I’m sure many of you can relate to what I’m going through now. I just finished my season with the NYC marathon about two weeks ago. It’s been a weird one for me…full of highs (PR at NYC) and lows (bike crash and broken hand in July).
So, now it is mid-November and I should be approaching this has an off season, but I feel lost and kind of depressed! I know this is not uncommon, in fact it happens to me year. I don’t know why I am suddenly surprised. 
So, what to do, what to do?
How does everyone else tackle their off season? What do you do or not do? What do you eat or not eat? How long should an off season last?
For me, I keep the race calendar full so that I always have something to focus on. I’m also in my off-season now, and at the advice of the coach I’ll soon be working with I’m taking it very easy for a few weeks. Staying active, but just for the sake of staying active - not training. Mentally and physically, I must say that it feels nice to just be chilling. It’s really nice to just turn off training mode for a little while and recharge the batteries. My natural inclination is to always be training, but I’m allowing myself to not stress about it for a few weeks. Feels pretty good so far! As for eating, I gave myself 2 weeks of mostly guilt-free eating after IMFL (not total binging, just not stressing about it) and yesterday I got back to a more normal routine. I figure now might be an opportune time to shed some pounds before the real work gets going. But I’m not going to let it stress me out. Good luck!
My off season last between 1-3weeks and I do it 2-4 times a year. Less of an off season and more of recovery-rest period. It is based around my goals, how I feel, and time of year. As soon as CX season is over I will not touch my bike for 2 weeks before getting on the trainer. Physically I am just past peak and still riding strong but mentally I am burning out and loosing my drive. I will have 20+ races this year in a 3.5 month period, that is a lot of double weekends.
If mentally and physically you feel good and want to train I say train. Just keep in mind where you are in your season and when you want/need to peek. IMO amateurs do not need an off season like pro riders.
Thanks for the thoughts. Offseason is always a tough one for me. I know my body needs to take a break after months of hard training but it’s hard on me mentally. I worry about losing fitness and gaining weight.
I also have the issue of not having any race options for most of the winter months.
It makes me wonder how long an true offseason should last?
For me, I keep the race calendar full so that I always have something to focus on.
I’m a big fan of the micro goals like this. Something every month, either a race or some kind of benchmark bit of training or some other event to keep the focus on. If it’s a race, and it’s December, it’s a clearly not an A-race, but you train through it keep it mentally light.
The good news about this sort of approach is that if you use the same races every year at roughly the same time be they running, cycling, xc-skiing, whatever, you get that built in no-lies bench-marking - the time clock and the results sheet don’t lie!