Every runner needs to rest

The weekends are a great time to relax and prepare yourself for the upcoming week of training.

There are somethings one should know thought about resting. The type of resting we do while we are training is not a complete rest, but rather an active rest. Active rest meaning that you don't want to sit on a couch all day, but you need to at least stretch out your muscles while taking it easy.

When we have had a tough week of practice in week two and it is imperative that you get out and shake out your muscles over the weekend. Just do a light stretch and a ten minute jog.

By getting out and shaking out your legs and arms, it will losen you and prevent you from becoming sore.

When people begin any type of workout they tend to overdo it. As you have noticed there is no clock on the workouts. They are meant to be at your own pace, so there is no reason to overdo them in the beginning of training. The workouts are meant for your to run it at a pace that is comfortable for you, for now.

There are also the healthy benefits of rest. Research has been done that supports the theory that the immune system is at risk when over-training occurs.

So your responsibility as a runner is to take care of your body. You are the only one that has the ability to control how much you push yourself and how much you really take care of yourself. Do not overtrain and do not skip out on relaxing on your weekends. You will only be as good as you allow yourself to be.