How to Rest HARD So You Can Train Harder!

Long term running recovery helps you boost motivation, drive, and ensure you're physiologically ready for hard training.

Taking longer breaks from running of up to two weeks can help you both physically and mentally recover from hard training and races. Long term running recovery demands time off from running!

Jason Fitzgerald is a USATF running coach, 2:39 marathoner, and the host of the award-winning Strength Running Podcast. He's the 2017 Men's Running Magazine's Influencer of the Year and his work has appeared in Runner's World, Health Magazine, The Washington Post, Lifehacker, and other major media.

[yannis]

Excellent video. It reminds me that we are not professionals, and we need to recover hard. Thank you for your efforts 👌

[georgerainey]

I just woke up from this. You have spoken all about me. And you didn't know it thanks

[TheChessPlayer]

Great instructional video. I'm 64 and started jogging 5 months ago. I've done 2 5K's and 2 10K 's spaced out. My courses have hills in most of them. Mentally I'm fine. However, I've had some level of sore muscles this whole time. I fully rest on Friday and Sunday and run 5 days. I'm in the 2nd week of a 12 week half marathon cycle. This week I'll be running 18 miles and gradually working up. Any advice?

[albertoguerra]

Thanks! That's great stuff. I recently took 8 days off, for I felt I was running out of power. So I took these days to eat well and take some vitamins. I came back more motivated. Refreshed.

[livegreatalways]

Wow.. Youtube must have read my mind. After back-2-back HM and FM PBs and 2nd dose AZ vaccine on Monday, I'm totally spent. Just came back from an easy 10k DNF and this is already the 4th attempt trying to run more than 10k. Yes, I will rest.

[ultramarathoneddie]

I am taking 10 days off now after quite intense 6 month training period, I set up a reminder that says "Rest, you idiot! Seriously feel your legs!" just cause I wasn't ignoring my fatique! 7th day in, feeling like I want to run, for the first few days my fatique was horrible!

[bobbykim]

If I take 5 days thru 2 weeks off, wouldn’t I lose my speed or endurance I built up during hard training? I just don’t want to lose any progress from running.

[christpourn]

excellent topic..time off running and periodization.

[liangshepherd]

I cut down my mileage a bit because a typhoon is landing at my city..It's impossible to do speedwork with torrential rain and wind that can blow me away.

[giovanbattistafichera]

Time off helps, but it's not the reset button many would hope for. There are many people out there who say "running is my therapy" and those are often the ones most in need of actual therapy.

[bhuntnlife]

Did you guys see the deer run behind him

[LuisRodriguez-ruqi]

Your argument would be more persuasive if you supported it with evidence from scientific studies.