Rest Days

Notice the above schedule has nothing planned for Friday. It may be the end of a workweek, and the beginning of a busy training weekend, making Friday a perfect “off ” day. If you feel better calling this a “rest” or “recovery” day, that’s perfectly okay. Sometimes the word “off ” refers to not doing anything. But these days provide a most important part of the training formula that I like to keep repeating in this book due to its overpowering significance:

Training = Work + Rest

For most athletes, the weekend can be a time for longer workouts, including one on the bike on Saturday and a long run Sunday. Or, you can combine two events and make one longer workout such as a two-hour bike followed by a forty-five-minute run. A favorite cold weather workout is a swim immediately followed by an hour of indoor biking on rollers or a trainer. These combined sessions provide not only a longer workout but also help mimic race transitions, where your body has to adjust to the stress of changing from one event to another.

广告：个人专属 VPN，独立 IP，无限流量，多机房切换，还可以屏蔽广告和恶意软件，每月最低仅 5 美元

I often recommend at least one rest day per week to help with recovery. During the racing season, you will more easily maintain your fitness level with less training but require more recovery; in fact, two rest days are even better since anaerobic stimulation (from training or racing) will be added. Off days are best taken going into a weekend, if that is your busiest training time or if there is a race. Another appropriate time is Monday, which is a day when a lot of your energy is needed for recovery. Or make Monday an easy day if Friday is an off day and the weekend includes a lot of training.

When planning rest days (and easy ones), consider job stress too. If Mondays are always busy at work, don’t train that day.

Seasonal stress may also be a factor. If you own a retail business and your busiest time is the fall holiday season, end racing before that time.

Another important time to take it easy is at the end of your training and competitive season. For some athletes, this may be November or December. At this time, I recommend taking up to two or three weeks off, or more if you need it. While periods of rest are helpful for the body, a mental break is just as important. During this time just let your body do what it wants: easy running, hiking, or walking. Some athletes seem to benefit from doing nothing for a week or so. Or, train short and easy every other day instead of doing it daily.