Last week was tough on my body because of the added load of training mileage and the half marathon race effort the previous weekend. It was a reminder that training for a marathon takes a lot out of you. We, as runners, often underestimate the importance of recovery during the training phase. There comes a time in every endurance athlete’s training cycle when it’s time to take a break. Your body tells you that it can’t go on. The word “break” is scary for athletes. We start imagining fitness loss as soon as we hear this word. Rest and recovery of different forms is part of training.

Although I could tell I needed more sleep, I didn’t have time to clock in enough sleep and rest with my busy work schedule. I know that If I don’t allow my body time to rest between runs, my body won’t adapt, and fatigue will accumulate. I have done that mistake many times in my previous training cycles. As a result, I was overtrained during the last training cycles and was tired as hell at the end of the training cycles.

This Saturday, I had promised my kids I’d join them at the theaters to watch the new Batman movie after my long run. They had bought my ticket and emailed it to me. However, after I finished my run and ate my meal, I was drained and couldn’t even walk. I knew it wouldn’t be wise to go to the theaters. So, I texted my husband that I would go to bed early, and that’s what I did. I slept 11 hours straight, and the following day I felt like a new person. My kids were bummed that I didn’t join them, but I told my kids that we’ll go together to watch it on another day. If training must be done right, you have to make room for recovery, and some sacrifices have to be made.

During this training cycle, I am prioritizing recovery between the runs. Here are a few ways I have found that help with recovery.

Sleep-

If there were a magic potion for recovery, it would have the capability of producing physiologic changes that sleep does. Sleep is a weapon in your arsenal that you can easily use. Getting at least eight hours of quality sleep at night is essential. If you are training at higher mileage, adding a minute of sleep per mile per week will get you adequate rest. Another post on sleep for runners is coming up soon. Keep an eye out for it.

Easy Runs-

Every run doesn’t need to be demanding and challenging. As an exercise scientist, I know how endurance physiology works, but as an athlete, I still forget that I should stick to the easy running principles. Avoiding hard runs on back-to-back days and scheduling more than three hard workouts is vital to ensure enough recovery time for your body.

Flexibility-

I often know I don’t make my training plans flexible, even though I know how much I have on my plate. Life throws things at most of us that can throw recovery out the window. Going through a stressful period at work or home means reducing your training load or getting help in other areas of your life. It is so hard to admit that I need help for a perfectionist like me. Well, I am learning.

Mental Downtime-

It’s hard for me to admit that I need a break. However, the rigors of juggling work, life, and family has been a lot to balance with the marathon training and has been taking a toll on me physically and mentally. Relaxing mentally is as big as relaxing physically. Ensuring that you have time to relax with family and friends, without any running, is essential. For me, who is an introverted and Type-A person who gets stuck on her goals and her focus narrows on just training, the part of keeping up with my relationships gets very challenging? I am learning that spending time with family and friends should be part of your training. It provides a healthy mental break from your daily work grind and physical training load. A few other ways to mentally relax are taking a yoga class and scheduling some relaxing reading time.

Runners remember little things can make a big difference.