Since London Marathon 2023 I’ve had a few people ask me ‘what’s next?’. The honest answer is NOTHING.

London 2023 was my A-race and I’ve not got anything else lined up, and no plans to book anything in (however tempting it might be, there are some amazing events happening this year!). Part of the decision not to race for the rest of the year is because I want to focus as much attention as possible on finishing my PhD. I’m due to submit my manuscript at the end of September, and nearly 100k words are not going to write themselves. The other part of the decision is because I feel like I need an off-season to rest, recover and rebuild after an intensive period of training.

It’s impossible to be at peak fitness all the time, there will always be ups and down, especially when you train for your peak to coincide with a specific race. However, between those peaks you need the troughs to recover physically and mentally.

Physical Recovery

Running puts a huge amount of stress on your body and training continuously without adequate rest can lead to overuse injuries. An off-season is a great opportunity for your body to repair and rebuild, reduce the risk of injuries and help you keep running well into the future.

Even if you feel ready to run after a short break, your muscles, tendon and soft tissues probably aren’t. If you go back to pounding the pavements after an intensive period of training could increase your injury risk because you’re not giving your body the time it needs for muscle inflammation to decrease and your immune system may be compromised (Hikida et al. 1983). What’s more is that the injury might not happen straight away, it could be up to 3 months after your race that you start to notice those niggles, so you might not make the connection to the marathon. Allowing yourself an off-season to rest, recover and focus on other things can help you avoid a sneaky injury like this.

Avoid Athletic Burnout

Athletic burnout is triggered by prolonged chronic stress that is characterised by mental, physical and emotional exhaustion. As well as having a negative impact on your performance and efficacy, athletic burnout also has the potential to ruin your relationship with a sport you love (Raedeke, 1997).

According to Optimise Potential athletic burnout can be initiated by a whole host of different factors including stress, perfectionist tendencies, competitive trait anxiety, overtraining, job insecurity, risk/fear of injury and, of course, lack of rest/recovery!

There are whole host of physical and psychological indicators of athletic burnout to be aware of;

• reduced performance

• continuous fatigue

• reduced stamina and energy

• prolonged recovery

• change in eating

• disrupted sleep

• problems focusing

• low self-esteem and efficacy

• reduced motivation

• low mood

• negative mindset

• anxiety and/or depression

• irritable

• forgetfulness

• the desire to quit

I’ve definitely experienced these symptoms in the past, especially when I was juggling a full time job, an MSc and training, as well as after The Speed Project in 2019. It is horrible. I can’t explain how awful it feels to go from doing something you love to resenting it, and it’s not something I’d want anyone else to experience.

Performance Improvements

It sounds contradictory, but taking time out can lead to performance gains in the long term! Just like a rest day, the off season is a great opportunity for your body to build new levels of fitness.

As a runner it can be a scary prospect to take time off and I know that I’ve been worried about losing fitness in the past. Realising that I’m not going to lose fitness overnight is a game changer! In fact, taking time out to focus on other things, like weaknesses, imbalances and areas I might’ve neglected during marathon training has helped me perform better in the long run! During this off season I’ll be keeping my legs ticking over with a few short runs a week, but my bigger focus with be on strength and mobility to build a stronger foundation for the future.

What’s more is that when you train continuously you could find your fitness plateaus and the progress you’ve come to love slow down. The off season gives your body time to re-set and with it the potential for more significant gains when you ramp things up again!

It Keeps Things Fun

A few years ago I went through a really long, really intense period of training where I really fell out of love with running. It was heartbreaking when something I had loved so much became the last thing I wanted to do. What really helped was taking some time out (admittedly I was forced to because I got injured, but the lesson is still the same!). I gave myself permission to explore other interests like swimming and took the pressure off myself when it came to running. A few months later I was refreshed, could remember why I loved running and was ready to get back to it!

Everyone is individual, so the timing and duration of the off-season can vary depending on your goals. Mine is over the summer because my A-race was in April and I need to focus on my PhD which I’m due to submit in September. Someone else might take their off-season at another time to fit in with their race schedule and other things that are going on in their life. I’m expecting my off-season to last about 6 months because of my circumstances, but yours could be shorter . Whatever it looks like you only stand to gain from taking an off-season!