Sometimes less is more when it comes to running. I often feel like as a running-blog community we go through phases together. Everyone will be complaining about the heat or the cold. Everyone is dealing with injuries. Everyone is excited about PRs and races. Everyone is tired of the heat and needs a break from running. 
I think that’s where many of us are at this point. After enduring the long, cold winter we were all excited to get back to racing. We may have PRed, we may have gotten injured. And then we started to see signs of burnout. So we decide to run less. 
and promise to go to yoga more
But that is SO HARD. Right? I decided while at the RRCA training that I was in a perfect spot to slow down and take a few weeks of minimal running. Last week my legs felt super heavy on even the easiest run, my head wasn’t in the right place, and I have 21 weeks until the Philadelphia Marathon. That is almost enough time to train for 2 marathons (although I would not recommend it). So please join me as I think out loud about why its a good idea to cut back for a little while.
Who wants to run for hours in 80 degrees and 90% humidity? I mean I love running and I will run in almost any condition but it is far less enjoyable when I feel like I am swimming through the air and my legs don’t want to move. The only positive to running in this weather is that it will feel easier to run when the weather cools down in the fall. If I take a few weeks off now, I will still have all of August to build a base and enjoy those lovely sweat-filled runs.
It’s Summer! And it’s time to do other fun activities! Compared to the rest of the year my social calendar is jam-packed in the summer months. Between vacations, holidays, visitors, and bachelorette festivities, I think I have something going on all but 2 weekends this summer. It would be nice to not worry about fitting in a long run or not allowing myself that extra glass of wine because of a run.
My body needs a break. This is the main reason for cutting back, and it’s so important. I’ve already run almost 1,100 miles this year. Last year at this time I had run 650. All of those miles will catch up with you. I want to go into my next training cycle well-rested.
Looking ahead. As I said, Philly is 21 weeks away. My broad plan is doing a 12 week training cycle, with 4-6 weeks of base building before it begins. This gives me 3-5 weeks to not worry about training. I have a 5k this weekend but I’m going into it knowing that it won’t be a PR. I’ll push as hard as I feel like I should that day. And I will probably run the Charles St 12 miler as part of my base training. This will be an automatic PR because I have never run that distance before, but it will also give me an idea of where my pace is for a medium-distance run.
Focus on other things. Like cooking. And blogging. And coaching?! Also, maybe I will actually get myself to swim one of these days. I’ll keep doing body pump, yoga, maybe some elliptical as well.
I posted this back in December, when I was taking a break from running
Running isn’t going anywhere. It will be waiting for me when I am ready to get back to training. For now, I’ll keep running a few days a week, 3-5 miles or so at a time. Sometimes less is more. I think I will know when I’m ready to work hard again.
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Pretty much my exact thoughts! I’ve been doing 4 miles a day this week and feel so much better. I think im even resting twice this weekend, woohoo to celebrate the holiday! Haven’t figured out my training plan yet but I think I’ll wind up doing 16 weeks, with the first 4 really just building mileage with no major long runs. After this and next week of major cut down I’ll see how I feel and plan it all. Love this post, and I definitely think a lot of people feel this way!
I know, I took 2 days off earlier this week and it was really refreshing! I am trying to think of a 16 week plan in terms of 4 weeks of base and 12 of training so I don’t go too hard in the beginning.
Right now I’m ramping up, but I know your point well–the extreme seasons are the perfect time to cut back a little bit, and enjoy the running even more once fall/spring starts back. Especailly for everyone that just ran marathons etc, it’s time to give yo bodeh a break!
Exactly- and yes it will be timed differently for people depending on their races but it seems like the early summer is usually a good time to cut back!
I totally agree! The heat has been absolutely insane here in Baltimore this week, so I only ran on Monday. I took Tuesday off and did a X-fit class yesterday. I don’t know if I’ll run today or not, but there’s a Kick It class that is pretty fun so I’ll probably do that. Variety is key! Since I’m not training for anything at the moment, there’s no point in trying to kill myself by running 3-4 times a week. I think it’s supposed to be tolerable this weekend, so I might run, but we shall see.
I hope this weekend is better than this week! I ran 3 miles this morning and it was awful! I am supposed to do a 5k on Sunday and I am already dreading it. But its nice to not have to worry about “training” for a long race when we have weeks like this! And like you said, its good to do some other things besides just running!
Love this and completely agree – I’ve been on the edge of burnout since the weather warmed up! I know I’m being a little unnecessarily hard on myself, and it’s nice to hear other people are having these thoughts!
I’ve been seeing it pop up on a bunch of blogs! I mean it makes sense that after doing a lot of training plus adjusting to warmer temps that our bodies get exhausted! As runners we have this tough mentality and sometimes its important to give ourselves a break.
“And promise to do more yoga” that is me every summer training cycle! Haha. I hope you enjoy your break, I always have to take tiny breaks to avoid being burned out. I can get burned out easily when I have school.
PS. Hope you have a happy fourth of July tomorrow 🙂
Haha yes I think all runners make similar promises and may or may not follow through:)
Have a great weekend!
You are so right, we do go through phases and seasons together as a community! I am so grateful for that because I don’t have a lot of real life running friends, so it’s nice to know that I’m not in the 80* with high humidity all alone! 🙂 We suffer together and we ride the high of PRs together! haha
Exactly! I rely so much on my blogging friends for support and motivation, and its always nice to hear that we are not going through the tough stuff alone!
I always think it’s a great idea to cut back every now and then, not only to let your body rest, but to keep things fresh and to keep yourself from starting to hate/resent something that you once used to love. After all — absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? 😀
Exactly! When you find that you don’t want to run every day, its probably time for a break. And I know when I am forced to rest due to injury, I would give anything to go for a run!
Not a planned break as you know, but I really needed to read this today. So many good points! There are lots of other ways to stay active during this time and you are absolutely right…running is not going anywhere. I think after this go around I am going to start taking more planned breaks.
I’ve been trying to take planned breaks over the past year and it’s hard to say weather or not its helped, but I think the key is paying attention to how your body feels. You had such a great spring season and I know you will come back strong for the fall season!
I love this post. Usually I take the whole summer off from running- minus a 2-3 miler here and there. I signed up for a Labor Day race though, and well, pretty much everything that can go wrong has! Injuries, heat, tired of the early mornings to beat the sun… blah blah blah. I love the message here. It’s way ok to take that break! Thanks for the reminder.
Sorry to hear things aren’t going well right now, hopefully a little time off will help and you can still make it to your labor day race! Sometimes its more important to look at the big picture and long term goals.
I totally get what you are saying and agree that we see all of the same cycles everywhere – but I really feel like WAY too many of my friends (blog and IRL) got injured this year! Ugh, awful for them all!
Recognizing those feelings is SO important – because burnout can also easily lead to careless or haphazard running which can lead to injury … not good.
I have been pretty fortunate – I have kept it together pretty well this summer. But I have to say – today was the coolest day in a LONG time – and I really felt it … it was AWESOME! haha
Happy weekend!
Isn’t it amazing how much better it can feel to go running when the temps drop a little after getting used to running in the heat?!
I have found that sometimes its good to push but other times its better to notice when signs of burnout are coming on and take a break sooner rather than later. Always better to try to be proactive about that stuff!
Hope you’re having a good 4th of July weekend!