I’m beginning to realise that endorphins are my drug of choice – and right now, I’m in a state of rest-day induced withdrawal.
Most runners are painfully familiar with the joys of the taper in all its terribly glory; including the bloated feelings of laziness, the perpetual suppression of running-related stimuli, the carb-obsession and the everlasting state of severe grumpypansieness. And do I even dare touch upon the precarious mental state of the injured runner here? For fear of my life, I think I won’t. The point is that both of these runners are suffering from running-withdrawal, and it ain’t pretty.
As a runner taking a few rest days, my mental state is differentiated from that of the tapering runner and the injured runner mostly by superior levels of masochistic tendencies, as my plight is truly self-inflicted.
Yet the urge to run is strong in this one. Things are so bad that I’ve actually caught myself daydreaming about a treadmill earlier…
After all, what’s a runner who isn’t running? The obvious answer would be that a non-running runner isn’t really a runner at all. However, my rational mind tells me that there are plenty of scenarios where a runner who isn’t running can also be a pretty smart runner.
The truth is that I fully understand the importance and value of rest days. I’ve trained hard for five weeks now, with three to four workouts a week topped off with at least two easy runs. It’s high time I take a little break; both my body and mind will thank me for it and come back to training stronger than before (even if the latter is currently staging a dirty riot).
“I’m doing the right thing… I’m doing the right thing.” Repeat after me: “I’m doing the right thing.”
Girl Runs Wild 
“bloated feelings of laziness” – precisely how I’m feeling this week!
Awww! Hope it gets better soon… a run might fix things as well – but only if you aren’t supposed to be resting! 😉
I’m supposed to be resting up for my race this weekend… it is definitely tough though!
I love the last eBibs picture – “you’d see crazy if I didn’t run!” That is so true for me. I have so much energy that I need my workouts to calm me down a bit!
Thanks for stopping by and for the comment – I think it’s pretty funny too! I guess it is just general antsy-ness with me too!
I have a really, really hard time resting too! Even when I’m feeling under the weather (i.e., this past week) I just can’t stop myself. Running’s the only thing that manages to calm me down.
Resting is definitely often the right thing to do… then why does it feel so wrong? I’m glad I’m not the only one. 😉
I guess it’s just part of who we are (:
You are doing the right thing! I don’t mind a few recovery days, I sometimes quite like to chill and catch up on other things. And the difference when I run again is worth it. I’d hate to take off more time though. I haven’t had an injury yet that has meant I’ve had to stop running – touch wood – so I’m not sure how I’d handle it.
*touch wood* It’s the same here, I’ve never been stopped by an injury – yet? In 10 years of running, that’s not bad. I’ve had two niggles in that time, one was in my knees (but really in my back) and the other was just this last winter in my hip. However, both were just niggles and with the help of my physio, I was able ot run through them and recover no problems. I know rest days are important and I’m good at taking them after a tough run when I feel tired. However, I find these deliberate weeks of resting (much less running) had to see through and find myself pretty antsy to go.
Hold on to sanity! You can do it! haha. Sometimes, being still is more difficult than remaining in motion. Hope you’re trying Yoga, or doing active recovery to take some of the bite of not running away. Good luck!
I agree and have still been active, riding my horse and doing yoga and working on my core strength. It’s just that every few weeks I take a “rest week” from running – I still run, but just less – less often, less hard, less long. I know it’s important and really good for me, but it takes a lot of discipline to break the routine I think! Doing well so far!