Rest - the source of all improvements

Clearlier

A lot us already know that you get fitter when you're resting not when you're training but the timing and type of rest is I think an interesting topic worthy of relatively deep and considered analysis.

I just came across this article on my twitter feed which piqued my interest.

The most important insight is that in their experience a 3 week cycle of 2 up and 1 down leads to fewer injuries than a 4 week cycle of 3 up and 1 down. I thought that I had experimented with a similar approach myself but when I look back over my log I see a series of 3/1 cycles with just a single 2/1 cycle. Interestingly the latest injury that I picked up was in the 3rd week of a 3/1 cycle.

It also discusses the importance of mental breaks and how a down week should particularly focus on what you enjoy doing as it takes less out of you than the kind of training sessions that you find more difficult to complete.

What kind of cycle do you follow and if you have tried any others what has been your experience?

pconn062

Nice Post. When I look back at my log from 2012/13 I rarely ever took a down week, but I seemed to be more resilient then and could get away with it. Saying that my training was less intense in terms of volume/intensity. For 2014/15 I mostly did a 3 week hard/1 week easy routine, but this was often interrupted by niggles which would need a few days to settle down. Mostly though I was injury free in that I never missed more than a few days off with a niggle.

However since last November I have been ravaged with bad injuries which have meant considerable periods of no running. These included achilles issues, knee issues and a simple case of shin splints which required 6 weeks total rest and another four weeks of very light (read 3-5 minute long runs) to get back into it.

Now I am experimenting with another method which is as follows. You set a peak mileage, which for me when I started this was 40 miles a week. Keep in mind it took me 6 weeks of slowly building up to get to this. Then you do the following

Week 1: 100% of peak mileage (40 miles) w/one session and one "long run"
Week 2: 70% of peak mileage (28 miles) w/two light sessions and only a very moderate long run
Week 3: 100% of peak mileage (40 miles), same as week 1
Week 4: 50% of peak mileage (20 miles w/just one light session and no long run)

So the idea is you build, then easy of a little, then as you approach the end of the 3rd week when fatigue/injury may become an issue you have a very easy week in week 4. Ideally then you increase your peak mileage every 4 weeks (by 5 miles) so the second 4 week block mileage wise would be 45, 31/32, 45, 22.5.

Now obviously this is a very conservative approach but it is designed with a very injury prone runner or an older runner in mind. While the average mileage over the four weeks is not that high, it allows for consistent training with regular sessions and long runs. I am also targeting the middle distances so long runs are not a priority for me.

The sessions I am doing are base work stuff, mostly CV pace reps (1-2k reps in length a la Tergat from here and Tinman from Letsrun), hill reps and 5-10k pace sessions with lots of recovery. I also do 4x200m at 1500m pace (my main event) after every CV pace session.

So far I am only in my 2nd 4 week block with my peak mileage at 45 miles. It's going OK so far, I still have the odd niggle but the down weeks allow just enough time for recovery. I am also combining it with 2 strength sessions a week, and a pilates class. I am still not sure where I am going to top out my max weekly mileage but a 60 mile week seems a lot less daunting when you know you only have 45 miles the next week and 30 miles 2 weeks after that.

Any thoughts on this would be interesting to hear.