How relaxing makes you a better runner
As a runner who can’t tolerate idleness, I used to view non-running “rest days” as opportunities to get a lot of things done: more work, more chores and more busyness in general. Highly productive recovery days were satisfying, even if they weren’t actually restful. It wasn’t an issue until the lack of recovery caught up to me.
A few years ago, while training for a 100-miler, raising a toddler and working a demanding job involving frequent travel, I noticed my energy and motivation nosedive. My low-mileage training plan gave me plenty of days off, and yet, as the race drew near, my exhaustion worsened.
My running deteriorated, insomnia intensified and my body ached. After one particularly stressful work/rest day, my body responded to the emotional stress like a hard run: breathing shallow and rapid, hands shaking from the adrenaline, shoulders tense and back aching.
Needless to say, the next morning’s run was a slog. It turns out that runners should be as deliberate with their rest as they are with their training.
Relaxation Response
While the stress response primes the body for exertion, the relaxation response primes the body for rest and healing.
Esta historia es de la edición December 2017, #124 de Trail Runner.
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Esta historia es de la edición December 2017, #124 de Trail Runner.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
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You Cannot Erase us
Over the years and through thousands of miles of running, I have thought about the words that marked the beginning of colonialism on the land and the end of Indigenous sovereignty.
Inside The Adaptable Mind
How Courtney Dauwalter uses adaptability to stay cool, calm and collected when the going gets tough.
Take it Easy
How to stay at aerobic pace when you live in the hills
Here Comes the Sun
Where pessimism meets its match
Connecting the Dots
How Laura Cortez uses her passion for trails to build community.
Carbohydrate Confusion
When it comes to food and nutrition, we tend to overcomplicate things. Eat this, not that. Run fasted, restrict sugar. Unfortunately, much of the controversy stems from observations and sensationalized media headlines vs. actual data, leaving the consumer more confused from their Google search than they were before.
This Wild Life
ONE MAN’S 92-MILE RUN OF GRIEF AND SELF-DISCOVERY.
Our Town
Trail running is all about the community it fosters and the beauty and diversity within the community. Here’s a look at seven places, and the faces that call them home.
Fueling for Females
Here’s how female runners can use recent research findings for performance breakthroughs
Lose Weight with a Shake
Being a health and nutrition correspondent means that companies frequently send me their products, and ask for my stamp of approval.
