Running - The Role of Recovery and Rest
Runners Need Rest and Recovery to Get the Most From Their Workouts
Mar 25, 2009
Recovery is one of the keys to training, in that runners need to give their bodies a chance to grow and repair themselves after their workouts. It is during the recovery process that runners reap the benefits of the workouts themselves. Another way to think about this is that the improvement that is seen over time develops during the recovery periods between the workouts, so cutting that recovery short actually stunts the growth of the runner, by not giving him or her the time to develop.
Recovery Starts Immediately After a Run
The body begins its recovery process from any particular workout right away. In fact, during the first 30-45 minutes after a workout, the body is primed to begin the recovery process and this is an optimal time to start replacing calories and giving the body protein to accomplish its recovery.
Runners should take advantage of this window and begin eating and drinking right after the end of a workout. Replenishing carbohydrates and giving the body protein within the first 30 to 45 minutes of the end of a workout can greatly impact the speed of recovery from the workout.
Time Between Intense Workouts is Key
The second piece to the recovery puzzle is the amount of rest between hard workouts. Runners need to make sure that they are allowing enough time, usually at least 48 hours between very hard efforts, which are typically their more intense workouts or speed workouts. Providing this buffer time between these intense workouts, which could be time spent resting or doing other lighter workouts, will help give the body time to recover from the last workout before tackling another one.
It is important to get the proper recovery between these hard workouts, because shortening the recovery time can lead the performances in the workouts themselves to suffer, which takes away the primary benefit of those tough efforts. Lacking adequate recovery between workouts can lead to over-training or performances even starting to slow down over time.
Time Between Long Trainings
The third piece of the recovery puzzle is the amount of time between the longest trainings. Most training runs will space progressively long runs about two weeks apart, because it takes the body about 2-3 weeks for the impact of a workout to be fully comprehended by your body. Spacing these workouts out by two weeks or so allows for a full recovery, and for the athlete to take advantage of the benefit of the previous workout in the next longer session.
Recovery Before a Race - the Taper
The last piece of the recovery puzzle is what's called the "taper". Tapering comes in the last three weeks of the marathon training cycle when runners should begin to back-off of their training to allow the body to recovery completely from the training season. Runners will typically reduce their mileage steeply during this time, but workouts continue on during this time as shorter, more intense efforts. The taper period provides a major recovery break to the body from the intense and consistent training that has come over a number of months leading up to it. Runners should come out of the taper fully recovered and their bodies should have fully comprehended the training that has come before. They should come out of this period ready to race.
The bottom line with recovery is that runners need it! Needing rest, whether it be an extra day here or there or taking a whole week off at times, does not mean that the runner is out of shape, but rather that the body is working hard to absorb the benefits of the training and some time is needed to do it. Runners should listen to their bodies and get the appropriate amount of recovery. Rest, it turns out, is one of the things that actually makes us go faster.
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