The Running Thread --2025

[PrincessV]

That's the mental break that I need: I can run if I want to, but if it's cold or inconvenient I don't have to.

I spent the summer with this approach, swapping hot for cold, and it was fabulous!

 

[dobball23]

I have poor circulation in my hands so they are often too cold even with gloves. So I found these running mittens on Amazon. Keep me warm and ability to flip back the tops (rather than take them off) to use my phone is great.

https://www.amazon.com/Fingerless-Convertible-Thinsulate-Photographing-Painting/dp/B07W9KTVLJ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=UF9XG3UWBX91&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.-jGNLV059RIGVgATiiKdexRbXxSh47nFtFWVm4cf53W3iDY1CLAw61jjCf6MlMGzUtzF2h8312BEt7atcnb7hMEiPav8AZ27etydY62THlFjmWPEdYFIDOvCucHg_vyT83WQEr7gwds-1NxWsDE0MKm56isL6POd7j3S0NoxTGOV09_Q-j8_Hj4SkR0LjPVd3aU0MJIkalWOv4exl8DW2cD19YGSAQqUYv4Z4dNPMMhFuT-UOaaUPOYS12nTzUbWbs5_pBiLRDjbrkpQIMyFopLWBTA6dGu6AvliKgMr-W8.1QcfOV5wPxFZSIw_MYitYa4gm9ZFwdv3XMOf6PeRrlI&dib_tag=se&keywords=bessteven+winter+convertible+gloves+flip+top&qid=1736962243&sprefix=bessteven+winter+convertible+gloves+flip+top,aps,126&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Thanks for sharing. Definitely a more affordable option than some others. With the glove portion not covering your entire fingers, do your finger tips get cold?

 

[GollyGadget]

ATTQOTD: I read somewhere once that you should take a day off per mile run when you've made a hard effort

I thought I had read one day rest for every 2 miles raced but I cannot find the source. This obviously depends on your effort as well.

ATTQOTD: I generally follow the rough guideline of one day rest for every 2 miles raced. This means a week off after a hard half and two weeks for a marathon. Any races in the middle of a training cycle don't follow this rule.

I also start to get antsy though and will likely incorporate some very gentle yoga and walking this week as I recover from the WDW Marathon. Next week, I'll start up with some easy body weight strength training. I expect to start running again the week of Jan 27. As others have mentioned, this is as much for my body as it is for my mind.

 

[Bree]

ATTQOTD: I just ran Goofy and I am taking two weeks off for a mental break from running. My plan is to spend time with my family and get back in the saddle. I have not ridden my girl since September.

Photo of my horse in her hoodie because she thinks rubbing and pulling half her mane out on trees while I’m away for a race weekend is funny

 

[avondale]

ATTQOTD: Yes, I definitely take time off after hard races. As others have mentioned, the rule of thumb is one day of easy effort for every mile raced. "Easy effort" doesn't necessarily equal "no running", but only if you can really keep the effort level easy, especially when you're beaten up from a race and so you'll be extra slow. We've had many discussions here about how a lot of folks don't really run as "easy" as their easy effort is supposed to be.

I take that to heart and will generally make some "no running" time. Usually that will be 1 week for half-marathons and 2 weeks for marathons or longer. For me, "no running" doesn't mean "do nothing". I will purposely schedule long walks for myself to keep moving and get my steps, and that also keeps me in the mindset of having training to do. In this case, it is essentially training for recovery.

I will usually take 1 week, more or less, off from serious strength training, also, and focus on foam rolling and stretching.

Usually the time off walking is a nice mental reset to get me interested in a new training cycle.

 

[FFigawi]

ATTQOTD: I usually take a week off after a big race for both physical recovery and a mental break from training. With DATW and two park days already this week, and two travel days coming up, I’ll probably be ready for some easy rides or swims by Monday.

 

[DianaMB333]

After Dopey (yeyy!!) I came back with a shin splint … this week I’m doing just stretching and might do aqua jogging over the weekend..

So, one light week and then try to go back to “normal” for Dumbo Coast to Coast medal

I feel that if that race (and Princess) hadn’t been in my schedule, I’d have most likely feel “lost” like not knowing what to do…. so Disney made me addict to running LOL

 

[flav]

ATTQOTD: After a marathon, I take a little over a week without running and then add very small and slow recovery runs if I really feel like it. I take a few days off as well if I really push a half marathon.

 

[flav]

Let’s say that a teenager hits her pinky toe in November, that it swells then turns blue but X-ray shows nothing broken. Now let say that in January the toe is still hurting when snowboarding or when training with spikes on the running track… Would you recommend taping the toe to its neighbour for that type of exercise? Of course, teenager might be resistant to icing or going to a PT type of advice

 

[FFigawi]

Let’s say that a teenager hits her pinky toe in November, that it swells then turns blue but X-ray shows nothing broken. Now let say that in January the toe is still hurting when snowboarding or when training with spikes on the running track… Would you recommend taping the toe to its neighbour for that type of exercise? Of course, teenager might be resistant to icing or going to a PT type of advice

I’d tape it. Even if it is broken, that’s about all they can do.

 

[GuinnessRunner]

Thanks for sharing. Definitely a more affordable option than some others. With the glove portion not covering your entire fingers, do your finger tips get cold?

Nope. If anything they get to warm and I have to open for a bit.

