My own feelings tend to range from
anxiety (not great w/ change in routine; get worried I’ll either eat too much or too little)
enjoying not being wet (I swim a lot)
enjoying the break for about half the day, then getting cranky from lack of endorphins or whatever other good chemicals exercise makes in brain
looking forward to feeling good the day after or two days after
feeling good about doing something that helps reduce injury
just curious how others feel. If you could refrain from debating whether a weekly or occasional rest day is needed in a well-structured training plan, that would be great
They are difficult for me to take. I tend to look back at how long it’s been since my last rest day to justify it. It also makes me feel better to do something that my tomorrow me will thank me for and will enable the training to be easier such as housework, office work, body work.
It is difficult for me to say whether they are easier for take if they are self-imposed or imposed on me by outside factors. Both are tough, and both make me feel lazy or falling behind on my training. They are much easier to take is they are already included on my training plan.
just curious how others feel. If you could refrain from debating whether a weekly or occasional rest day is needed in a well-structured training plan, that would be great
But surely that’s a key part of it? If you feel a rest day is needed for optimal recovery it is probably viewed positively. Personally I look forward to rest days and recovery weeks (low volume but still exercising). I have other interests I like to pursue and use the extra time to do things I enjoy. I’d be a little concerned if a friend told me they were suffering around anxiety in relation to planned rest days - that’s not healthy.
I walk a lot at work with steel toed boots and have a ton of life stress. I Force a day off every week and could probably take two, lol. I enjoy the Do Nothing days.
I don’t take them. I have two dogs who need their run every morning. Denying them isn’t even an option. That gets me going, and at the very least, I get on my trainer for an hour or so after running. Being retired helps, low stress, every day is Saturday.
I have a rest day every week, I look forward to it and enjoy it. It’s usually the only day of the week I don’t have an early alarm set for training, so I enjoy having a more leisurely breakfast and relaxed start to the day.
I train hard and think recovery is important so I never feel guilty about it.
I usually take Mondays off, because Mondays just suck all around, unless I didn’t take the previous Monday off and am now looking into getting a Running Streak going in which case it could be a few weeks, or a month or more before I take another day off
You all may remember this conversation I once had with a former coach
Saturday Rand: I ran 7 miles, when I was supposed to take the day off
**Coach: **What’dya do that for?
**R: **It was nice out
**C: **Oh, okay. Take tomorrow off then
**R: **I’ll try
Sunday
**R: **I ran 8 instead of 6, well, instead of taking the day off
**C: **You ran 7 yesterday, no?
**R: **Yep
**C: Are you trying to hurt yourself? LOL R: No, I don’t think so
**C: **How do you feel?
**R: **Pretty good
**C: **How’s the hamstring?
**R: **Yeah, I think I figured that out! It’s from the way I was stretching while hanging laundry on the line. I made some adjustments, and it’s fine.
**C: **You got a step-ladder? LOL You’re going to take tomorrow off, *right? * R: I’ll try C:~sigh~
My rest days are sacred. I look forward to them and take full advantage of them, even if I do tend to wake up too early as if I had training to do that day.
Imagine you’ve done a decent 18-20h training week and then comes a free Monday. Suddenly it becomes my favourite week day of the whole week, despite the 40h / week Monday-Friday job.
I like rest days specifically, because they help me deal with small niggles I often have. The 40-48h is plenty to heal-up. The supreme leg power on Tuesdays is always surprising me.
As you might guess TC😊, I think about this topic a lot. I have taken 2 days off this year and have swam all but 5 days. That consistency, over years now, is a great strength. At age 66 I’ve raced 31 times this year, sprint tri, duathlon and 5k and missed the AG podium only three times, once with a flat tire. I’m healthy, have no need for any maintenance drugs and really enjoy the training and racing.
That consistency is also my biggest weakness as an athlete. I am rarely fully rested going into any event. Like you, weight and food and exercise seem to be a bit too much interconnected. As I’ve aged the aches and pains are more frequent, but I’m sure the workouts are as necessary for my psychological health as much as my physical health, so off I go. Good? Bad? I could probably use more balance, but feel incredibly lucky that I continue to have the choice to do this everyday. Many people don’t, and I’m grateful beyond belief that I do.
Interesting thread Alyie. I’ll look forward to reading the replies. (Oh, btw, I’m closing in on 3/4 of a million yards for 2022. I’ll let you know on the 31st!)
I used to hate them. This is my ninth season in the sport, and I’m working with a new coach who has forced a rest day every week. I’ve learned to enjoy them. We’re doing a swim block right now, so after 18k yards (plus biking and running), I look forward to letting myself get up a bit later, walking to a coffee shop, and doing some foam rolling… plus I can hit it harder for the upcoming week.
I really look forward to rest days to try and recover as best as possible from the training load. I tend to only take rest days every 2 or 3 weeks when I take a full “rest week” which has lower volume too. I’ve found mentally I handle that type of training better than trying to do bigger blocks and taking days when I feel I need them, that way I have something to look forward to (knowing the easy is coming). The unfortunate part for me is I put some stuff off during training days because I don’t have the time, so I try to get caught up on rest days and then end up stressed and worn out from those. Life is hard lol.
I have a bigger problem with “easy days.” With 3 sports it’s really hard to find how to shuffle the workouts so that there is recovery each week. If I want to ride 4 times a week, run 4 times a week, and swim 3 times a week and also limit bricks and back to back run days (for injury prevention), then I’m only left with so many options. I find my easier days aren’t always that easy, which makes me need the full rest days on the recovery weeks even more.
I have personally found that I do better with active recovery days than with rest days. My only days without any workouts are generally the day or two after an IM or marathon. Even for a marathon I did last month I did an easy ride the following day. I feel that active recovery rather than complete rest leaves me feeling better and fresher than doing nothing at all. I also am horrible to be around (according to my wife) if I don’t get to work out.
I’m in the same boat as Nate. Used to take Mondays off but since last year I only take it after races, week of race and once every few weeks. Once I was able to actually listen to my coach and run the slow EZ runs the way they were prescribed (ie super slow rather than what I felt I should run them at which was my usual moderate pace), I realized that my body wasn’t so beat up and could tolerate the active recovery
