Why Runners Should Take An "Off Season"

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Do You Give Yourself an Off Season??

Here in the Midwest, race season is typically from April or May through October. That is the time of year when most runners are in their peak training, running a higher volume of miles and intervals. If you train hard for races particularly half marathons or marathons, then you need an “off season”.

Why do I need an “off season”

1. You need to rest your cardiovascular system (your heart and lungs).
2. You need to allow your joints, tendons, ligaments, muscles and fascia time to heal from all the stress.
3. This is the time to work on postural and muscular imbalances. If you have injuries or muscles tightness/trigger points that are “one sided”, then you have an imbalance that should be addressed to prevent future injuries.
4. This is the time to hit the weights. Strength training will help you to train harder and provide greater stability and strength to help prevent injuries.
5. As we age, our bodies need more time to recover.
6. If you want to continue running competitively for years to come, then taking care of yourself is important.
7. You stress your adrenals by training hard, getting up early and racing.
8. Endurance athletes tend to become catabolic- you lose lean muscle.

What do I do during “off season”

1. Cut your volume drastically. You can and should run 3-4 x per week for 30-40 minutes at an easy pace. No intervals or speedwork.
2. Do some yoga or tai chi
3. Rest, sleep in, sleep more
4. Plan your goals for the next year, pick your “A” races.
5. Strength training 2-3 times per week. This is the time to hit the gym hard and work on doing functional strength exercises with free weights, cables, barbells, swiss balls and balance boards- no machines!
6. Weekly Soft tissue work sessions. You have worked your body hard. Even if you do not feel that muscles are tight, there are trigger points and fascia that need to be released. Trigger points reduce the ability of the muscle to work (less power) which leads to compensation and the potential for injuries. Specifically, NMT and myofascial release are excellent techniques that should be used.

After 4 weeks you can gradually begin to increase the number of days you run and your volume. You can also add some easy speed work back in. For example you could run 200’s at 5K race pace. This will help your body adjust to doing speedwork gradually without over-stressing your body. Keep the strength training and stability work in your program. As you get back into more running, you should give yourself 3 months off from racing. Racing places a lot of demands on the body…..so even though you may be itching to get back out there…..give your body a break, and it will thank you.

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