Rest is training

Bull of Africa -a 6-day race for most teams - ended on 16 August. We're only two weeks post-race; why do you think you already need to start hammering the road again?

Comrades runners are advised to take 6-weeks rest (stretching, slow recovery runs, short distance) post-Comrades - and this is just a 89km, 11-hour road run. Marathon runners are advised to take 4-weeks off post-race; the rule being 1-day of rest for every mile raced.

Sure, the intensity is lower in a multiday adventure race than a high-intensity marathon, but if you consider that you've been through 6-days on rugged off-road terrain across multiple disciplines, where you've been on the go for 24-hour days with nutrition deficits and sleep deprivation.

An AR friend emailed me this morning: "Do you reckon its OK to get back into some training this week? I tried last week.....very unsuccessfully. Went for a run and it ended up a shuffle with my feet hardly lifting 2cm off the road. I struggled."

Friends, I have three words for you: REST IS TRAINING. Rest gives you a chance to recover, physically and psychologically, from the strain of the effort.

In his book "Everyone's guide to distance running" coach Norrie Williamson says, "The better the recovery, the better will be the quality on the other side. In many ways, recovery is the most important part of your training schedule and your training is only as good as your recovery."

This applies as much to rest days within your training week and larger chunks post-race. That's the whole deal with being a professional athlete... being a full-time athlete isn't about spending so many more hours training, it's about spending loads more hours sleeping and resting.

A few years ago, only a few days after a 250km, I decided to get into the gym for a treadmill run and workout. I got on the tread, powered up the machine and after a warmup walk I started running. Two minutes later I turned it off and went home. Although I felt fine walking around and doing normal every day functions, my body was still tired. I did no training for another two weeks and then worked on getting back up to speed. Now I look forward to the indulgent week I take off completely after any distance event. And then I start slow with walking and non-impact, low intensity activities.

Consider too that it isn't just the race in your legs. You've spent weeks and months in training for this race. Training and racing stresses your body. Rest allows healing and recovery so that you can come back stronger. Avoid rest and you'll suffer exhaustion, illness and injuries.

My general rule with a long race like Bull is to take 2-weeks post-race where you do absolutely nothing. A yoga or stretch class would go down well during this time. THEN, start by walking around the 'hood or spending 20-minutes on a spin bike (active rest). Other low intensity activities count too. Just let your body ease into it.

And check your resting heart rate and HR recovery rates. Just like whe you have flu, if your body is t.i.r.e.d your HR will be 10 or more beats above what it usually is. Go home and watch more DVDs for a few days.

A few days after starting to walk, add in a bit of run/walking. Up the stakes daily until you're comfortable running 4km at a nice, slow pace. And just keep advancing in little chunks over a few weeks until you're back into your normal routine.

Don't be lured into getting back into training early because of other events on the horizon. Remember that you're not losing anything by resting; you're gaining strength and healing your body, which will make you better able to handle future and continued training and racing.

Short changing rest time in favour of training sessions could worsen your performance, not improve it.