Forums >General Running>Do You Take a Chunk of Time Off Once a Year
#RunEveryDay
I'm curious bc I often see posts where people talk about how runners should take a chunk of time off at the end of racing season, be it a couple of weeks or a month. I know some running elites take a good month or six weeks break. Most of us here are not elites and aren't running that sort of mileage. So let me toss it out, aside from recovery immediately following a race, do you take any significant non-run during the year?
(ETA: I do not.)
Half Fanatic #9292.
Game Admin for RA Running Game 2023.
Not by design, but of course sometimes forced by injury.
I don't know whether that's right or not, I just know I don't like not running.
Dave
Problem Child
If you're looking for or expecting a 100% stop in running you'll probably be waiting a while for people to just stop running then start later. I'm sure it happens. I don't schedule time off to stop running. I stop TRAINING for a race, but I don't stop running. I'm currently doing about 70 miles per week. This is about double what I'd usually run if I wasn't training for a race. I use running to stay healthy. I wouldn't expect someone who works out in a gym to just stop going for 6 weeks then start back up.
Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.
VDOT 53.37
5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22
After AC 100 which was my goal race for the year I had about 6 weeks of significantly reduced mileage. I don’t see myself ever voluntarily taking 6 weeks with zero running unless it is for some like a PCT through hike or bike ride across America.
Mmmm Bop
I'm curious bc I often see posts where people talk about how runners should take a chunk of time off at the end of racing season, be it a couple of weeks or a month. I know some running elites take a good month or six weeks break. Most of us here are not elites and aren't running that sort of mileage. So let me toss it out, aside from recovery immediately following a race, do you take any significant non-run during the year? (ETA: I do not.)
And which elites are they then? I would be very surprised if any elite just stopped running for that long.
5k - 17:53 (4/19) 10k - 37:53 (11/18) Half - 1:23:18 (4/19) Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)
I usually have a 2 week vacation period in the summer where I'll do very minimal running - and sometimes none at all. But those are usually camping/backpacking trips where I'm still being very active and actually utilizing my fitness.
I haven't personally heard of many elites taking that long off unless they were significantly injured, pregnant/post-pregnancy, or burnt out. Des Linden's break before she won (and trained for) Boston is a notable example of someone taking a physical and mental break and then having a breakthrough. I bet more people who train hard (elite or otherwise) would benefit from longer breaks to stave off burnout and overtraining.
To your point, my complete breaks are after major races. I usually take 1+ week off roughly twice a year, usually right after a really intense race like a Marathon going for a PB following an intense training period. Maybe once every 2 years I'll make it a solid 2 weeks of no running. But during that time I'll focus on going for long walks to keep blood moving in my muscles. Mostly I'm trying to keep impact and strain to a minimum in order to recover. My thinking is that after all that training and such an effort, I've maxed out the fatigue on my body and most running would just just be wasted effort (or, worse, overtraining) because there's no capacity to functionally absorb the effort.
Are we there, yet?
Fifty plus years of running and I've never voluntarily taken time off like that. I have backed off intense training and only run easy for a month or two. I have periodically completely shifted my focus and what types of races I'm training for from track to road, short to long, or vice versa, something to change my training and racing experience.
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
Mikkey, I could go dig up the article where I read it - I read that a while ago, like maybe early summer - but I'm not going to because really the point of my thread was just to hear whether people take a serious break or not. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. I'm not too worried about it.
Mother of Cats
A friend of mine competed in the marathon at the London Olympics (not for the US).
She had a regular practice of taking 2 weeks off post marathon -she'd go on a big hiking trip or similar.
I've also read somewhere that Bernard Lagat takes several weeks off once a year.
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Kilian Jornet routinely takes the entire winter off running, skimo racing instead.
delicate flower
I do not. I just keep running until I get hurt, and then I take off whatever time is needed to heal. Although usually it's more of a cutback for injury than a true break, because I am not a psycho.
<3
I remember reading an article but can't recall the exact details, but it described pro runners....taking X number of weeks off, based on something...like how many weeks they ran that year etc...
I think it amounted to something like a month off of no running for the pro level runner?
Doing nothing for a week or 2 can sometimes be nice I find, if I have something nagging or been doing a lot for a while....but to each their own...I think learn to feel read your body and go accordingly.
300m- 37 sec.
I was just thinking about this a few weeks ago. I’m still a beginner (running for over a yr and one short race under my belt). My first thought was, after the race, I’m taking time off. I took 2 days off then felt fat. And actually saw that the race improved my speed/endurance. I also became slightly depressed that first week due to no training and just random running.
i definitely have other things I need to focus on that I’ve been putting off during training but I just can’t stop running. it feels weird. On days I don’t do it, I feel an emptiness.
i run less distance now, no long runs for now. I’m down to about 10-12 mi a week until spring when it gets lighter in the morning.
also I do take off days or a week if I’m on vaca and there’s no treadmill. My thought process is, if I take off more than a week it’s going to set me back. I have race goals so I do not want to keep starting from square one. Even when I’m done racing, I’m pretty sure I’ll still “need” running.
pertaining to elites and how much time they take off after their season is over, from "6 Ways to Copy the Offseason Breaks of Elite Runners", on Active.com:
"Make Sure You're Bored Before You Resume Running
There's an interesting phenomenon that occurs among the best runners in the world. They don't exactly know when they're ready to come back from their offseason break, so they simply wait until they're bored. Their breaks could be as short as 10 days, or as long as a month. For most elite athletes, the offseason break consists of one week of nothing, one to two weeks of cross-training and some light GSM (General Strength and Mobility, like stretching, range of motion exercises, etc.) (since they will usually complete a great deal of ancillary work once their training resumes), and then it's time to get back to running."
So apparently up to a month is not uncommon.
For me (mere mortal), i don't take any time off whatsoever, and am usually excited to get the anxiety of the event behind me, and am looking forward to just enjoying less stressful training.
Other than the post-marathon 4 - 6 day complete break from running, the only thing I've done consistently over the years is drop down to 25 - 30 miles per week a couple few times a year. Once usually after the fall racing season ends and again before fall training begins (not including injury of course).
It could be reducing the number of days per week or the amount of time per day, but the reduction is good for me, I think.