How Much Time Off Do You Take???
I just finished my last race of this season, and I am currently in my 10th straight day of no exercise. Bike is still in the box, etc. I plan on going until next monday with no exercise, and then slowly working my way back into some shape before the November OS.
I have found that hard core rest at the end of the year is just critical...I already feel good, but then I sleep 9 hours and say WOW, I really needed to rest.
I am curious to hear how "hard" you rest and what your personal lessons learned have been...what helps you be your best?
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This year: following the "follow P and R into the darkness" volume tweaks, it's more like 5 weeks inactivity. Very, very hard rest during that time. Like, sweatpants and sofa rest. Tried a few false starts at getting back into it, and on learning that I wasn't motivated, just happily backed away for another week.
After YOUR year, I'd take a good month off, minimum. IIRC, your 'A' race isn't until Aug 2012, so there's nothing breathing down your neck for a long time.
After WI, I took two weeks totally off, which took me to the last week of Sept. Since then, I've had some goals, but I've found that some days I'm up for it and some days not. The bottom line is that I'm taking October as pretty structure-free. I'm not doing anything anyone would consider long...longest has been about 90 minutes. I have had some good workouts and a few where I pulled the plug and just ran easy for entertainment value for 45 minutes or something. I've also used this month - I think most constructively - to play with some tweaks while there is no pressure to be doing great... stuff like playing with the new zero-drop Newtons and messing with crank length on my TT bike.
I'm planning to take it especially easy (mega sleep) the last 7-10 days of Oct to make sure I'm good and rested to start OS.
I wish I had enough data to know what really helps...other than that I ahve certainly learned that I need to listen and respond when I start back too soon.
I took a week completely off after IMC only walking dogs in woods daily. Then decided to "redeem" self by aiming for a HIM 5 weeks after IMC after my Canada debacle but after 8 days of following the Adv HIM plan I quickly discovered that not only could I not run well with seperated ribs, but that I was trashed. Likely due to body needing to recover from wreck damage as well as IMC.
I only worked out a couple times in following 12 days then a full month out from IMC, started back slowly then discovered I could quickly ramp back up the Z1 volume and feel good doing so. In 3 weeks went from a very slow and painful 3 mile run to a 2.5 hour run with minimal soreness post run. Cycling fitness coming back nicely but no formal intervals yet as I'm just enjoying riding. I did a group roadie metric last weekend and had no problems dragging the cat 1/2's around the flats all day while not getting dropped as they hammered the hills.
I only targeted IMC and just did Boston for kicks and felt poorly for a month. You crushed TWO IM's this year AND Boston!!!!!! If you have no "A" race until 8/12, why even worry about holding onto fitness right now? It'll come back in a flash! You earned some rest and recovery and shouldn't cheat yourself P.
Happy to hear you'll be suffering w/ us NOS studs and studettes!
Coach P,
I've never been at the pointy end of the triathlon stick but in my other lifetime as a figure skater we typically had 2-3 weeks off due to the rink being shut down. This was the best thing as I did have some over use knee issues and definitely kept me in the game for 18 years pushing for my best for 17 of them.
Typically the first week was spent in a computer room playing games and the second week I finally ventured out usually around 10 days as I was going crazy being inside. For reference a typical week was 20-28 hours not all high intensity. I also did not own a vehicle so biked and ran everywhere I went.
For that first 10-14 days it was hard core rest, I'd even sleep more than 9 hours at first. Beyond that it was doing what ever I wanted, like roller blading, pick up basketball. On the odd occasion we had 4 weeks off due to major repairs and this was even better for the nagging injuries.
Don't underestimate the rest especially if you are not feeling it. Depending on how you feel mentally coming back I'd consider the first week with some unstructured stuff to start. If you are feeling it then dial it up a little the second week, but its a long OS.
Honestly what you have lost in 2-3 weeks will come back very quickly.
Gordon
one week out, I got some baseline #s for the weight room. Psst...don't tell the coaches. Post2011season and Pre-JanOS gives me a few weeks to switch things up. I don't feel burned out from the season (thanks to EN
so, tho it doesn't sound like I'm really resting, right now I feel good (2 weeks out from last race). One full week off was rejuvenating and the mixup in the focus will keep things fresh heading into Jan. that's my 'resting' transition plan.
---Ann.
I'm with Dave:
I think I'll put the road bike together this afternoon and go for a short spin tomorrow morning. It won't be pretty, I know.
The big turn around came with the 30/30 run challenge. I dropped all my intensity and focused exclusively on consistancy at an easy pace - partly to heal and partly to see if I could get mojo back. It worked well - good for the calf, good for the mojo, and set me up for a great run at MDI - not a PR but only 4 minutes back and 3 minutes faster than Boston this spring.