 

[PrincessV]

Let’s say that a teenager hits her pinky toe in November, that it swells then turns blue but X-ray shows nothing broken. Now let say that in January the toe is still hurting when snowboarding or when training with spikes on the running track… Would you recommend taping the toe to its neighbour for that type of exercise? Of course, teenager might be resistant to icing or going to a PT type of advice

Not a teenager or a doctor, but buddy-taping is exactly what I did for a broken pinky toe whilst training for and completing a Dopey. Some recommendations based on my experience:

1. Kinesiology tape worked best for me - half a strip, further cut in half lengthwise, double looped around the two toes. I can’t recall which direction was best, but one definitely was better, so the teen should try both an see which feels better. Not much stretch - you don’t want the toes pulling one direction or the other.

2. The down side of this method is that the tape can cause skin issues and blistering. I have an adhesive allergy that may have played a part in that (though I only use the Mueller brand of kinesio tape because I don’t seem to react to it), but quickly found that I needed to add a very thin layer of lambswool under the tape and Body Glide the “naked” toe next to the taped ones.

3. Eventually, it healed enough that I didn’t need to buddy-tape, but it still needed some support - just that single half of a half strip of tape wrapped only around the broken toe worked great for that.

 

[accm]

Let’s say that a teenager hits her pinky toe in November, that it swells then turns blue but X-ray shows nothing broken. Now let say that in January the toe is still hurting when snowboarding or when training with spikes on the running track… Would you recommend taping the toe to its neighbour for that type of exercise? Of course, teenager might be resistant to icing or going to a PT type of advice

Back when I was a teenager, I actually had something similar happen. I hit it from my mom for a while, knowing she'd make me go see a doctor. I eventually did go see a doctor, and it turned out to be a stress fracture that wasn't visible on x rays. All this to say, it'd be good to convince her to go see a specialist.

 

[jmasgat]

My personal rating of winter road surfaces, based on my run this morning....

Bare road>untrodden snow (<3") >smooth packed snow>slush>"brown sugar" snow (i.e. granular, broken snow pack)>ice>black ice

Also, my Gatorade turned into a slushie.

 

[LSUlakes]

QOTD: For those who have a running watch that makes a running suggestion for that days run or rest, do you listen to it?

ATTQOTD: Garmin for a while I believe has this feature, but I rarely pay much attention to it when I have a goal race coming up, but will maybe adjust a day during the summer based on what it says. I am curious is anyone does what is says everyday and how has that worked to other plans you used.

 

[nancipants]

I turned off that feature when I was marathon training, but I might turn it back on over the spring/summer when I don't have any goals in mind and just want to keep my base fitness.

 

[camaker]

QOTD: For those who have a running watch that makes a running suggestion for that days run or rest, do you listen to it?

ATTQOTD: Garmin for a while I believe has this feature, but I rarely pay much attention to it when I have a goal race coming up, but will maybe adjust a day during the summer based on what it says. I am curious is anyone does what is says everyday and how has that worked to other plans you used.

ATTQOTD: LOL, absolutely not! I have a training plan telling me what to do. A watch has no clue what the training philosophy being followed is or is trying to accomplish beyond the one programmed into it.

 

[dobball23]

ATTQOTD: My Garmin won't show me the suggested workout for the next day, so I don't follow it. There is no way I'm going to wake up in the morning and not know if I'm running two miles easy or doing 10 miles at really fast intervals, based on my watch's suggestion.

 

[KCO5988]

ATTQOTD: My watch tells me how long I should rest after a run but if I listened to it, I'd only be running like 2x a week! My Garmin probably has a feature that suggest runs but I've never looked for it. I've been using the Runna App for my training plans because I can see all the distances for my entire training plan and the specific details of each run up to 4 weeks out. I like to plan.

 

[DopeyBadger]

ATTQOTD (Previous): Do you take a break from running following a race/race weekend? If so, how long? Do you also take a break from other workouts?

It depends on a variety of factors. But I ascribe to the Daniels methodology of one day off/easy for every 3km of racing. So a 5k requires 1.5 days, 10k 3 days, HM 7 days, and M 14 days. That's assuming the race was an "A" effort. If it's less than an "A" effort then I adjust expectations accordingly. If it was an "A" effort but the pace bombed at the end, then I'll consider extending the necessary recovery time since the pace bomb suggests some significant damage occurred.

It's important to recognize the other side of this in two-fold:

One is that the recovery is necessarily not only from the physical standpoint, but also from a training management standpoint. You can't be at your best all the time. It's necessary on a cyclical basis within the year to have periods of low and high. This allows you to reach optimal levels of training late in the training cycle yielding better racing results. When we stack too many training plans consecutively without appropriate down periods between, then we don't differentiate the training enough over the long term leading to stagnation of gains. Simply said, the lows allow the highs to be beneficial and not feel like you're grinding your gears. I wrote a post years ago illustrating this mathematically using the concept of training load.

Training Load Calculations (What happens when the next cycle starts?): Part 3

The second is the despite taking 7-14 days off, it might feel like you've lost a ton of fitness in that time period. You haven't. At least not from the standpoint that it won't be easy to get it back. In my experience working with my own data, it takes about 28-42 days to recover from a hard marathon effort. So I'll restart hard training after about 4-6 weeks, with usually 1-2 weeks of no running, and then 1-2 weeks of only easy running (of equal time to the time off), and then based on the timing of the next "A" event, I'd start hard training again. And ideally the hard training would be aimed towards a different distance goal than the training plan I'd just completed to make sure I'm touching all areas of the pace spectrum over the course of the year.