Rest, Relax and Run Faster how?

When the recent Runner's World newsletter popped into my inbox yesterday titled "Relax, Recharge, Race" I knew it was one I'd enjoy. The first article was all about relaxing and recharging after a race or tough workout in order to run faster.

If you know me at all, you know resting isn't one of my better qualities. In fact, rest days seem wimpy in my mind even though I know it shouldn't. My psyche plays this weird trick on my brain telling it I must sweat no matter what my body screams.

Well, after Sunday's marathon, I'm feeling pretty good, but still have a little ache in my right knee and tightness in my right hammy. Monday, I went to hot yoga and took two 20 minute walks to get the blood flowing. Tuesday, I rode my big heavy mt. bike to work.

This article by Bob Cooper has some great tips for the kind of relaxation you need pre and post race, long run, hill workout, or speed session.

In general, the article suggests that you go easier before and after a long run, hill repeats/tempo run and speed work. That doesn't mean you have to sit on your rear, but instead, going for an EASY run (2 min slower/mile than race pace), doing upper body and core strength training or supplementing with cross training are all great options. And if your body wants it, a total rest day is completely okay.

"Recovery days make your training count because your body makes fitness gains while you're at rest," says Brian Glotzbach, head coach of Personal Best Marathon Coaching in Denver. "If you don't give your body the chance to rebuild, you can't maximize those gains—and certain activities at certain times allow for better recovery."

While the manfriend has proclaimed this theory before, it's easier to hear it from someone who says it in a different way and frankly, someone who is a total stranger.

The next step from here would be to take your training to the place where you measure and track your fitness (VO2 max, threshold and economy) as Frayed Laces recently posted. I've yet to feel like I have the time, energy or desire to track all of these statistics and follow through with monthly fitness tests. After all, I haven't even used my heart rate monitor in at least a year.

Frayed Laces gives a good argument tracking these levels. And, I'm sure after you get the routine of it down and understand your "zones," it's sort of no brainer.

Have you ever measured your max and mins related to your fitness level and where you should be training? How do you determine whether you're going to take an easy day vs a total rest day? I guess I've always felt that measuring stats is for elite athletes, but I know we'd all reap the benefits of this kind of tracking.

Comments

Amber said…
In the almost 2 years I've had my Garmin I haven't once used my heart rate monitor. Whoops!

I know that rest days are SO important but I too struggle with them. I just like to get in some kind of movement every day. Lately LIFE and WORK have been super busy so I've had to forfeit some workouts for other things and that's been hard on me mentally but I KNOW that occasionally it's OK for training/working out to take the back seat!
I wore my HR monitor for all of about 4 months last summer in an attempt to marathon-train with it (to see how useful that was). Ha, clearly that didn't last and I kind of hated it. My HR seems to be a little abnormally high, but it doesn't bother me - so I gave up on trying to stick within the "normal low/medium" ranges, because that felt like walking to me. D has suggested me getting a fitness test (as did the Run Ambassador at lululemon) to see where I stand and/or what my Min/Max HR really are...I don't really care, but it might be fun ;)

I'm with you for the most part - my rest days right now usually consist of yoga or walking or SOMETHING. I don't need to 'sweat', per se, but I feel the need to moooove. I'm trying to play the hard/easy/hard card as I train though, because I know it's helpful!

(whew, long winded comment, hello)
Amber- I haven't worn mine in so long that I'm not sure where the strap is. :/

Heather-Yeah, testing would probably be a good idea. I'm thinking maybe this could be a "summer project" for me. And I appreciate any comments, long winded and all.
Emily said…
i paid to get my stats done a few years ago and left crying because the dr who did it was such a jerk. he basically told me i was obese (i'm clearly not) and not destined to be a good athlete.
chris mcpeake said…
I have found that HR is the best way to train. It takes some time to adjust to but its worth it
I have not worn my HRM in well over a year. I never think to throw it on and when I did do it, I just gave the data a cursory glance. It probably warrants a revisit eventually...
Lindsey said…
It's hard for me to take rest days too. I always try to remind myself that if I don't rest, then my muscles will not rebuild themselves. And I won't get as much out of my workouts as I would be able to with taking a rest day here and there.

I tend to think the same thing, that tracking fitness stats is more for elite athletes. But I would LOVE to do it sometime. I think it would be so helpful!

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