Feeling good now and super ready for Nov OS to start.
So, I don't recommend the 'sit on your a$$ for 6 months' plan, from experience!
coach P: thanks for posting this, since it helps to see how the fast people recover.
i just wait for the DOMS (i.e. delayed onset muscle soreness) to go away, before i start up again with training. i don't usually have a problem with mental burnout, so i let my physiology tell me when it's time to return.
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I suspect that after IMAZ I will do a bit of regular unstructured running and biking between then and the start of the OS start with little the week after IMAZ as that is thanksgiving week. Snce the OS start will be Jan 3, I am going on a cruise with the kids Xmas week and hope to do some spin classes and treadmill running that week.
I've got training logs going back to 2000, but those before 2007 are on a Mac OS 7 or 9 computer or something, so I can only review from 07 on:
2007: Last race Oct 28th (Xterra Maui), 3 days empty in my log, then I picked up daily work again
2008: Last race (IM AZ) Nov 23, one week off, then a half marathon, than back to a daily routine
2009: Last race Nov 22 (AZ), then swim x 3 in the next week, and slowly ramp back up over the next month.
This year, I'm planning on again swimming right away after IM AZ, and starting back into running and indoor cycling on Dec 1st. BUT: for about 2-6 weeks @ the end of the year, my "daily routine" is just do whatever I feel like doing in the pool and with the bike (commute to work, Mtn bike, play on the trainer), and for the run, get geared up for a New Year's Day 5K. Oh, and into the weight room for quad work for ski season. And this year, try to regain the last few poounds I never got back after this year's succession of oral surgeries.
I generally start going nuts after 48-72 hours of no formal, structured physical activity, with physical and mental withdrawal symptoms of aches, pains, depression, lethargy. I feel much better when I start doing SOMETHING every day. That was the hardest part of being involuntarily laid up in Sept 2010. As soon as I got out of the hospital, I started walking everyday, even if it was only 0.4 miles to the mail box and back the first day.
If I were 20-30 years younger, I'd probably lounge for 1-2 months every year, but, at my age, I worry that I'm deep into "Use It or Lose It" territory.
P- I would invest in some muscle work and flexibilty ex's on your own. Make sure all the kinks are worked out.
Enjoy your time off everyone, it will pay HUGE dividends next season!!!
It depends on the year, but something along the long of what Dave does -- about five weeks. I've been running, but since Timberman, every workout has been fun. There's been no "suck it up and get it done" at all. I haven't recorded a bit of data and haven't opened RaceDay.
I'm down about two VDOT points, and don't care, which I consider a sign of athlete maturity for me.
I know they will come back. Body just needs a fallow season. I'm learning that it is time to seriously work when the head's ready to go and I start actually wanting to do intervals on the trainer.
All that said, knowing that I hate time off, or traditional tapering for that matter, I have made many changes and adjustments to my training. I am now VERY careful to not dig hole in anyway at anytime during training. At the very first sign of fatigue, I back off instead of pushing through. My body seems to respond best to gradual and consistance increases in stress. I'm about to hit 12 months of straight training and I'm still feeling awesome and nailing every workout, no signs of fatigue and no where near burning out, in fact my mojo and desire to keep going just get stronger every week.
I did the newbie thing too. I had severe adrenal insufficiency this spring. Tough to race, but I was advised to either come back very slow or take the rest of the season off. I joined EN in July and it was a smart decision. Either way, it is not fun when your body has no catecholamines.... That being said, I took a different route this year than last season's end. I really felt like my core was week at the end of this season. It bothered me too, because I am <10% body fat. I took 2 weeks off, riding through the neighborhood at 14 mph looking at the things I rarely notice, like trees, deer and pretty scenery. I did do some core cross fit workouts and I am starting to get excited about the nov OS. That is a lot better than where I was last year. But it is reassuring to hear that others feel the same "trashed" feeling and struggle doing a 3 mile run as well. My wife has commented a lot lately that she hasn't had to make the bed in weeks....
I usually get back to running pretty quick. Usually wed or thursday after any race that involves 26.2. I never really feel good until after I run a couple of times. Nothing to organized and certainly do not push it for several weeks if not longer. I have no problem ignoring the bike and swimming for a month or so. After LP this year the first time I rode my tri bike was to make sure that it still worked the day before I raced an olympic on labor day weekend. Have not touched it since. I rode my road bike on nice days and when I raced it.
But then, I do not run 6-7 times a week because I want to be faster when I race, if I never entered another tri I would still do that.