Sunday Rest Day

I've said this before in these pages about a Rest Day, but it bears repeating and remembering it myself:  your rest day is the day when you really make progress, building up strength after a hard run (like yesterday's 18-miler), repairing muscle damage, replenishing the body with good food and fluids, getting valuable sleep.  That's counter-intuitive for most runners - it is only natural to think that we are making progress completing a hard workout.  But that's only the first half of it.  The other half is resting and recovering.  Deena Kastor has said that the runners at Mammoth Lakes sometimes have contests seeing who can take the longer nap.

Runners World sent me a reminder today of this principle from no less an authority than Hal Higdon:

“The most important day in any running program is rest.    

Rest days give your muscles time to recover so you can run again.   

Your muscles build in strength as you rest.”

Which reminds me of another authority on human nature - Shakespeare - on the same topic:

"Sleep - the innocent sleep,

Sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care,

The death of each day’s life, sore labor’s bath,

Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course,

Chief nourisher in life’s feast."