Rest Day

And on the seventh day ... God rested.  And so should you, unless of course, it's your race day.  :)

All kidding aside, rest is one of the most important aspects of training, both physically and mentally.  You see it all the time, folks over training, peaking too early, not getting enough rest, and by the time their event comes up, they're bonking big time. 

It happened to me at my last marathon.  I trained for 1 year for that silly thing, about 8 months of base-building, and 4 months of hardcore, 4x/week marathon training.  Long runs of 20,22, and 23 miles interspersed with track sprints, etc.  For some people, this is fine, no big deal, their bodies can handle the load.  But for me, it was too much.  I peaked at that 23-mile run, early on a Saturday morning, had the training run of my life.  I wish that could've been my race.  By the time the real race came about 3 weeks later, I was tapped out, and by mile 19, I was struggling, walking, and ready to call it a day.  Whatever it was that made me finish that race, out in the cold for such a long time, I'll really never know, maybe some inner drive that just wanted to complete a year's worth of training, maybe the crowd cheering us on, maybe the other runners struggling with me, maybe my smile as I was walking, or maybe my family who was there to cheer me on at Mile 20.  The bottom line was that I over-trained, and peaked too early.

So, for this next one, I'm handling it differently.  Not that it will be any better, but I'll try something different.  Less running, more stretching, more rest.  Slower pace, hopefully less injuries.  And hey, it's my last marathon ever, one for the 3rd daughter, one for the road.  And it's gonna great to train for it, and finally finish it, no matter what the dumb clock says at the end.  I've never been one to keep track of my 'PR' or my 'time' or compare to my age group or my friends who ran.  Who cares?  I run slowly, and I like it that way.  I run for 4 months to train for this, and most times, it's just me out there, talking to myself, hyping myself up.  So in the end, with whatever result happens, I'm completely happy with it, as long as I tried my best, as long as I gave it my all.

So, that should be the case for your rest days as well.  Give those as much attention as you do your training days.  Watch what you're doing, stay off your legs, get a massage, get some rest, some sleep, or some quiet time.  Pray, meditate.  Ease off, take it slow.  There are 6 days to work, 1 day to rest.