 2 day trail race with tons of climbing and descending where I had to run someone down from a minute back both days (and dropped them on a steep climb). Weight is down slightly, but I'm focusing on maintaining now and fueling to hit bigger numbers in workouts.

Point being, yes you can absolutely come back stronger from a break. Goes without saying that the longer you take off or the higher volume athlete you are, the longer it will take you to bounce back.

A 3:14 marathon at 50 off a 3-year break is awesome - congrats! What was your running like before that break? And how quickly were you able to ramp up your mileage once you started again?