Consecutive Days?

[Yellow747]

Hi,

Just completed W5 R1 and loving it so far but struggling to maintain 3 runs a week with with working Mon-Fri and darker nights/mornings.

So - would you advise running Sat/Sun and one weekday or going down to 2 runs per week to avoid consecutive day running, is the rest day really crucial??

Thanks

[Grannyhugs Graduate]

Consecutive days not recommended on this forum to give your body a chance to recover from the pounding- you'll notice it more now you are on longer runs. Keep up the good work, you are well through the programme

[Buddy34 Graduate]

Yes the rest days are really important . At this stage if you run on consecutive days you could injure yourself and put yourself out of running for a while.

Good luck 😊

[GoGo_JoJo Graduate]

Your rest days are crucial, far better to drop to only 2 a week if necessary. 👍🏻

[Yellow747 Graduate]

Thanks everyone

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Welcome to the forum and well done on your progress.

This guide to the plan is essential reading healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

When you run the impact creates microtears in your muscles which repair and strengthen on your rest days, not while running. With no rest, recovery and strengthening are reduced and injury risk is increased.

Please take your rest days. Consecutive day running is not recommended for new runners until they have at least six months of regular running on their legs.

If you want to be the best runner you can be, do non impact cross training on your rest days.

Take care, enjoy your journey.

[steviej99 Graduate]

I'll add to the chorus! Don't run on consecutive days, that's when your muscles repair and get stronger. Failure to follow this advice will unfortunately often lead to fatigue and injury. If it takes you a bit longer to complete, that's fine, remember this is a long term thing. Good luck and enjoy your running