Rest. A Love-Hate Thing.

What a crazy world we are living in with the outbreak of COVID-19.  I don’t know about you but I go back and forth between being relatively calm and completely terrified.  I’m finding myself incredibly grateful these days for the countless blessings in my life, not the least of which is my ability and desire to run. 

Running has been an outlet for me, a chance to change scenery and breathe in fresh (albeit pollen heavy) air. It also helps me burn off the pent up stress and anxiety, releasing it into the atmosphere and coming home with a lighter soul.  Whew, ok that was a lot.

Resisting a rest

Let’s talk about the “R” word.  Rest. Specifically rest days and run recovery. A funny thing happens when you start a regular exercise routine of any kind, but I particularly hear it from runners.  Endorphins maybe? I don’t know, but suddenly we become addicted to the idea of working hard, sweating, and that feeling of accomplishment.  We don’t enjoy rest days and feel like we are being lazy when we take one. Whether that sounds familiar or you think I’m nuts, you’re probably right.

Not running is as important as running.  Running is good for you, but it also takes a toll on your body.  This is mostly good, it helps to build stamina and strength. However, you can’t drive your car continuously without fuel and letting it cool down once in a while.  Ok I don’t know that much about cars, so maybe that isn’t the best example. What I mean is you can’t push your body without letting it rest and recover.  

What does rest really mean?

Rest is incredibly important and I looove a good rest day. I look forward to sleeping in, taking it easy, and letting my body recover.  The ideal number of rest days per week will be different for everyone based on activity level. Personally I prefer to take two. When I say rest, I don’t just mean a non-running day, where I do cross training or other workouts (I do cross training on my shorter run days). A rest day to me is where I don’t do much of anything, maybe a nice walk with the dog. By keeping my rest days super easy I let my body recover to be at it’s best for my workouts. 

Stretching

Full disclosure:  I’m a real undisciplined stretcher.  So in this case, do as I say, not as I do. Stretching is a super important part of recovery.  Not only after a run, but on your rest days (where I struggle). There are the standard stretches that most runners do, you know the ones.  Everyone has seen runners out there holding their legs behind them up to the booty stretching out the quads, right?

Those stretches are great, but don’t forget the rest of the body. Google is your friend here, but a good start could be something like this list.   I also like (ok I don’t LIKE it) to do these on non running days too, to keep limber.  

Foam rolling

In the beginning I had real problems with my shins that would sideline me for days to weeks at a time.  Then I learned that the cause of painful shins is often tight calf muscles. That’s when foam rolling came into my life and I’ve never looked back, or had shin problems since. 

There are many different rollers out there, but I like the Trigger Point Grids  Actually I just upgraded to the Grid X…but if you haven’t used one before I recommend you start with the basic Grid version because woweeeee when they say firm do they mean it!  They have some nice how-to videos to get started and you can find tons of videos online to really get into it. I roll out everything, all sides of my legs, and even my back and shoulders. Hurts so good.

Hydrating

Drink water y’all.  Every day. All day.  Everyone’s needs are different but I aim for 100 ounces per day.  Some days that’s easy, and some days it’s really hard. However you need to get yourself to drink more water, do it.  Whether it’s a gallon jug you carry around, a reminder on your phone, or…an app like me. I use a cute little app called Plant Nanny.  Every drink of water helps my little plant grow, and my competitive nature makes me not want to let it droop. Anyway, keeping yourself hydrated is important to help your body recover properly.  Bonus, it’s good for skin, digestion, and many other things too.

Compression

Compression socks or sleeves may not be for everyone, and not for every day.  Personally, I only really use them when I’m training for a distance run, like a half or full marathon.  They can be a great way to keep the blood flowing in the legs and recover from the soreness faster. However, they can also come with some risks (never sleep in them), and you may prefer to wear them during or post runs.  There’s a lot of research to be done here to suit your individual needs.  

Ice it or soak it?

This is another area that really depends on preference and frankly where and why it hurts.  For instance, I recently injured my foot and was icing it constantly to no avail. When I finally saw the doctor he said no no no, you must use heat for this type of injury.  Ugh so confusing.  

My go to recovery when I’m not injured is never ice.  I just don’t like to be cold and I prefer to soak myself in a warm tub of epsom salts.  Some of my friends swear by ice baths. So, sorry but you’ll have to experiment with this one for yourself to see what works for you.

If you haven’t gotten the hint yet, rest is important. If you don’t take the time to rest and recover regularly, I promise you will be forced to take it later. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow…but someday and it will suck.