Rest and Recovery

Cleansing your system and Recovery

Too many athletes race in training and do time trials to convince themselves that
they are on track. The body has a limited supply of ‘competitive juices’ and
you can either utilize them in the big event itself, or waste them. I have had
great results from athletes, once they have followed a training programme after
a rest, be it a planned rest, or an enforced rest. So cleanse your system by
giving your body a break before embarking on your programme!

After your Goal Race, or after a period of consistent running, you should be looking at a 2 week recovery period, before getting back into the routine of training. Most of us are so motivated the week after a race, that we start too soon and get sick or injured, or we lose our motivation within a few weeks. The reason being your body needs Rest and Recovery!

Once you have started your preparation and you are following a training programme, which should include mandatory recovery days and/or weeks, it is vitally important that you don’t get sucked into racing in training. Stick to the plan, it will pay dividends in the long run and believe in your plan, don’t commit  the cardinal sin of testing yourself in the build up to the big day, or you  will leave your best race on the training turf. (Do not dig up the potatoes,  you may ruin the crop)

Rest  is an integral component of a training programme. I liken the body to a sponge.
If you treat it well, it will always return to its original shape (after
training) and if you abuse it (overtraining), it will wilt. Most South Africans train too hard, too long, too fast with insufficient recovery and I have had the most coaching success with enforcing less over more.

Ockkert Brits once said embrace ‘recovery’, it is the only legal steroid available!