Living in Texas, it is easy to train/race year round. I don't target a specific time to take off from running, just try to listen to my body. After some tough stuff in 2006, I took the month of December totally away from running, focused more on strength stuff and came back with the best year ever in 2007. This year, I hit Jan with the usual, but came off that month with some issues, so cut my mileage by half in Feb and am just now feeling like my old self...looking to get back on the horse for March until I get another message from my old parts! Good luck, Lynn B

Slow, sort and easy at first..give it time...

Good question and topic! I've wondered what other people do for time off too. Here in Arizona there's no real season for running. As long as we acclimate to the heat in the summer, we can easily run year round. So, when does that leave time for rest? I did take some time off last June after Grandma's Marathon but for another reason. I did poorly in that race and was pissed so decided I was giving up running. Well, that lasted a few weeks before I got bored, antsy and motivated to try again. I think the time off was just what I needed though to give my body a rest and re-energize to get geared up for the Fall. So, I always thought folks who run 50 and 100 milers would need lots of time off. But after looking at the running logs of people on this forum, it seems their bodies heal quickly enough to get right back out there. This to me is absolutely amazing! I have no idea how long I'll need off after my race on Sat. That was my first 50 miler so I'm curious to read everyone's thoughts too. Maybe it depends in part on how many miles per week you run too. I don't think I run as much as a lot of ultra runners.

Thanks Lynn. Reason I'm asking is I just finished my first 50k (Moab red hot) 2 weeks ago and my body told me to take some time off if I want to train hard and do a 50miler this summer. Thing is.... not running sucks! I want to run again, but I'm not sure how long to wait so that my resting actually does good for my body. Jarrod

I tend to follow the 'run until you can't' method (as first stated by Lynn). My body ends up forcing me to take time off here and there. (Not always the best approach...) As others here have noted, the best approach is to take it slow; otherwise you may cause damage that puts you out of running for longer than you would like.

Like Kelly, I generally do not take time off....but i also train at a low HR and most of my running is very easy (9-10 mpm pace). I do hill repeats, starting in January and will keep those up for awhile for strength and as soon as the snow melts off of the local track, I start some fast repeats once a week. My race season is now until around November, with an ultra a month...then December i back off on the mileage (I generally run about 60 MPW) and feel ready to go after the first of the year. In our sport, where we "have" to practice walking during our really long runs, we don't get the pounding that a high mileage road runner gets. My week is usually an hour a day during the week, 4-8 hours on Saturday and 2-3 on Sunday. Just about all at an easy conversational pace, except for that one hard day. I am 56 and 20 years ago I used to do two hard days a week...no more Best of luck with it! Steve