7 benefits of taking a week off
What did we learn?
Due to a sore back I took last week totally off from training. What happened? Was it good? Was it bad? What kind of effect does taking a week off have?
Well, here are 7 things I took away from the experience.
- Reduced workout stress and guilt.
I found that having a week without any workouts was a great stress reliever for me. Each day I didn’t have to worry about how I was going to squeeze that run in. It gave me a great sense of relief and freedom in the mornings and the evenings. It was refreshing.
Since I had given myself permission to take the week off, and I have no races pending, I had no guilt or worry around missing out or losing fitness or not being ready. It was relaxing and refreshing.
- No loss of fitness.
A week is not enough time to lose any significant fitness. You won’t even notice it. You can drop right back into your routine at the end of the week without worry.
You will feel great when you ease back into training. Those first couple workouts will be awesome.
- A chance to reassess
With that cessation of the daily worry about your workout you get an opportunity to reassess your training. Are you doing what you love? Or has it just become another chore? Maybe it’s time to train for something else? Are you getting what you want out of it? Is it providing value?
This break was a good pivot point for me to think about what I was doing, assess how it was going and tweak my plans for the future.
- Watch those calories
If you throw the anchor out and just stop training you need to be aware that you can’t just keep eating. And you definitely can’t fill the extra time with eating. Although the choice of foods is more important than the calories, you still need to understand that you’re burning fewer calories.
I went into the break lean and watching my nutrition, so I really didn’t see much of an impact, but by the end of the week I had found one or two of the pounds I had lost over the previous month.
- What’s important?
As you are in your break you can think about what’s important. Why are you doing this. Are you still in that ‘chasing the dream’ phase of your endurance career where you need to constantly push and find the next big thing? Or, is this the time to think about more of a lifestyle approach to your passion?
I found myself thinking about if I really needed to try to run another qualifying marathon. Is that where I get my joy from? Or can I find ways to use my training to do things with the people I like to hang around with? Can I take my foot off the gas peddle and do a little cruising?
- Do you want to make working out a chore?
And this begs the question, if you feel relief from the cessation of training, have you made it into a chore? Obviously it’s a habit. Habits are usually good because they let you execute, basically autonomously, to enable lifestyle choices you’ve decided are beneficial.
Habits you get to do.
Chores you have to do.
Where does your training fall on that emotional spectrum?
- Attitude adjustment.
And when you do renew your passion with vigor you will find your attitude is refreshed as well. You have a renewed sense of purpose, because you put it aside and thought about it for a while. It’s a fresh thing that you see with new eyes. That new love. That sense of discovery. That Joy.
The best way I can describe this week off is like a deep breath. You’ve all been there. You’re on a long run and you’re tired. You stop in the trail, lift your head and take a deep breath. You settle your body. You settle your soul.
And then you keep going. With renewed energy and resigned purpose.
Because it’s what you do.