down week

Taking a ‘down’ week in my training

Rest. Recharge. Reset.

I decided last minute on Friday that I would like a “down” week in my training. Namely I would take off the weekend from running, and more specifically not head to the mountains. I have been feeling generally good about the build in my training but I know in order to remain injury-free, I have to give my body time to recover from the training load and the adapt to the load.

My first “race” isn’t until June. I want to make sure I don’t overdo it now, and lose all my motivation to train. Training burnout is a real thing. I have seen people go hard in January and February then by spring they are either injured or just fed up with running.

Besides over the last few years I have developed a tendency to get injured so I am not taking any chances. Bring on the reduced mileage!

down week

I easily slept until 7 a.m. I am a very early riser so I enjoyed the luxury of reading in bed with a cup of coffee on both Saturday and Sunday. I didn’t make any plans with friends because I wanted to just go with the flow and enjoy a rare weekend homebound.

In addition to cleaning, making lasagna and a batch of kombucha, I went out for a couple of bike rides and trained at the gym. I have gotten into a pretty good strength routine at the gym too. Funny I tried on my cycling jacket on Friday – and it was too tight in the shoulders. It used to be quite loose. That made me laugh because I love training shoulders!

down week

I haven’t been to the pool for about three weeks. Wednesday nights have been my preferred time but when the sun is shining after a week of crap weather – I have to hit the trails. I hope to get back to the pool in the next week or so because I loved how strong and light I felt in the pool.

Taking this “down” week and staying in Calgary was just what I needed. I’ve been feeling stressed about work, life and everything in between. To tell you the truth, it’s been mentally and emotionally exhausting. Now I am excited to come out of this week feeling renewed and ready to push myself again.

Do you take down or cut back weeks? How often? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.

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