Finishing a big race.

Congrats! You finished your big race.

Maybe you ran a full Marathon or a half, do you have a race planned for the fall?
Do you know how long you should rest between races?

I finished 2 half marathons within 30 days, and I know I did not give myself enough time to rest or enough time to train properly for the second half.
The first one was a hard hilly San Francisco race, for such a hard race I felt good.
I trained well for it, and took time to rest when my body needed it.

The second half should not have been as hard, but because I didn't rest well/train properly it took a toll on my body.
So....... how long should you rest?

If you just ran a full, you should take 2 to 4 weeks completely run free. After a half marathon, one
to three week rest period is best.
You also need to consider how hard you pushed yourself: If you trained and raced your hardest to beat a time ( as I did) you will need more time off then if you trained to finish and raced at a
lower intensity.

Lesson learned, when in doubt wait to run.
Too much rest is much more beneficial than not enough.

When taking a break from running, you can work in cross training.
Such as, lower body strength training, and low impact cardio such as swimming and biking.

As you work back into running your first week, run 3 to 4 miles on three to four nonconsecutive
days. Working up from there gives your body time to adjust to the same regularity your plan calls
for.
Build your mileage up slowly, and add weekly long runs.
Keep it easy in the beginning, that will help improve muscle and bone strength and rev up your aerobic capacity.

Happy running, stay healthy and strong this summer.

Bobbi