Is it really necessary take one entire week to rest from running?

Question

Ok, first of all I know there is a similar question Here, but it is more related to muscle workout (if it's a duplicate please close that without problem)

I started run seriously in april, before that I trained myself in a bad bad way (few days and few kms), then the competition came and I barerly finished it...

After that I decided to be coached by a personal trainer, and from april to now I have done a lot of improvements.

In april 55' to run 10km now only 40'20", I'm very satisfied...

I had a very tough practice until these months even in the summer with 35° C, I did training 5 times a week, and during lastest week I was a little tired..

Now I finished a "period" of training and PT told me to rest for an entire week without a single run...

In my opinion is too much time, but probably I'm wrong and I think that only because I don't want to lose some of the improvements that I got until now...

EDIT: I spoke with my PT yesterday and he told me that I'll have two week for resting, first, as I said, completly without run, the second week only 3 workout 1) slow run 7km 2) medium run 6km 3) slow run 1km + fast run 4km

I think I'll die... :(

Answer 1

Resting a week won't cause any significant losses in fitness gains, and it's critical to let the body recharge. The nature of those 5x/week sessions determines what kind of rest/recovery would be needed.

If you can't bear to be inactive for a week (I can't), do really low-intensity trots, or just walk briskly--your body will thank you, and you might be surprised at how you feel when you start up again.

Answer 2

Different plans and different trainers will make a rest week mean different things. Plus they also can mean different things based on what you just accomplished.

A rest week during training for me is dropping my mileage by 10-20% and running at a slower pace. I might end up taking longer walks with the dog/family.

A rest week after a long race [marathon/ultra] is to not run, but normally walk. Hal Higdon has a plan for that.

The rest week is basically time for your body to recover, you put your muscles through a lot and they need time to rebuild. Some freaks can run without rests, look at Mike Wardian who ran a 50 miler [5h 33min] two weeks ago and just finished 2nd at a marathon on Sunday [2h 23min].