Let’s talk recovery!

In recent days and weeks, the question of recovery has popped up time and time again, both with my group and also with a few of my one-to-ones so I thought I’d do a post this week covering it as I see it in a little more depth.

To keep it simple, recovery can be broken down into the following categories.

In week recovery – easy training days and rest days within the week, when, how often, why, and what to do.
Recovery weeks – a fire break in the building process through each mesocycle, when, how often, why, and what to do.
A regenerative break – Taking a break at a season’s end, or the end of a training and racing macrocycle, what does this look like, why do it, and for how long?
Tapering for a race – getting fresh and sharp to express your best form, conflicting theories, and new science around tapering.

Recovery – In week recovery

‘In week’ recovery breaks up the week to facilitate the breakdown, recovery, and adaptation process. First of all, it is contextual, and recovery is different for all athletes depending on their level of conditioning. It also cannot really be discussed in isolation from other parts in this mini-blog, but I’ll have a go. There are some old adages: do not increase weekly mileage by more than 5–10 miles per week, do not put longer or harder days back-to-back, and, in many ways, they are still very relevant as they prevent unsustainable overload.

In pulling together a schedule or programme for any athlete, it is a balance of not only of training blend specific to their event and period of development but also the requirement to facilitate adequate recovery to allow that sustainable progression. This is different for all athletes. Below is an example of two athletes preparing for the same race, it is me at 56 and then one of my higher performance guys at 23, the aim being 37 minutes for 10k and 31 minutes for 10k.

Schedule for 56-year-old athlete:

MON
5 miles easy
TUE
Tempo 9 miles
WED
Rest
THU
10 miles steady
FRI
4 mileseasy
SAT
8 miles hill reps
SUN
12 miles steady

Note there is a recovery day and easy run days between the higher stimulus days.

Schedule for 23-year-old athlete:

MON
am: 6 miles easy pm: 7 miles steady
TUE
Threshold intervals 4 x 7 minutes
WED
10 miles steady
THU
Tempo 10 miles
FRI
am: 4 miles easy pm: 5 mileseasy
SAT
Hill reps 9 miles
SUN
15 miles steady

Back to context, the athlete and I are experiencing a similar training stress load from these weeks, age and conditioning being a key differentiating factor in tolerance, but we are allowing some respite from the hard yards even in these high-load weeks for both of us.

Recovery – Scheduled recovery weeks

We can break each training macro cycle down into the following quarters: specific preparation, pre-competition, competition, and race. Within each of those phases, we will have 1–4 blocks of training each made up of between 3 and 4 weeks. In each of those blocks, the 3rd or 4th week is prioritised for recovery. This is there to make sure we are optimising the gains from the hard yards in the other 2–3 weeks and to make sure we are physically and mentally ready for the next solid block.

This means there is always a solid block of 2–3 weeks of build or peak work, and that is followed by a recovery week. Whether that is a 2-or 3-week build/peak depends on the individual, the volume and intensity in the block, and the phase in the plan.

Recovery takes the form of decreased volume and possibly a reduction in the number of high-stimulus sessions during the week.

As an example, if we have a 10km runner in his specific preparation phase doing consecutive build weeks of 65 miles, 70 miles, and 73 miles, each containing 9 run sessions in the week, 2–3 high-stimulus sessions geared toward VO2, or threshold, and also a tempo effort. The following recovery week would have a volume of 50–55 miles, contain 6–7 run sessions, and we could lose one of the higher-stimulus sessions. So, we have a reduction in the intensity overall and typically a 20–25% reduction in volume. It is not uncommon for athletes to feel uncomfortable in recovery week and a little sluggish coming out. Two observations on this: after a few cycles, they get used to it, and it helps to keep the intensity of one of the harder sessions in the week pretty normal.

Recovery – Regenerative break

This one is about an extended regenerative break at the end of a racing season or a major long race. My thoughts here are personal and to some extent defy best practice; I have really changed my opinion based on personal experience. In my formative years, following a track racing season each year, I would take 3–4 weeks completely off under guidance before starting the rebuilding process. As a senior athlete, I was encouraged and thought it wise to do the same. In truth, I do not believe this amount of time off adds any significant value and, in many ways, undermines the resilience-building process. If and when I took four weeks off it would take me an additional three months to build back that level of fitness and another one to two months to find that racing sharpness, this is an incredible amount of time and in my personal experience, led to so many lost opportunities during periods when I was in the best possible shape. That said a fire break is essential but in my opinion one week rest followed by one week easy running every other day is adequate for 90% of athletes, this allows an athlete to be back at competition best within 4–6 weeks but importantly it prevents the flow of developed biomechanical resilience being broken, when we get in the flow and training feels easy and we feel strong and resilient we should look to promote the movement pathways that have led to that not pack them away so they fade. Due to believing extended breaks were essential in my earlier years, I missed out on defending County XC titles and being competitive at some of my favourite races. Some may argue these extended breaks are the reason I am still racing after 40 years in the sport, but on balance, I do not believe that is true.

Recovery – Tapering for a major race.

Last in the section of me sharing my thoughts on the various aspects of recovery, this one is on tapering for a major race.

No question the type of race plays into this; some elements are the same, but many are different. For this one, most of the questions I ever get around this are focused on longer races, marathon or half-marathon, so that is the consideration here. In years gone by a four week taper in reducing both the volume of training and the duration of higher intensity workouts was commonplace, in recent times best practice suggests this is now two or three weeks tops with a drop three weeks out of 20% in volume and no change to the better sessions, two weeks out a 30% reduction from normal volume and a 25% reduction in the duration of the better sessions, then into a final week where there is a 60% reduction in volume and an 80% reduction in those better sessions. I will stay away from mileage thoughts and volume in better sessions, because regardless of whether you peak at 100 miles per week or 50 miles, the logic is the same.

I’ve done some coaching collaborations with Rebecca and Nick at Romero Performance; they have some interesting thinking around this. Nick has had some success in a changed approach; from three weeks out, having a significant reduction in volume for two weeks, a 50% cut, and a slight reduction in the duration of the better sessions, but in the last week, coming back to 80% of normal volume and intensity. The thought being the body is rested from easy weeks, but we kick start the body out of relax mode and stimulate the stress responses that are important for higher levels of performance. No question, many athletes struggle with being sluggish in the final days of taper, and sometimes this can inhibit race-day performance. Another major consideration for Master’s athletes is that as we get older, we de-train at an accelerated rate, so for me, I typically operate a 7–10 day taper depending on the race. I hope this little series has been useful and interesting to some. Thanks to those who have taken the time to read.