"Keep pushing. Go harder."

These are some of the many thoughts that would go through my head when working out to be at my best. As many of you may know, I have been taking up running a little bit. I haven't gotten to that enjoyment phase yet, but I am willing to keep searching for it. The running was going well for a while, and then I decided to take a week off just to let my joints recover from the pounding.   

Well, today I decided to lace the sneaks back up and go for a run. I was slightly dreading it because I was so focused on what my time would be. My first goal with running is to run six-minute miles again. Before I took this week off, my times were consistently getting better. Now that I took a week away how would I fair?  Well, to my amazement I was only one second off of my fastest time so far, and today’s run had a big hill in it. I felt a little refreshed and relaxed while running.  So, I was pretty excited about it, to say the least. 

I know we all have these same voices in our heads motivating us to be the best we can be. However, sometimes we must shut that voice off for a little bit and take a step back to incorporate rest into our training. During a week of training you should have at least two days of rest. For those that just can’t sit still, have two days of active recovery. Active recovery would be playing your favorite sport for fun, going for a light jog, a swim, or an easy bike ride. Do things to take your mind off of working out. What's even more important is that you take a week off after three or four months of hard training. That’s where all the magic happens.  This will allow your body, to recover, recharge and rebuild. Would you go to work seven days a week, 12 months straight? No? I didn’t think so. You should treat your training the same way.  Trust me when I tell you, your body will thank you for it and you will be better off.