Hey friends. My Monday is going GREAT! How’s yours? Thank you to those of you who commented on my journal post about the Real World last night. Getting other people’s experiences and opinions is so helpful.
I totally lacked on the breakfast post today, not because I was blog-lazy but because I wasn’t hungry and I only consumed a Venti Zen Green Tea from the ‘Bucks. I don’t have the skills to write an entire post on a large caffeinated drink from a coffee chain.
I also didn’t do any fitness this morning because I have a running date with Dorothy at 4:30. I’ve been thinking a lot about Rest Days since I’ve ran the last three four days in a row, increasing my mileage every day, which deterred me from a bigger run this morning.But more on Rest Days in a minute!
Lunch, so stupid!
So I came home from a brief trip to the office feeling hungry, finally! So I looked through my fridge and pantry pulling out random things I thought I could mix together in a salad. Little did I know I was creating the BEST SALAD OF MY LIFE!
I started with spinach. Not just any spinach, but locally grown spinach.
Fresh Express is actually based in Salinas, CA. I can walk to their business building in probably 15 minutes and drive by their fields in 20.
Doesn’t knowing your veggies are super fresh make them taste so much better?
Then I went to work on some additives. I found red onion, button mushrooms, non-local broccoli florets and feta cheese. I also dug out some frozen salmon patties for filling protein.
I steamed the broccoli since raw is a little too bitter for my taste buds, in garlic and italian seasonings.
Then I threw it all in my poppy bowl and topped it with some italian dressing.
Holy Stupid Good!
I washed everything down with some bottled Perrier I bought this morning.
Rest Days
How do you feel about rest days during the week? Do you plan them? Maybe you have a day set aside every week the never includes activity?
I used to always set aside Sundays and no matter what I did during the week I wouldn’t do any fitness on Sunday. But recently I’ve been going the Intuitive Fitness route. If I feel like running I run, if I feel like rest I rest. Simple.
According to David Kirsch (trainer to Liv Tyler and Anne Hathaway) “When you are working out, you are tearing down muscle. The resting time allows it to build back up. Taking a step back to examine what you are doing and taking time to reconnect your mind to your body can make you feel more focused and energized.” This was published in Self Magazine and I completely agree. Rest days are super important.
I think it’s easy to understand why one needs a rest day when training for a century bike ride or 13.1 miles but what about for the fitness guru’s who only run 3 miles at a time or go to the gym and practice elliptical zen?
Honestly, I knew when I needed rest days during college basketball. We were running the equivalent of 5-6 miles a day during practices and games. The weekend was much needed rest and my body craved it. But I don’t crave those days now like I did then. So do I really need to rest?
The answer is YES! According to Bryan Heiderscheit, Ph.D., P.T. who was quoted in Runner’s World Magazine saying "It’s when you’re not running that the muscle rebuilds itself and becomes stronger”. So there you go, anyone doing any type of fitness needs designated rest days. He also says “If you stop seeing positive gains or your legs feel sluggish or especially sore, you’re overdoing it. Don’t wait for aches or pains to take a recovery day, that’s a sign of overtraining. Take at least one rest day per week and additional days as needed.”
I guess as a 3mile +/- runner I need probably one day of rest a week while a person training for a marathon might need two. Ultimately the rest day is super important and shouldn’t be skipped. Especially if my legs are exhausted.
