Rest day

Today I am taking a rest day. After the four in a row I took a day off and then ran yesterday. I am seeing some good improvements already which I think is pretty par for the course. The improvement from steady running comes really quickly, it isn’t until you reach a solid fitness level that things seem to slow down. I guess this shows the reality of the benefits to cross training. If you can show multiple quick gains in different areas of physical activity then you can keep on the path of improvements. Even though a gain in say cycling performance might not totally relate to running, the improvement is not only a general mental gain but also adds to the overall physical fitness. That being said I am pretty one-dimensional at the moment when it comes to physical activity. I guess I’ll just have to enjoy the recent improvement in my running and fitness level and wait out the plateau. Actually, what I will do is go from what has been essentially junk runs to a more focused training routine aimed at HR training (as usual!). Then I probably will see another spike in fitness and running mentality. For now I am just going to focus on miles and repetition of runs. Less rest days and more running days. I am still riding that plateau. No reason to get another…yet.

Mentioning a break = run 10.5 miles

In my previous post I talked about taking a break and how much I needed it. I exposed on the glories of rest and how valuable it is to do it. My body was feeling somewhat fatigued and worn out and I seriously began to consider that I have been over-training. Ahh yes, how proud I was to be taking five days off from running. How proud I was to listen to my body and cut back on the running.

Umm, no.


All it took was one text from my running partner asking me if I wanted to go for a long run. I could barely text her “sure” before I had my running shorts on and was struggling to find clean socks. Oh well, good ideas are made to be not followed. Actually the run tonight was a great LSD run for me. My HR averaged 141 on the 10.5 miles and we took it really slow coming in at just over 2 hours.

While I may not have given myself the full 5 days of rest, I did get in three so had its benefits. I could tell a difference when we hit 10 miles. I usually start to lose my form there a bit and get sloppy. Today I felt none of that and was strong throughout. All in all a very successful run for the both of us. Now its time to eat and get some fluids in me.

Not sure if I will run tomorrow or not, probably not but I might try to get a short run in just for kicks.