Pace Setter : October 2025

Fall in Love with Rest & Recovery

 

If you’re a dedicated runner, your adjective list could probably include the word “unique”. We have an interesting perspective on many things in our life and being “type A” is quite common, especially on the high performance end of the spectrum. Our idea of fun usually involves waking up early, pushing ourselves through physical distress, and geeking out over things like stack height and Strava data. But one of the other things runners are more unique in is their ability to ignore signals from their body. Having shin pain? How about a quick 3 mile run “just to test it out”. Sick for a week? A 3 hour trail run should clear that up! We all have either been there, or can immediately think of that person. 

Anyone well versed in training methodology will tell you that training plus recovery equals adaptation. In other words, if you want to run faster and/or run longer, you need to apply a stimulus or stress (speed workout, long run) and then appropriately recover (active and/or passive). Repeat this over and over for weeks, months, and years and you are on your way to achieving your full potential as an athlete. 

Apply too much stress and not enough recovery and you’re on the fast track to injury and burn-out. The converse exists as well – apply too little stress and rest too often and your fitness gains will remain miles away – but that’s an article for another time. This article is to get you thinking about giving your body and mind a break. It’s for those who maybe feel a little seen by this meme:

 

I’ve been an athlete myself for nearly my entire 36 years of life, and a dedicated runner for 10 years. I’ve also been coaching other athletes for 6 years. I’ve done and seen a lot when it comes to the ways people do, or don’t, recover, and these are my main takeaways:

• Between the academic and corporate pressure to constantly “climb the ladder” to the social media pressure to live fast and run fast (for the kudos, obviously) everyday, we are culture obsessed with more, more, more. Find yourself with a moment to just relax and you must be doing something wrong. As runners, I think we internalize this in many ways. More mileage is better. Faster miles are better. One day off and I will fall apart. Of course, this all couldn’t be further from the truth. 

• Rest is essential to the physiological process. Not only does it help you go further and faster over time, it also helps prevent injury and avoid mental and physical burnout. 

• Rest can mean many things, which is why I’ve largely preached “rest and recovery”. Rest can be passive (sitting on the couch watching Netflix) or it can be active (going for a walk, doing some gentle yoga, or doing a true - that is, a genuinely, slow, short - recovery run or ride – not a “recovery” run/ride).

• The ways that I see a lack of rest and recovery show up for athletes varies widely. Sometimes it’s running too hard too often (a separate issue from running workouts too fast, which is another topic for another day). Sometimes it’s constantly racing without appropriate recovery time and wondering why things are feeling worse and worse. Or maybe it’s maintaining a running streak and never taking days off from running, no matter how sick, how injured, or how drained - mentally or physically - they may be. 

• Appropriate rest and recovery is highly individual and is based on things such as your unique physiology, full life picture, values, and goals. I’ll give you an extreme example: run streaking. Whenever an athlete comes to me looking for coaching but has a long term run streak, I’m compelled to ask, is your goal to have a 30 year run streak or are you looking to run the fastest marathon/50k/100 miler, etc. that your physiology will allow? I’m not here to decide what is right or wrong (although, yes, I certainly have a strong opinion on long term run streaks) but rather to make it clear what I think the potential trade-offs are. Do I think that some people can, with some degree of success, do both? Sure, but if we look at the top athletes in our sport, I can’t think of a single one that doesn’t take some amount of rest. But that’s why it matters what your goals and values are, and I’m not here to judge that. 

• If you are unable to take a rest day or unable to take things easy and truly recover, I would implore to ask yourself why. What is the compulsion even if it’s potentially detrimental to your progress as an athlete or to your health?

• The optimal rest and recovery cycle is also highly individual. The full picture of each person’s life needs to be considered (family demands, work stress, sleep, nutrition, etc.) as well as injury history, training and racing progression, and where you may be in your training block/season. Do I think every athlete needs at least 1 rest day a week? No. However, this is a common approach as it’s a bit of an “insurance policy” - what’s one rest day a week if it prevents an injury that takes you out for 6 weeks straight. If athletes are truly in tune with their bodies, I think they can take true rest when they feel like they really need it but they most certainly will need regular recovery along the way. 

• How can you tell if you need to rest? First of all, how do you feel? Like, truly feel. How is your body? How is your mind? Are you constantly getting injured? Do you have a nagging injury that just won’t go away? Are you constantly getting sick? Do your hormones feel out of whack? Are you constantly fatigued or irritable? Do you dread running? It’s not to say that rest from running is a cure for any of these, however, if you are running without rest or recovery, perhaps consider it as part of the overall picture.

The bottom line is that rest and recovery are an important part of a well designed training program. They are also unique to each individual. We’re not all seeking the same experience with running and that is okay, but if you’re looking to reach your full athletic potential, please don’t underestimate the value of rest and recovery. 

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Michelle Merlis is a runner and coach with MNTN Goat Running. If you’re not sure how to structure your training to incorporate the appropriate amount of rest, recovery, and stimulus, she can help guide you with an individualized training plan that works for your life and your goals.