With fall marathons occurring soon, we are right around the corner to offseason training. If you follow runners on social media you will notice a few trends… Either there are the athletes who take time off after their goals races and then there are those athletes who appear to continue to train and put in some serious mileage even after 2 back to back marathons this fall. Why do some people appear to never take an offseason? Can you get away with that? Is it helpful or harmful in the long run?

Today we are going to give you the guidelines to perfect your offseason and avoid any burn out or injuries in the future. We always take a little bit more of a conservative approach for this reason. Whenever we talk about any topic in running it’s important to remember out background is to help you stay in the sport of running for decades and reach your potential along the way.

1. What is the typical protocol for the offseason after a 5k, half & full marathon

   
   





1. Depends on how long the cycle was

   
   



2. How does athlete feel?

   
   



3. When was last time off?

   
   





2. How long do you need to take completely off?

   
   





1. 1-2 weeks is typical

   
   



2. Can get away with less 

   
   





3. Forces you to take the time before you ‘need it’

   
   





1. It is uncomfortable

   
   



2. Helps you get used to not doing the same thing constantly/avoid black and white thinking

   
   





4. What is a reverse taper?

   
   





1. What is sounds like

   
   



2. Spread out over more time than a taper

   
   



3. No workouts for a few weeks

   
   





5. How much mileage should you run during the offseason

   
   





1. 50-80% of peak mileage

   
   





6. How long should your long runs be?

   
   





1. Not very long

   
   



2. Less than 50% of your peak mileage long runs

   
   





7. What if you have a spring marathon or another goal coming up with a deadline?

   
   





1. Doesn’t matter

   
   



2. Plan better

   
   





8. What happens if you feel good and want to keep training at a high level without an offseason?

   
   



9. Why do some people appear to never take an offseason but yet still crush it?

   
   



10. When should I reintroduce workouts again?

    
    



11. What is it normal to feel like?

    
    



12. Should you strength train?