Over the years I’ve learnt that resting is very good for any runner during any part of training. I suppose all runners know this and we know how good we run after some rest. Yet, we don’t like to add some extra rest to our running schedules. I’m really guilty with this one and very seldom rest more than my regular rest day on Mondays.
I try to follow a rule that I came across in one of Bruce Fordyce’s books. If you’re not sure whether you should run or not, always choose not to. If you’re not sure whether you should run a longer or shorter distance, always choose the shorter distance. Whenever I have doubt about running or not or how far to go, I follow this rule. If I don’t have doubt about any of these two, I just go out and run what I planned. There are no excuses then and I do what I have to do.
This works well for me, but it’s still difficult to take rest when needed and not as part of the plan. My upper legs are currently taking some strain and this past weekend I decided to skip my long run on Sunday. I’ve decided to rest until Wednesday when I’ll take a short run to see how I feel. So that means 3 days with no running. The benefit should be great. I’ll also skip a midweek long run and only go for a long run Sunday again if I feel recovered. If there is any doubt, I’ll follow the rule again until I recover completely. I’ve run 6 days a week for 7 continuous weeks now and taking it easy for a week or two will work wonders.
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