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Time for a Recovery Week: Now What?
Time For a body, spirit, mental RESET.
When a coach schedules a repair, regenerate, & absorb week(s) post race or throughout race specific training- I urge you to stop and pay attention.
To take a new perspective on "stepping back to catapult" and FLY!
Although this week(s) may look distinct for each of us, I will share what it will look like for me this week.
Whether I have a little niggle pop up on my body and I need to be careful so it doesn't turn into a real injury OR I need a reset post race or mid training due to the accumulative fatigue of body AND SPIRIT OR I am headed into a planned stressful week at work or travel- here is what I have been doing to “heal, reset, and absorb” so I can come back to a challenging training routine that will change my fitness and level me up instead of continuing the break down, break down, break down.
Like I say, train hard, harder, hardest, then come back to balance- homeostasis to allow for repair and regeneration essential for monstering up!!!
First off, my brain must sorta let go of the intense focus that a progressive run training program prescribes- it's difficult because this training is FUN and scary and each week you can feel you are getting stronger as you are developing superhuman strength through consistently showing up to the dosed workouts and mileage- all laced with recovery as you go hard, harder, hardest.
Again, I say this because this training is so fun when you show yourself you are consistently present in your goals and progressions with best effort.
The feeling of achievement is exhilarating when you actually show up ready -not only physically- but also mentally, emotionally and most important spiritually to tackle a just right prescription- then allow a bit of absorption- AND the result- within 10-14 days- that workout that was so overwhelming seems manageable now (unless you are not allowing proper recovery between- aka nutrition, sleep, easy runs ect).
So
Step ONE- accept a different lifestyle for a week and understand/remember that:
You will get your “candy” back soon enough!
Step TWO- Don’t just sit still and do nothing. Your “workout” is discipline to be in the middle - not all or nothing! UNLESS of course you are DEEP in the overtraining hole. This happens from ignoring these signals over and over and suffer physically and spiritually. You never get out of the hole you keep stubbornly digging. Well, then you then you need to SLEEP, up your calories, and "let go" of all the tracking, data, and workouts- that's another blog post!
So, my recovery week daily menu is a choice:
An extra rest day IS GREAT if I am honestly feeling abnormal fatigue due to a plethora of personal variables/reason.
OR an easy run in a wonderful place if possible (your wonderful may be different than another runner's - “wonderful” is relative- especially considering the environment in Missouri vs. California- ha!
OR Cross train: elliptical, stepper, bike, rower at an aerobic heart rate no more.
Strength Train 50%- avoid central nervous system fatigue- think range of motion not fiber break down.
Specifics- FOR ME currently-
I take a rest day if signs of tiredness AT ALL.
If I'm feeling good, I run 45-60 minutes max- no pushing just an easy natural pace on a trail nearby, and I alternate this with next day cross training like bike, elliptical, stepper 50 minutes max.
I will note that if I am spiritually maxed out and need a break from running - I just cross train in place of most runs.
I do continue to strength train BUT - I take whatever strength I’ve been doing during my training weeks and bring volume and load to 50-70% max.
Step THREE- SLEEP IN. No alarm on days when that's possible- wake up naturally. This should be easy since I won’t be needing to get 16-18 miles with pace before work or getting the kids off to school.
Step FOUR- Watch the caffeine. This stuff can keep those cortisol levels high! This impedes the parasympathetic nervous system, delaying recovery, calm, and homeostasis. I definitely use caffeine as a performance enhancer before hard efforts but feeding it to my system all day long is not helping my performance or overall health.
I digress, but one huge personal reflective finding I have derived from this round of training -as now a masters athlete- is the need for not only my muscles and bones to get “a break” BUT just as important for allowing a break to level my undulating hormones and my nervous system.
And,
I can certainly tell you- upon reflection, my findings were fascinating!
Here it is: coming into my final training week of this meso cycle (2 workouts left) before a “regeneration” week- I noticed an extreme fatigue that blanketed me for 3 plus days and came out of nowhere!
Looking back, I see that I got little sleep the night before an early morning 18 miler w/tough pace variations (so I could get back home by 7 to wake the girls and make breakfast, lunches and chauffeur to school- I love doing this as its my favorite part of the day!!!) Then headed straight to my Trainer, Matt and Emerge 30 minutes in the weight room- then worked straight after; All was good and having a great time except a little frazzled feeling.
Then, the next day I had some emotional family changes- no naps or Normatec sleeves due to life- nothing huge with the family- just an adjustment moving my beloved nana into assisted living and helping all the family adjust to this big change. Sunday I was exhausted- but it wasn't physical exhaustion- it was my nervous system- it was overloaded! Yet, I wasn't yet able to label this from abnormal until now- almost a week later.
So what causes this?
A. Well, I believe, it is the timing- it was right about that time my body needed that scheduled recovery week- Maybe I went 1 week out too long -for now- until I get a bit stronger. So instead of a meso of 4 weeks hard/one off - back to a meso 3 and 1 for now.
B. I wasn't observant of my behavior of grabbing for caffeine to get me through- I realized I had fueled my emotions and schedule with lattes- taking caffeine all day Friday and Saturday and didn’t realize it!- on top of that- my sports drink had pre workout in it. I'm embarrassed to admit how careless I was! But I think maybe writing about it can help someone else.
I’m usually pretty good about not taking this too often because I know it’s a bit of false energy. And when I use false energy to get my body to do something when my body is already in a fatigued state that’s obviously asking for compensation and eventually injury.
