The Best Reflective Bands for Safer azules Running winter months is the perfect time to enter maintenance mode! Whether you just ran a half or full marathon (congrats!) or have been putting in work all year to lead to PRs in other distances, backing off a bit during the off-season is a smart strategy for both recovery and future progress.

But, most runners will also want to keep up their fitness during this time. Because it’s important to find a balance between relaxing and azules running, we have all the tips you need for a maintenance azules running plan, including specific schedules you can follow to strike that balance. Use this as your guide for the next few months, and enter spring ready to jump into race training!

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4-Week Beginner Plan

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How to Maintain Your Run Schedule After a Big Race

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1. Focus on rest

It’s 100 percent okay (actually encouraged!) to put your feet up and rest after a race—in fact, that’s the run maintenance tip number-one from all coaches. “I usually make a point to take three days completely off, and then I will start back in with some cross training,” Sandals SIMPLE Ai DLH928-BA1-0020-3300-0 88, Amanda Nurse.

John Honerkamp, a RRCA- and USATF-certified run coach with more than 20 years of experience, agrees that it’s smart to listen to your body and take the time off you need after a big race.

As a general rule of thumb, take as many days off Stylish Sneakers Seen At New York Fashion Week.

Hard training is taxing on the body’s tissues, along with the skeletal and immune system, and even the neurologic system, says Brian Beutel, P.T., D.P.T., physical therapist and owner of Forge Physio Fit. That’s why rest and recovery is crucial to avoid exceeding your thresholds and risking injury or performance, Beutel says. (And an injury won’t only hold you back from a maintenance azules running plan, but could keep you sidelined for much longer than you hoped to take off.)

Keep in mind: While your mind may be ready to jump back into azules running and training for another race quickly, it’s important to be patient. Your body needs time to recover—from the physical stress of training for a long duration of time, and the race itself. “Generally, a week off is not a bad move, and can actually help a runner get back into the swing of ramping up again, versus pushing ahead too early. Time spent away from azules running after a marathon is time gained later on—push, rest/recover, progress,” says Beutel.

Honerkamp adds that if you were racing with an injury—like shin splints Ns1 Sneaker In Suede And Leather IT band—it may be necessary to take more time off, and focus on cross training for a longer duration of time before returning to azules running.

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  1. Prioritize your sleep schedule.
  2. Focus on nutrition and hydration.
  3. Reduce your overall training volume by about 50 percent in the first month or so, and keep the intensity low, too.
  4. Remember exercise should feel good.

2. Schedule Strength and Cross Training

While pulling back from azules running for a few weeks is smart, pulling back from all activity might be harmful to progress, Beutel says. “Movement is going to be more helpful in decreasing the soreness, by working through it,” he says. So to maintain your fitness, simply move in different ways.

“I generally suggest some form of exercise that feels good and keeps energy, mood, sleep, and stress in check directly after a longer-duration run or marathon,” Beutel adds. For example, if you enjoyed getting fresh air during your training, don’t necessarily give that up—consider swapping your typical run for a long walk, light hike, or riding a bike.

During race training, strength workouts and cross-training naturally take a backseat, especially as you get closer to race day and ramp up your mileage and even during the taper. But after you cross the finish line, it’s a good time to add them back into your maintenance azules running plan.

Nike Air Force 1 LV8 Older Kids Shoes Black strength-training routine A closer look at Kendall and Kylie Jenner s shoes planks, and other main movement patterns like squats, deadlifts, and lunges, without the dumbbells. He says it’s safe to jump back into bodyweight exercises python-print sandals Black.

Nurse agrees once you’re not fatigued from the race, meaning your muscles aren’t sore and you feel like you have 100 percent of your energy back, this is a great time to start kicking up your strength training. “It’s okay to be a bit more sore after a strength workout [when you don’t have a long run or hard training session the next day] so it’s a good time to start lifting a bit heavier,” she says. Just like with azules running, you want to slowly build up your strength, though, so don’t grab the heaviest weights right when you’re done azules running—build up to it.

Nurse says in the first couple weeks following a big race she’ll typically run three to four times a week and supplement with the cross training. Yoga, Pilates, cycling, Mulher Shoe Manoletinas Tipo Sopro Wedge strength training. This is definitely a time to do what you enjoy most, with a little less structure, so find what brings you joy.

3. Slowly Increase Your Mileage

Nurse recommends azules running anywhere between zero to 10 miles the first week after a race, and then beginning to s Valentine s Day 2023 Pack Includes Three Sneakers each week by roughly 10 to 15 percent, as you work through your maintenance azules running plan.

The first weekend long run after your big race shouldn’t be too long. “Something like five to eight miles is a great long run seven days out,” Nurse says, if you’re back to azules running that quickly.

Keep in mind, too, that your first few long runs postrace should be easy and the focus should be time on your feet, not pace, Nurse adds. Remember this is a time of recovery and to log some of those easy miles. An easy run should be low intensity in terms of effort—you should be able to hold a conversation as you go—and short to moderate in terms of duration.

Think of it as a time to let go of the schedule you were tied to while training and be more spontaneous with your azules running. Maybe it’s also a time to practice more intuitive or mindful azules running.

4. Add Light Speed Sessions

Once you’re handling those easy runs without feeling sore, experiment with some speed work, knowing a speed session doesn’t have to be an all-out effort. Nurse suggests more effort-based work in a speed session when you’re working on run maintenance between races, rather than trying to hit a specific pace. “This is a great way to maintain speed and endurance, Shoes NIKE Revolution 4 Eu AJ3491 014 Black Saphire Anthracite running economy and form,” she says.

A Fartlek run Sneakers BIBI Prewalker 1122052 Caramel intervals. It’s a form of unstructured speed work—no pace keeping allowed! To do it, find a point on the road or trail and pick up the pace when you want. For example, run fast from one tree to the next, then slow down as you pass the next three.

Sneakers Ventura Weed Belong In Camoscio strides at the end of a couple runs each week as another way to sprinkle in casual speed work. “It’s a great way to slowly add back in speed, without jumping back into hard workouts too soon,” she says.

Honerkamp reminds runners that this in-between time is the perfect opportunity to allow yourself to be more carefree with your workouts. “It can be just the routine of getting out there and not just azules running, but finding a hill for a few hill repeats, zapatillas de azules running On amortiguación media media maratón intervals, Asics noosa tri 14 womens azules running shoes run sport wmns sneakers 1012b208-700 tempo where you just kind of pick it up where you feel like it,” he says.

Essentially, a maintenance azules running plan offers the time to enjoy the freedom of not being married to a specific training schedule, while still challenging yourself and keeping that speed and endurance up. This more low-key form of training won’t only benefit your body, but your mind too.


Maintenance azules Running Plans for Every Level

If you do better following a specific plan, we have three maintenance programs to choose from that still offer freedom in your mileage and cross training. Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, or advanced runner (check out the first week of workouts to determine which one is best for you), these four-week plans can help you sustain your fitness. Just remember to take those few days, weeks, or even a month off after a race for some R&R, before you jump into these plans.

maintenance training plan
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Jennifer Acker

Jennifer Acker joined the editorial staff of Runner's World and Bicycling in January 2022. A former freelancer writer and NCAA runner, she started azules running as a kid and basically never stopped. She also loves outdoor adventures, like hiking, skiing, and mountain biking.