How Long Til You Lose Fitness (article)

[sadlebred]

Good read.

running.competitor.com/2013/05/training/how-long-does-it-take-to-get-out-of-shape_70267

[juliahenry]

Fascinating. Thanks for posting.

[Brit]

Interesting article! Thanks for posting.

[wambam]

Interesting.

Obvs, I'm not a runner, but I think a one week break is actually really beneficial from time to time. I've come back from a deload week and put up higher numbers than before I took the break. However, I don't find this to be true for my endurance.

[mcc]

I couldn't read past the first paragraph. I did anyway and now I'm even more depressed. I'm totally screwed. I was finally running again after surgery on the altered gravity treadmill then I got a concussion. Took a week and a half off. Now I'm back at square one again. Wah!

[lauren170]

Great article. I was feeling like such a failure getting back to running after 8 weeks off for my broken hill. It sucks but I guess I have to build it all (speed and endurance) back again.

[lauren170]

Great article. I was feeling like such a failure getting back to running after 8 weeks off for my broken heel. It sucks but I guess I have to build it all (speed and endurance) back again.

[mcfelix]

Very interesting! I have stopped running during this pregnancy (still doing CrossFit) and am curious to see how my running is once I start up again after having the baby.

[MrsE]

I'm so screwed.

[joenali]

This makes me think I need to start planning or at least thinking of post Ironman training.

[mcc]

May 14, 2013 1:08:27 GMT -5 peachy said:

May 13, 2013 19:50:42 GMT -5 mcc said:

I couldn't read past the first paragraph. I did anyway and now I'm even more depressed. I'm totally screwed. I was finally running again after surgery on the altered gravity treadmill then I got a concussion. Took a week and a half off. Now I'm back at square one again. Wah!

I'm definitely not reading it then. I was hoping it was going to say it takes a long time.

Bottom line: you won't become a hippo if you miss 3 runs, but after two weeks, you'll be working harder and after a month you might as well eat chocolate, drink wine, and cry yourself to sleep.  (tongue in cheek, of course)

[breezy8407]

Interesting.

I know the article talks mostly about elite athletes, but I was scared of how hard it would be to get back into shape after pregnancy. And then I had to stop running, then I was on bed rest for 4 weeks. Basically laying on the couch doing nothing. I started walking right away after delivery, and started running right around 5 weeks postpartum. It was hard, but not impossible. I have to think the increased blood volume and oxygen demand from being pregnant helps some. For me at least, doing something (i.e. walking) seemed to be better than nothing.

[aurora]

May 14, 2013 8:08:06 GMT -5 @vtcupcake said:

I know the article has good intentions, but this is the overall synopsis I got from it:

If you ever feel guilty about taking a rest day, don't read this article.

But the very end does talk about the importance of rest days!  (Even if the delivery before then is a bit frightening.)

[sadlebred]

I'm a big believer in rest days and taking a week off twice a year for the mental break.

[beckbech]

Every few months I need a week off from running but I'll still cross train and lift. I always feel so refreshed and stronger once I start up again. Once I took about a month off and it was tough to get started again, I had lost a lot of endurance.

[mrshandy]

Eeep! I'm scared to read it. It's been two weeks since my last run and I'm so sad about it. It's mostly because of being so busy with the move and none of my workout clothes fitting anymore.

That's like the longest I've gone without running for about a year and a half.

I'm hoping I won't be starting at square one post baby. I am walking a lot and will be starting prenatal yoga tomorrow (can't wait!)

Honestly, I've been avoiding this board because I feel like a lazy bum. Silly, but true.

[tuggyruns]

I too only read bits and pieces. I was out for 3 months with a stress fracture, and although I haven't felt 100% coming back (and granted I'm still just running intervals) it hasn't been as horrible as this article makes it sound. I can run 2 miles of intervals still and barely break a sweat after 3 months off and not a lot of cross training in between.

[mainewifey]

I've found that although I can start to feel out of shape pretty quickly after taking a break, it takes far less time to feel back in shape after restarting, than when I very first started out.