Hi friends! My name is Colleen and I write over at The Chocolate Mile. When Charlotte sent it out into the internet universe that she was looking for some guest posts I don’t think I could have responded any faster. Like Charlotte, I am a runner, except I’m not quite ready to embark on a full marathon training schedule yet, I ran my first half in May and I may be doing another in September. The beginning of October is when I’m in a pretty big race. I am running the Reach The Beach Relay, and am currently in full blown training mode.
I see people occasionally ask the blogosphere about training schedules. And they are usually refered to Hal Hidgons, because, well, let’s face it, his schedules are awesome. And then occasionally, I’ll see people asking about the importance of rest days.
Rest days are just as important as running days. By resting, you are still training. Your legs need to rest, without it, you’re risking injury. Even while you’re not running, you’re still building muscle. Which is what we all want, right? Right. Think about it this way, would you want to work 7 days a week, for your entire life, with no days off? I love my job and I would still be at risk of having a murder on my record.
| Sun | Mon | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Sat |
| Rest Day | 5 MilesAnd
Strength Training |
3 Miles | 3 Miles- Speed Training | Rest day for runningCore Strength Training | 5 Miles | Long Run |
This is my schedule for the week coming up, I always plan in advance, I am not the kind of person who can “wing it”, my “winging it” equals me laying in bed. I always have at least 2 rest days from running, one of them I’m doing core training and on the other I am doing absolutely nothing. And I really will do absolutely nothing.
I’m not a professional training schedule maker or anything, I make my routines based on how my body feels and how much I know my body can handle. As we get closer to the race, my mileage will increase, and my strength training will go down. This is because I know it is what I can handle. For other people, this may be completely different. The hardest thing I’ve learned about running is to listen to my body. It’s hard to learn the difference between tired legs, and exhausted legs. And also what an ache feels like, and what a pain feels like. I’m sure you’ve heard people say “honor your body“, this is something I live by, my body doesn’t work for me, I work for my body.
(source)
Are you a runner?
What are you training for?
How do you honor your body?
Colleen is the warm hearted, fun having, sassy writer of TheChocolateMile. She goes by Colleen, Coll, or Hey Kid. She has a bad addiction to coffee and requires a piece of chocolate every morning. She doesn’t believe in dieting, but instead, in lifestyle changes.
Connect with her anytime at:
TheChocolateMile.com
Twitter: @RunForDessert
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What a great guest post!! I agree that it’s so important to honor our bodies or else we will never be able to perform our best! Awesome post, ladies!! Spalove!!
“I work for my body”
I love that.
omg was just about to leave the exact same comment as Mizfit
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Rest is so, SO important!
Oy, my winging it means I sit in bed longer than I should.
Great post! Everybody needs to be reminded sometimes.
This is indeed a great guest post! I hated it in the beginning when I started running that I didn`t know anything. I didn`t know how many days I could go, what the difference between an injury or maybe just tiredness or even laziness where or in general what I was capable of. I still dislike the fact that everything took so long until I found “myself” but now I am perfectly capable of adjusting my plan or knowing when something feels good or bad.
I also swear by the Hal Higdon plans but sometime soon I would love to invest into a personalized plan just so that I would have someone to help me adjust and help me find tangible goals.