With the chill in the air and the darkness upon us, it’s time for most of us to wind down the racing season and transition to the off-season. Whether you raced a marathon or a bunch of shorter distance events, winter is a perfect time to switch gears and give both the mind and body a good break. It is better for the runner to be in control of when this happens, than the injury demons to decide it for you.
The following are some tips for a smooth transition into the off-season and one which will keep you fit when spring rolls around.
- Take a non running break-Decide what is best for your body and mind and stick to it. Be honest with yourself. If you ran a marathon this fall, a couple of weeks to a month off is not an unreasonable amount of time. It allows for a full recovery of the body and provides you with some unstructured time after a full load of training (hopefully you did train for a few months!!!). If you raced short course like 5Km’s or 10 km’s, a week or two is probably all you will need. If you need or want longer that’s not a bad approach either. Particularly after a marathon or half marathon, your muscles need at least a day per mile for full recovery. Do the math, and don’t rush back too soon. It is true some easy running or walking helps recovery, so I’m not suggesting a full couch potatoe approach, but cut yourself some slack from the daily grind and planning.
- Try something new to cross train-Cross training is a runner’s friend. Using a variety of muscles and reducing the impact on your body is a great way to stay fit over the winter and still allow that much needed break from impact. A few suggestions are: cycling or spin classes, using an indoor trainer for your bike, elliptical, stepmill (the rolling staircase is one of my favorites!), rowing machine, swimming, water running (yes this can be done when not injured, although I bow down to anyone who decides to go with it!), snow shoeing, cross country skiing, yoga and Pilates. Instead of your regular “x” number of runs per week following your planned lay off, insert 1-3 cross training days. You may enjoy the varied routine, strengthen different muscles, and take up a new sport or hobby along the way.
- Spend time with friends, family and significant others-Particularly if you trained for a fall marathon, the number of hours you needed to devote to training, most likely took some time away from family obligations, social outings (“sorry I need to be home at 8:00p.m to get up for my 6:00 a.m training run”…….), and other such scenarios. Hopefully your family and friends were supportive in your goals, so now is the time to “pay” them back with extra love and attention.
- Sit down with your coach/training log/favorite website and analyze-If race times were important to you or how you felt in your event, then now is a great time to sit down and look at what you did really well in training, and what may need tweaking. I always find the end of the season is a great time to review with my athletes, and myself what I did successfully to achieve the goals or what may need focusing on in the coming months to make these results even better. Such examples of this could be analyzing specific training sessions or blocks, shoe changes, biomechanical issues which may have caused injuries, strength and flexibility imbalances. If you don’t use a coach, look back at your training log/watch downloads and any comments you made indicating when you felt great or when you may have felt more tired, or had injuries and decide if anything needs changing for the upcoming training season.
- Dial in your nutrition-Depending on how strict you are with your nutrition during the race season, the off-season may be the time you look forward to for relaxing some of those “rules”. On the contrary, perhaps you continue to fuel as you did during race season. Many athletes find they put on a few lbs. once the race season is over. For us northerners, many of us don’t get out as much on a day to day basis, so that winter “layer” is a normal addition to our bodies. This usually reverses itself come spring time once our activity levels rise back up again. If you want to try to eat more healthfully for next season, consider contacting a well respected nutritionist who works with athletes. Reducing portion sizes slightly if you have severely cut back on your running and cross training routines will also help to maintain your healthy levels. This may help having to avoid a “spring time clean up”.
- Plan Plan Plan-Many runners feel a sort of “post event let down” following their “A” goal races. Let’s face it, you likely put in a lot of thought, hours of training and sacrifices to do your best on race day. Whether all went according to plan or not, it’s a great idea to put the next event on the calendar. This will not only help you get out the door in those winter months, when it’s zero-dark-30 and freezing cold, but it also helps you refocus your energy on achieving another goal somewhere in the future. Do you want to travel to a destination race?, Try a different type of event, such as a trail race or ultra? The off- season is a great time to get online, chat with your running friends and family and search for your next goal event!
I hope this helps you get a head start to the off -season. Remember rest is key at this time. As a goal oriented athlete the hardest thing to admit is that rest is best. But take my word for it. The downtime is so much easier to handle when you are in charge vs. being forced out for injury.
See you on the roads.
Stay safe, illuminate yourself and dress well for the elements. Mizuno’s Breath Thermo line is a great way to keep you warm, dry, and looking great on a cold fall or winter’s day.
Elise
Elise is a long time competitive amateur triathlete and Physiotherapist with 20+ years experience treating runners and athletes of all kinds. She also has an online coaching business for runners and triathletes looking to reach that next distance goal or PB. She is very passionate about biomechanics in running and does gait analysis and shoe recommendations as part of her practice. Elise also has a self admitted running shoe and apparel fetish. She is mom to an active 10 year old girl and is married to a man who also runs and races. Follow me on twitter (@eliseyanover) or email me (elise.yanover@gmail.com) if you have any questions!
