…and I always struggle with those!
Rest days are an important part of any training schedule, but I think it’s quite common for even the most of experienced athletes to feel guilty for ‘taking a day off’. However, the body needs rest days so that it can recover, repair, rebuild, and strengthen. The body needs to adapt to the training you have already done and allow a ‘training effect’ to take place. Too little rest and recovery can result in symptoms of ‘overtraining’, such as fatigue, depression, and a decline in performance.
Despite knowing the above, I continue to struggle with rest days. I feel guilty, I worry that I will lose fitness, I feel restless, and I will often manage to persuade myself that another activity is ‘rest’ because it’s not running. Today, however, I have abstained from exercise! We are only 4 days into the New Year and I’m still on my best behaviour. But, even a day completely free of exercise doesn’t make good the damage done by chronic sleep deprivation – one of the lesser joys of having a 9 month old…
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