A PLANNED BREAK LETS YOU RECHARGE MOTIVATION AND RECOVER PROPERLY

time off to recover from a key race, go on holiday or give an injury a real chance to heal properly.

1 to 2 months: As well as a continuation of the changes above, your body is becoming less efficient at burning stored fats as an energy source, your ability to sustain highintensity effort starts to significantly reduce and your body loses capillary density and some of its ability to use oxygen to create energy in the muscles. As your mitochondria become less efficient, you’ll find it harder to control the production of lactate as you train. Of course, you’ll also have lost a deal of confidence by this point, thanks to a loss of mental callousing to sustained efforts. Returning to training after one to two months out can see fitness return quickly, but should be treated with more caution. You’ll have lost some of your muscular strength and conditioning, although this takes a little longer to atrophy than cardiovascular fitness. As such, you’ll need to build back cautiously if you want to prevent injury.

3 to 6 months: Your body’s started to return to a relative baseline of fitness. Depending on your level of training and experience, this baseline might still be quite high compared with others. There’s evidence to suggest those with several years of training behind them are able to maintain more of their fitness after periods out. With time and patience, all runners can build training back to where they were pre-injury, but this will likely take a period of weeks or months.

• Mitigating detraining

The first thing to recognise is there’s no need to panic. A few days off, or even a planned break after a big training block, might be a great way to recover properly and recharge your motivation. You can mitigate or manage many of the detraining effects I’ve mentioned with the following strategies:

Active recovery: If you’re having a period off running after a key race or during a holiday, there’s nothing to stop you remaining physically active and mentally healthy. Walking, cycling or swimming are all great ways to keep physical activity up when you’re having two to three weeks off running.

Cross-training: Early effects of detraining, such as reduced blood plasma volume, will be mitigated

(or completely prevented) by crosstraining – providing it can be done without worsening an injury. For runners who aren’t injured, crosstraining can provide a mental break while maintaining fitness.

Minimum load: There’s no standard minimum level of crosstraining required in order to maintain fitness. Ultimately, this will depend on the volume, intensity and the frequency of the running you were doing. For most runners, though, three or four cross-training sessions a week that replicate the volume and intensity of your previous running training could work well.

Maintain a pattern: One of the hardest aspects of an extended break from running is losing a pattern and rhythm of training. Life shifts, routines change and finding the time and space to build running back in can prove challenging. Trying to maintain a pattern by replacing your runs with your rehab, Pilates, yoga or cross-training can make it easier to pick back up when your body is ready to run again.