Supplements Two Oceans Marathon Training Guide 2018 | Page 55

INJURY-PREVENTION
DIFFERENT TYPES OF REST
Rest comes in a number of shapes and sizes, and of
course, one size does not fit all. So before we go any
further, take a moment to repeat the golden rule of
training a few times over to yourself: “Always listen to
your body! Always listen to your body!” How your body
responds and what your body dictates trumps any other
rules, theories or suggestions.
are also training days, as it’s during this phase that the
body is allowed time to step it up a notch, so be sure to
plan your recovery days into your training programme
first, before adding any other training elements.
Rest can be seen as either complete rest from any form
of exercise, or it can be seen as active rest or recovery,
where you continue to exercise but at a greatly reduced
level. Active recovery can either be some form of light
cross-training or very easy running at a pace 30 to 45
seconds per kilometre slower than your normal easy
pace. Now if you’ve only just started running, then easy
days alone are extremely taxing to your body, and you
should look to have a complete rest day every second
to third day. Once your muscles start to strengthen and
your body begins to develop the various enzymes and
resources required for running, you can gradually begin
to push these rest days out a little.
For a more experienced runner, there really are no rules
when it comes to complete rest days. I am by no means
suggesting that you should do more running and less
resting, but sometimes in order to reach new levels, the
body needs to be pushed just a little bit more. Again,
listening to your body becomes crucial. Unfortunately,
we all have egos, which join us for our training, and
this usually means that we ignore the body. As a rule of
thumb, I’m therefore going to suggest that you stick to
at least one complete or full rest day a week.
TAKE A RUNNING BREAK
One of the challenges, specifically with running, is that
you continuously use the same muscles in a very similar
way over and over again, which sometimes results
in overuse injuries. If you are prone to these kinds of
injuries, then you will find great benefit from including a
few active recovery sessions in your week. For example,
one might follow a day of hard speed work by a day
with just an easy 40-minute swim in the pool. This will
not only rest your tired running muscles, but also get
some of your other muscles working that you wouldn’t
normally train during a run.
Ensuring that you get adequate recovery from your
training sessions is crucial. Rest and recovery days
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