C. Sleep- I thought I was doing so well with this- my new career allows me to take short 20- 30 minute naps on those hard days to enhance repair -but looking back at my sleep data- wowza 4 hours Thursday night! This normally wouldn't be a huge problem if all my sleep around a bad night is good but backing that up with extra caffeine and emotions just delayed muscle repair and enhanced cortisol levels with the added central nervous system fatigue- so now Im about to fall in the hole- but Im choosing to "back the truck up!" This brings me to my next advice:
D. Give yourself a “ceiling” of work each day’s work during this recovery week- don't just go with the flow; this will help you avoid the 'all or nothing' attitude to training - we want BALANCE/maintenance.
Us runners are a disciplined and driven bunch!
AND
We solve all the world's problems! Ha!
My advice- On a recovery week, notice too not to just push yourself in a different way- Like - "oh I'm not doing as much without my regular running routine, so I'm gonna do some HIIT workouts on the bike or go win my spin class session - ha! Discipline!
Why NOT?
Well, remember that nervous system?- It needs leveling and relaxation. If your cross training sessions are masochistic interval sessions- well you may be giving your running tissues a break but your system still is spiked as heck and you're still using and breaking down muscle tissue needed to go hard later!
We want to limit this this week!!!
Remember you will get your candy back next week or after whatever time you and the coach says you need to dig yourself out of the hole!
But until then- maybe 60% Maximum heart rate is fine this week! Stop pushing so hard and allow full absorption and regeneration-
Come back to your purpose/intention: Leveling up, maintenance, range of motion, blood flow and an little opportunity for us to ...
“scratch that inch” to train- many of us have to DO something whether it is good for our goals or not! So give it a lil rub and move on!
What do I see many struggling with during this week? They immediately start to doubt, second guess, maybe even wonder “what’s wrong with me… ugg I’m failing- Ugg I knew I couldn’t handle this- done!” LIES- all LIES- Trust and faith- even when the road curves a bit on this journey.
Instead, I urge you to have grace in yourself- your athletic journey will change all the time- In fact, as soon as you find out what works, well then it doesn’t and you need change- this is part of the fun! This is also why you should be very weary when a coach has only ONE philosophy - sounds like he/she needs to read some books- There are many ways and many types, and many different journeys.
So,
Be playful, optimistic, and curious about what's around the corner for you!
So, to recap, this week-
Sleep- fall asleep to an actual book and put the phone across the room to charge.
Tross Chiropractic work- graston, ART, Laser, Dry Needling
Tissue pliability through foam roll and massage
Sleep again.
Protein, Protein, Protein and complete fibrous carbs. Casein before bed!
Ice baths- only on recovery weeks and pre-race so the body can train to deal with the natural inflammation that occurs during hard efforts- we don't want to dampen this process while training!
Ditch caffeine for ice cold water after 10 am- thanks for suggestion Dr. Ben!
Xtrain in appropriate doses (give yourself a ceiling and stop trying to knock your head through it this week!
Go to yoga (I LOVE Yoga Six St Charles - Kaycee and Deanna are the best instructors I’ve ever had), do breath work to ignite that relaxation and homeostasis.
Do active isolated stretching (this is found in yoga or with a trainer - come see me at Emerge Fitness St Charles)
Core and Band Work
To reiterate with strength training -
Let your personal trainer/coach know what you are doing so he or she can accommodate - easily for you!
Great trainers- like the trainers at Emerge Fitness know how to periodize your training
They know during these times in your training NOT to rile the nervous system by getting it all fired up and to avoid excessive tissue breakdown- A good trainer always has an area to work on while stepping away from the “hard”.
Afterall, I think it's easy to train for “hard” it's knowing what to do during the interim that is an art and science - and I LOVE figuring this out for my clients!!!
Weight Room Psychological Shift for Endurance Runners
Strength training is different for us endurance monsters.
We tend to equate fatigue with mentally and physically going long and hard - but strength training is like sprinter training- small quick doses with lots of rest between - so we mistake this for -
“That wasn't really a very hard workout” attitude because it didn't exhaust us aerobically. But, that's not the point of many strength training sessions - that's what our endurance practices are for! Of course a good bootcamp feels so good on the stress levels - but be aware of your intention of that bootcamp- performance enhancement or calorie burn or stress reliever - get intentional! I know when I am race specific training for a PR- I don't have time for bootcamps because the work is not intentional and it takes energy away from the PURPOSEFUL work that aligns with my performance goals.
Right now, for me and my goals, strength is the time to tap into a different system and get stronger, solid tissues and bones that can allow me to train more and harder without bodily breakdown as the training and race miles increase.
So, when we strength train we really exhaust the central nervous system.
Pay attention - don't stop strength training during your recovery periods - just focus more on stretch, mobility, activation, deload the volume and weight as well so you can get that range of motion and blood flow as your intention for this week or time period.
So again- focus on breath and think of range of motion and activation. If you don't know how to belly, pelvic floor breath yet - hire a trainer who can teach you! It’s a game changer for my running and overall postural alignment.
So I leave you(or is it myself - lol) with this:
Remain calm- get curious when your old self wants bang head through the ceiling this week- that’s crazy- You can bust through it next week!
Reminder- it takes the ultimate discipline to pivot this week - and per exercise science-not your OCD or what you read on let’s run.com ha- your body needs balance before it can spiritually, physically and emotionally show up again.
Embrace the hard, harder, hardest, regenerate training life and watch yourself level up!
Love, Jackie Pirtle-Hall
Athlete, Emerge Fitness Strength/Conditioning Coach, Road Runner of American Certified Coach, Professional Counseling MA, and more!
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