Somehow I managed to schedule myself 3+ months in-between races. Do you know what that means? It’s the off season!
Of course, my definition of off season is likely different than most. It’s not like I stop running and switch over to another sport/activity. I really don’t cut back my volume much either. Pretty much the only way you would know that I’m in an off season is I’ll hit the snooze button more frequently. I lean into what I want to do and will cut runs short for just about any reason. Do I want an extra half hour sleep? Then I’ll do five miles instead of eight. Is it cold and rainy out? Yeah, I’ll just pass entirely. My long runs will top out at about 10 miles. And I’m pretty indifferent between running on roads to trails. Whatever I feel like doing, I’ll run.
My off seasons will last anywhere from half a month to six weeks or so. Anything more than that and I’ll start to get a bit itchy to crank up the volume. My current non-plan is take it easy until the middle of next month before ramping up ahead of my next race. Eight weeks should be plenty of time to knock off some rust and build up a decent base for another year of ultras. I’m noodling a very unconventional training block, however haven’t decided whether or not to move forward with it. It’s very aggressive and will take me out of my comfort level. Which probably means I need to move forward with it.
But that’s a post for another day.
For those of you chilling in your own off seasons, enjoy all your extra free time. Training season will be upon us before we know it.