After a big couple of weekends like the Twin Cities Marathon and Chicago Marathon, people who don’t really understand our team or my job will often say, “so do you have a nice break now, maybe some down time?” My response is of course that New York is coming up, CIM is around the corner, and we have a whole bunch of people getting ready for cross country nationals and indoor track, and so on. However, while there’s no designated team time off, the importance of individual down time within the year is incredibly important.
Whether it is at the end of a long track season or in the aftermath of a big peak race like a marathon, the athlete needs time to regenerate, both in mind and body. Clearly, there’s a need for physical rest, but that is not the sole driver of the need for down time. Too often, athletes take a couple of days off and say, “hey, my legs feel pretty good, I might as well start training again.” And while they may be able to do so without immediate risk, there are longer-term consequences to short-cutting the recovery period.
In fact, the post-season down time is less for the immediate need, and more for how well the athlete will be able to sustain hard training 3-4 months down the road. The explanation for this is harder to pin down – perhaps it is related to hormonal responses and the endocrine system, or it may be due to a number of cellular processes where deeper, more complete healing and regeneration require full rest. Or maybe it’s more psychological.
I’m not a big fan of separating the mental and physical, because I think they are intricately intertwined. If you have ever felt “flat” or “burnt out” in training, you know that there are both physical and psychological elements to that feeling. Similarly, when you are at peak performance, there’s an obvious physical capacity that has been built, but there’s also a robust mental component that goes along with that state, where the athlete feels capable of handling whatever comes their way.
The reason I write this now is that many folks train for a peak race in the fall and then are a bit at a loss for what to do next. Many immediately set another goal and start training right away. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with looking forward to, and getting excited about another event. However, this is just a gentle reminder to give yourself a chance to relax and regenerate before you go back to a rigorous training plan. You’ll be in a better position on that next starting line if you give yourself a couple of weeks to rest now.
