R & R

[Neil_D]

How often do folks take a break from running to let the body do a full repair rather than just an overnight job. The reason for my question is as follows.
I've been running 50km+/week for the last 6 months, now that we are into Spring in the southern hemisphere I am stepping up my weekly distance and have been doing 60km+/week. My soles are getting more tender and I can only put it down to the extra distance and not enough time to recover.
I know all about the 10% rule as I've been doing this a while. I'm wondering also if it is a combination of the distance and speed, I've been using the 90/10 ratio of aerobic to anaerobic, so as my distance increases I also run harder for periods on both sand and concrete, maybe the extra friction is the cause of skin on the soles wearing down too much.
Has anyone else had this problem, even after years of barefoot running?
It must be great to do a long distance barefoot run across the USA like Rea Ainslee, but how do her feet hold up to all those miles on the road.

 

[DNEchris]

My rule of thumb is to rest if I feel uncomfortable!
My feet have "suggested" that I ease up for a day or two a couple of times as I transition from shod to skin at the end of winter for the last couple of years - a couple of days rest seems to benefit me all round.
As I start up again I make sure to take it easy and concentrate on lifting my feet. Most of my running is aerobic and a 50/50 mix of concrete and asphalt.

 

[JosephTree]

I try to keep my regular load lighter than most folks, running only every other day and not worrying if my schedule gets tangled and I end up with 2 days in a row off. Having said that, I see the intensity cycling around my racing rather than my milage. I've got 3 races on my schedule in the next 5 weeks, which is heavy for me. I might get a couple more races in before the end of the season, but I'll just play that by ear. I try to keep my running to a level where it recharges me rather than wears me out.

 

[Neil_D]

Hi Chris,
Your mind is always trying to balance the two conflicting urges, one to keep on running through it (toughen up) or to rest. I think Matt Fitzgerald in his book Run says that you have to know the difference between a pain that is indicating an injury is imminent and one that is just a minor transitional pain, you develop that instinct over years of training. There problem is in the addictive nature of running, it's worse than cigarettes I tell you..... ;-)

 

[shaunmac]

Personally for me, about twice a year I take about 2 weeks off from running. Not so much a scheduled break but if I get sick or work gets real busy (I work for a road construction outfit) thats the way it just works out.

 

[skedaddle]

I'm actually taking this whole month off, just to prove to myself that i can.
I read somewhere that the Kenyan runners put as much focus into their rest periods as they do with training, the two states are treated as a whole. So that's my inspiration, making sure that with my time off, i eat healthily, i sleep well, i spend quality time with my loved ones. Sometimes it's good to just stop, reevaluate and energize.

 

[Neil_D]

Wow, I don't think I could spend a month without running. The only time I have ever spent that amount of time off running would have been during an injury but even that wouldn't have been a full month without a run. Running is my relaxation and meditation.

 

[skedaddle]

Wow, I don't think I could spend a month without running. The only time I have ever spent that amount of time off running would have been during an injury but even that wouldn't have been a full month without a run. Running is my relaxation and meditation.

I know what your saying, this the first big break for me in quite some years, I'm nearly two weeks in now and actually feeling surprisingly good. I''ve been relaxing putting together some cheesy dance music. Stick a software synthesizer and a sequencer in front of me and I'll make noises that will set off all the dogs in the neighborhood barking and running for cover
I think the whole experiment has been great success thus far, my legs feel strong, i feel content, so far the only cold turkey I've had is with a nice, crispy salad.

 

[ThomDavid]

Though I'm new to barefoot running, I'm not new to running in general, and one of the things we runners tend to forget is that rest and recovery is as important as the running part. It is during the rest phase that our muscles repair and increase in strength. If we never give our bodies that opportunity, we do tend to get burned out, fatigued, and worst of all, injured.

Since I'm on an every-other-day beginner's schedule, on the alternate days, I do what I call an "active rest," where I'll do some indoor spinning, or swimming, or something else that doesn't rely on my running muscles and allows them to recover. Then, one day a week, I take off completely. When I was shod running, I ran nearly every day, and seemed to always feel burned out by race time, so I know I was over-training. I ignored the message that my body was sending to me, until it stopped sending messages and stopped me from running completely, by way of an injury.

It's a blessing that in learning this barefoot skill, I CAN'T do that. I have to take it slow whether I want to or not. But in doing so, I've found that on the days I do run, they're much more enjoyable, and I absolutely feel stronger. And my cross-training feels as if it isn't just filling non-running time, but actually has a purpose and is contributing to the overall quality of my runs.

The way I conquer the two conflicting urges you write about is to plan and schedule the rest days. If the calendar says it's a rest day, I don't care how much I want to run...I don't. And if it says, run, then I do it, even if I don't feel particularly sharp that day. Within a mile or so, I know whether I was just being lazy or actually have a physical reason to stop (and it's almost invariably the "I was being lazy" reason).

 

[Bare Lee]

I don't schedule rest days or rest weeks, because they happen on their own, but I think it's a good idea. My ideal schedule is to alternate three days a week running with three days a week weights & garage gym stuff and rowing, then one day rest, and then one week off every three to four months. Even during the weekly runs, I vary my effort level so that I have at least one run where I'm not pushing the pace at all, just letting it come to me. Same with weights; sometimes I push a bit, sometimes I just coast through my routine. And taking a whole week off a few times a year can be really rejuvenating. If I were to get really ambitious, I might even schedule a three-four month seasonal training regimen, building up to a certain point, and culminating in some kind of attempt at a performance goal--like a race or just a personal challenge--and then take a week off afterward as a sort of reward or breather, but I'm still building up to what I would consider a base level of fitness--still 6-12 months off. We'll see what happens after that.