Give it a rest, you deserve it!
By Cynthia Menzies
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| Cynthia Menzies |
Well, here we all are, at the end of the running season. How did it
go? Did you have fun? Did you achieve
personal goals? Did you overcome an injury or become injured along the way?
Travel back in your memory and think about the words you used to call your
season. Did you say something like, “That’s a wrap!” Maybe you exited early
with joy (“I am done!”) or with regret (“I AM, done”)? Or, mid-way through, your
running season texted with the words,
“WE are done!” Maybe none of this applies to you right now and you are still
racing or maybe your season never started and you are gearing up for your 2015
debut.
Life is Good
I called my season after the Winnipeg
10 and 10 race and to be honest it wasn’t an easy decision. I was fully aware
of the great fall race line-up and my goal to run a PB
half-marathon race in October. But my body was tired on a very cellular level and
it was time to call it. Once the declaration was made, an immense amount of relief
came over me and I began to think about active-recovery and all the fun ‘non-run’
specific things I could do like yoga, mountain bike riding, trail walking with
my dogs and time in the gym. Life is good when cross-training is a big part of
it!
Slow
Down
Calling your season is a helpful way for you to
officially announce that you are switching gears from full on to slow down. To call your season means saying to self and
others that you are done competing and training toward a goal race. In other
words, you are giving it a rest and beginning
the very thoughtful journey of intentional active recovery. If you don’t call your season with assuredness,
you could get caught in the just ‘one more hard effort workout’ or ‘one more
race’ syndrome and this is not a good place to be in. The grind of always
‘training’ and ‘racing’ weighs you down. Accepting
the fact that there are many more races and events than any one person can do
any year helps with letting go as well. Just breathe into it.
Joy in Endings
According to The Running Times (2013), runners may also reach a
performance plateau after a few races and fall well short of their true running
potential, simply because they don't allow a proper recovery phase.” Sometimes we are forced to end the season
early due to injury, burnout, finances, scheduling, personal loss and trauma. Honestly, calling the season can be very hard for people
because it means letting go of the training and race calendar and returning to
‘everyday life’. If you are like me, the high you get from training and racing
helps to carry you through the harder times. For example, training and racing
with intent is often accompanied by travel, the potential for personal bests,
competition and fun networking with friends. When your goals suddenly change,
it can feel isolating. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way and
there is joy to be found in endings especially when new beginnings are just
around the corner!
Off
Season
While
talking with my coach he shared his thoughts about the off season. His insights
made a lot of sense and involved the idea that there is no such thing as an
‘off season.’ Good news for those of us
that like to keep active all year round! In fact a heavy and structured training
schedule should give way to an activity load with substantially less
structure. This means that activity should not stop but should be reduced in
volume (how much you do) and intensity (how hard you do it) and maintaining a
routine is important. This brings us back to why cross training and
participating in multiple activities during different seasons is important. Having
a written training plan to focus your active recovery efforts is helpful
too.
Active recovery, as opposed to passive recovery (which means
complete rest from exercise) helps prime your body’s metabolic pathways of
recovery. The psychological benefits of
active recovery are apparent as many people feel better when they exercise
daily. Movement has the capability to elevate mood among other positive
attributes. Listed below are 7 active recovery ideas from Blake Wood, Certified
Strength & Conditioning Specialist, Certified Exercise Physiologist and
Kinesiologist from Pure Lifestyle, a popular Winnipeg gym. The active recovery
ideas carry a low risk of injury and agree with most trainees:
- Self
-Myofascial release (SMR) – Foam rolling is one form of SMR: the objective is to
use implements such as foam rollers, lacrosse balls, and other specialty
items (the stick) etc. in an effort to “massage your muscles.” Consistent
foam rolling may improve range of motion. On your off day, try passing over all
major muscle groups with a foam roller. Aim for 30 seconds on each large
muscle group, avoiding joints and bony areas. Focus a little extra time on
problem areas and pinpoint troublesome areas by using a lacrosse ball.
Monitor your pressure; remember, the goal is to feel better after foam
rolling.
- Walking – a great
thing to do for active recovery. Not only can it burn calories, but also
being outside can increase your feelings of well-being. The amount of
walking you do on off days should be based on your current fitness level,
and your training schedule.
- Lighter
Weight Lifting – Performing an exercise that made you particularly
sore, but using a much lighter weight may be restorative. As a guide, use
a weight at or below 30 percent of your usual weight, and perform one set
shy of failure.
- Hiking – like
walking, it can burn significant calories. Once again it must be tailored
towards your current fitness level. If you feel worse after the hike than when
you started it probably has done more harm than good as far as active
recovery.
- Swimming –
particularly low stress due to the weightlessness. You can have a great
swimming workout engaging the muscular and cardiovascular system without
added pressure on your joints. Take into consideration current fitness
level.
- Yoga – mobility
work can be a form of active recovery that can be done every day.
Typically each joint in the body is taken through a safe range of motion.
Yoga is an example of mobility work that some people use as active
recovery. It can be beneficial if you appreciate your current fitness
level and learn from a good instructor.
- Cycling
– like the other forms of aerobic exercise can be a great active recovery
workout, as long as you match the intensity to your current fitness
levels.
Contributors: A big thank you to
Scott Brown (endurance athlete and training enthusiast/coach) and Blake Wood
(endurance athlete and Certified Strength &
Conditioning Specialist) for your helpful insights,
discussions and knowledge sharing regarding the topic of active recovery. Thank
you to Fern Bérard for editing the article.
It's a good day to be alive, rested, healthy, and focussed. Thank you for the reminder Cynthia.
Mike
