Importance of Downtime

Taking downtime after a long segment is critical to development and performance. We have discussed the physical side of things before, and maybe we will revise in another post. However, today I want to briefly discuss some of the mental aspects of taking some downtime after a big race. I think this is a must for anyone who is looking at themselves as someone trying to perform better over the next 1-3 years. This could be for a competitive athlete, someone chasing big personal bests, or even just trying to chip away at the BQ times over the next couple of years. Before we get started, I want to be clear that when I am referring to downtime, I am only partly talking about taking actual time off from running. For the most part that is one component and is part of a larger block of time where there simply isn’t a ton of structure to it. 

Here’s what you came for- my reasons why mentally, you should take a break after your big race segment. 

1. It is impossible to sustain a high level of performance all of the time. Writing this now in later fall is a perfect reminder for me. I recall seeing all the posts over the summer about how hard training was going. How mentally exhausting it was to grind through 18 weeks, and then to race on top of that! My point is, if that tank was already close to empty, you probably emptied it after persevering through a grueling race. Give that tank time to refill. There are lots of things you can do to make sure your fitness will stay largely intact, but mentally, just let everything reset. 
2. Running should be a source of joy, not another stress factor. Again, going back to all the big workouts you just got done doing. All the early mornings or big evenings you put in. Are you ready to just jump right back into that? How much did everyone else around you have to sacrifice for your training- is that going to fly under the radar? There certainly are times when we have to be a little selfish, or when we need to buckle down mentally. However, if you just did that for an 18-week segment, maybe it’s better to shift that focus to things that had been neglected during that time. Go for a run, do stuff that you enjoy, but just hold back on jumping right back into a training segment that’s going to be another grind. 

I know the urge is to jump right back into a segment under certain circumstances. If you know you were in really good shape and it just didn’t happen,  know it can be easy to try to jump right back in. Or, if you are in a limited window to get that qualifying time and it just didn’t work out. I understand it can be a short-term motivating factor. However, my experience has been that it is usually short-lived lived and everything becomes a grind again. I think you are better off taking a step back before jumping right back into a set training schedule. I think ultimately, that road will be shorter than when trying to go cycle after cycle. 

With all that said, let me go back to what I referenced with what downtime means to me. How does that look for a long half or marathon segment?

What I typically do with athletes: 2-3 days completely off. Focus on everything settling down. Soreness will peak after about 24 hours and linger for up to another few days. In that acute setting, just rest. 

After that, I encourage light walking. Depending on the person and how hard their race was on them, we’ll do 20-30 minute walks for a few days, then increase the time walking. During this time, I encourage light stretching, maybe a massage. Your most important aspect is light movement and providing fuel for muscle to repair itself. Also, this time is good timing to reflect on the race and training segment objectively. I have forms I ask my athletes to complete so that we can build a plan based on what went wrong and what went right. 

At this point, we are about a week post-race. By now, muscle has hopefully started to repair itself and glycogen storage has been replaced. Ideally, the soreness has subsided. If walking normally with no soreness, then start LIGHT running. I usually start with 20-30 minutes every other day with the third or fourth run getting up to 30-45 minutes. At this point, we are around two weeks post-race. From there, we usually just see how the athlete is doing and based on overall volume, maybe do a week of 4-5 runs peaking out at 45-60 minutes. Then the fourth week is 5-7 runs, depending on the person, peaking out at 75 minutes for a “long run.” Then, going into the 5th week, we will enter some structured training or light workouts. 

By that time, the athlete is usually ready to get after it. I have done my best to pull the reigns in a little bit and make sure the athlete has recovered fine but also ensured that the athlete is mentally in a good place to truly want to get back into a training segment. The athlete has also put themselves in a position where they can start running at a comfortable level and not feel completely out of shape when they begin again. For this reason, I have shifted my thought process from complete recovery to active recovery over the 10-14 days post-race. A few days off at the start to just let everything settle down acutely and light movement to promote the body to jumpstart healing- coupled with solid nutrition to provide the building blocks to heal. 

By doing this, I have found my athletes well rested, recovered, and ready to get back to workouts sooner than if we just jumped right back into training or the opposite—take 2-3 weeks completely off. 

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