How do you know it’s time to take a break from running? Whilst you’re enjoying training it’ll be difficult to identify the moment when you need to take some rest.
Running makes you feel better and helps you to develop. You need to look for the signs you make need to take a break from running.
1. Take a Break from Running!
The endorphins you will experience when running can also play tricks on you. Getting into a good routine can be good but you can become a little too dependent on it. Without being aware you could develop an excessive dependency on running, which may eventually lead to physical or mental weariness. This can be difficult to accept. The key to improving and ensuring your well-being, you should listen to your body.
2. Causes of Sudden Fatigue?
Excessive training, both volume and the number of sessions remains the main cause of periods of fatigue and there are many reasons for this. Beginners can often get caught up in their running training too quickly or too soon and do not give their body enough time to adapt to the sudden change. In addition to this, inadequate recovery times, a training regime that is too intensive, a cluster of races that come too frequently one after the other, can all trigger a period during which your body is overtrained.
Although these are the main causes for runners, the reason for this accumulation of fatigue may not necessarily have a sports-related reason. A change in the circumstances, i.e. sociological or nutritional can trigger psychological and physical fatigue.
3. What are the Signs of Fatigue?
When running, you may feel as if you are not making any progress or even getting worse, the physical after-effects of running are more painful, you keep feeling a slight joint or muscle pain after exercising, you find it more difficult to complete a sequence of runs, the pace at which you would normally run comfortably becomes more challenging, etc.
You generally feel less pleasure running and less motivated when putting on your running shoes. On a daily basis, you are not sleeping as well, you feel less energised, you are eating less and your mood is changeable, etc.
It is probably time to take a break from running for a few weeks during the so-called annual break! Even if you had planned to take a break at another time during the season, don’t hesitate to reschedule this break in your calendar when you feel the fatigue is getting to you in order to reduce any risk of injury and resume running on the right foot.
4. How much to Rest?
As a runner, give yourself enough time to discover how your body reacts and force yourself to take one or two rest periods during the year. You may wish to time this after a big race, such as a marathon.
You need to recover and regenerate the motivation for the sport through the feeling of loss! Give yourself a number of weeks without running and make the most of the time you save during this period to take care of yourself.
Don’t feel guilty, your body will thank you for it!
Consider cycling, swimming or walks at a leisurely pace. Given the lack of violent impacts on your joints and the cardiorespiratory rhythm, your mind and body will still remain in this phase of recovery.
5. When Back Started
When you are fully rested, you need to ease yourself back in. The first few weeks should be used as an opportunity to reawaken your body without doing too much.
Conisder worrking with an Online Running Coach, you’ll understand and work with you to ease you back in.
Managing fatigue during the year is just as important as the quality of your training sessions. Planning one or two breaks during the year will help you to recover mentally and physically while maintaining a certain mental freshness.
Please see my other posts which may help. 🙂
