Keeping Your Easy Days Easy

My biggest struggle in my running “career” thus far hasn’t been the hard speed workouts or the long runs. It’s not motivating myself to get out the door, or the carb-loading (I LOVE BREAD). It’s my easy days.

I know, that sounds ridiculous, but I actually have no chill.

A few years back, I made a couple of attempts to run my first sub-2 hour half marathon that didn’t end as planned. I missed it by 2 minutes at the Brooklyn Half and was on track to get there at the America’s Finest City Half in San Diego before I got baked by the sun at mile 10 and destroyed by the mountain they tried to pass off as a hill at mile 11. I was signed up for the Staten Island Half, and my plan going in was to just run it as a “fun run” and try again for the elusive sub-2 the following year. Well, I ran a 1:58. Because I have no chill. As you can see, easy days don’t come naturally to me.

On the surface, it doesn’t seem like I had any type of failure at the Staten Island Half.

99% of people will probably look at that as a massive success – and it WAS. But, a little of that came with getting lucky. Lucky that I didn’t get injured or burnt out after racing two hard half marathons three months apart. That was a lot for me back in the day. It worked out, but there’s a lot of value in sticking to the idea of keeping it easy. As more research comes out about the importance, I’m doing my best to stick to it.

This isn’t just hard in running – it’s also hard in life.

Lemme paint a picture for you. You’re feeling overwhelmed, tired, stressed out or all of the above. You then say to yourself something like, “I’m not making any plans on Sunday”. But as the days creep towards Sunday, the supposed day of rest, you find yourself making a mental checklist of everything you can then take care of because you aren’t actually “doing something”. Suddenly you’re not resting, but Marie Kondo-ing your closet, doing a deep clean of the kitchen, clearing your inbox, and catching up on phone calls to family.

Sure, you may not have left the house, but you didn’t have any chill. Clearly, I can relate.

If you need a break, take a break. An actual break, not a super busy day masquerading as a rest day. Just because you’re not brunching with friends or going to a workout class doesn’t mean you’re resting. Not all free time is created equal.

In order to get the benefits of resting, you actually have to – wait for it – REST.

I understand the impulse to fill up free time and to get things done. I have to fight it on a daily basis, both on the run and on the go. It’s especially hard when I don’t feel sluggish and I’m still being told by whatever training plan I’m following that I need to take it slow. It’s frustrating, and yet so necessary.

There’s no rule that you need to wait until you’re falling over to slow things down.

Taking breaks throughout the week, month, or even everyday, can make it so you don’t get to the point where you’re so exhausted you can’t leave the couch. It can help you avoid getting sick as well. That’s usually the moment when we finally give in and sit down for more than five seconds, right? You don’t have to wait until you’re falling apart to take care of yourself.

The biggest takeaways?

1. If you’re taking it easy, actually take it easy. Find a different day to tackle all those things on your to do list that never seem to get done.
2. You don’t have to wait until you’re falling over to give yourself some downtime. Doing it as a preventative measure can actually prevent you from stocking up on the decongestants – especially as we get into the colder months.
3. You absolutely can run a PR on the Staten Island Half course.

Class dismissed.