Originally Posted by
Mark Smith
Iain, i think the view that rest days don't work is perhaps more accurately, rest days don't work for you. Much depends upon the individual. I find that they do work (for me), esp when i'm training with a goal in mind and looking to move up a level. I remember training for rounds and marathons and banging out 15-20 days on the bounce and seeing a gradual improvement. I started swapping junk mileage (4-5 miles easy) for rest and stretching (30 boring but useful minutes) and the improvement became more pronounced. Mileage went down to about 45ish from 60 and my road pbs got smashed.
It worked for me, but perhaps my rate of recovery is slower than yours (my running clearly is). The principle, which applies to any athlete of any ability is to measure your runs and know your form, and then to experiment with things until you find out what works for you. You're obviously a fine runner and i think it could be dangerous for you to state blankly that rest days don't work because someone for whom they would might see your form, take that advice and inhibit their progress or worse, get injured.