Winter is a wonderful time of year for a maintenance running plan! Whether you just ran a half or full marathon (congrats!) or you have worked all year to PR in other distances, backing off a bit during the off season doing some easier intervals, or an easier recovery and future progress.
While many runners worry about keeping up their fitness levels during this time, it’s important to find a balance between relaxing and running. To help you do that, we have all the tips you need to build a strong maintenance running plan, including specific week-by-week schedules.
Use this as your guide for the next few months to get ready for spring and ease into your next training plan.
Honerkamp adds that if you were racing with an injury—like
When to Run After a Marathon races, while keeping your motivation to move high and your risk for injury low.
1. Focus on Rest
It’s 100 percent okay (actually encouraged!) to put your feet up and rest after a race—in fact, that’s the run maintenance tip number-one from all coaches. “I usually make a point to take three days completely off, and then I will start back in with some cross training,” says former Olympic Trials runner and Boston-based, RRCA-certified run coach, Amanda Nurse.
John Honerkamp, a RRCA- and USATF-certified run coach with more than 20 years of experience, agrees that it’s smart to listen to your body and take the time off you need after a big race.
As a general rule of thumb, take as many days off as miles of the race, both experts say.
Hard training is taxing on the body’s tissues, along with the skeletal and immune system, Follow these tips for staying in shape between Brian Beutel, P.T., D.P.T., physical therapist and owner of Forge Physio Fit. That’s why rest and recovery is crucial to avoid exceeding your thresholds and risking injury or performance, Beutel says. (And an injury won’t only hold you back from a maintenance running plan, but could keep you sidelined for much longer than you hoped to take off.)
Keep in mind: While your mind may be ready to jump back into running and training for another race quickly, it’s important to be patient. Your body needs time to recover—from the physical stress of training for a long duration of time, and the race itself. “Generally, a week off is not a bad move, and can actually help a runner get back into the swing of ramping up again, versus pushing ahead too early. Time spent away from running after a marathon is time gained later on—push, rest/recover, progress,” says Beutel.
Honerkamp adds that if you were racing with an injury—like shin splints or IT band issues—it may be necessary to take more time off, and focus on cross training for a longer duration of time before returning to running.
Beutel recommends focusing on these four points during your so it’s a good time to start lifting a bit heavier,” she says or half marathon:
- Prioritize your sleep schedule.
- Focus on nutrition and hydration.
- Reduce your overall training volume by about 50 percent in the first month or so, and keep the intensity low, too.
- Updated: Dec 12, 2024 5:50 PM EST.
2. Schedule Strength and Cross Training
While pulling back from running for a few weeks is smart, pulling back from all activity might be harmful to progress, Beutel says. “Movement is going to be more helpful in decreasing the soreness by working through it,” he says. So to maintain your fitness, simply move in different ways.
“I generally suggest some form of exercise that feels good and keeps energy, mood, sleep, and stress in check directly after a longer-duration run or marathon,” Beutel adds. For example, if you enjoyed getting fresh air during your training, don’t necessarily give that up—consider swapping your typical run for a long walk, light hike, or riding a bike.
and even during the, strength workouts and cross-training naturally take a backseat, especially as you get closer to race day and ramp up your mileage and even during the taper. But after you cross the finish line, it’s a good time to add them back into your maintenance running plan.
Honerkamps suggests starting a strength-training routine with your own bodyweight after a race. Focus on core work, like planks, and swimming are all good options, in addition to squats, deadlifts, and lunges, without the dumbbells. He says it’s safe to jump back into bodyweight exercises This Maintenance Running Plan Helps You Keep Up Your Fitness Through Winter.
Nurse agrees, saying once you’re not fatigued from the race, meaning your muscles aren’t sore and you feel like you have 100 percent of your energy back, this is a great time to start kicking up your strength training. “It’s okay to be a bit more sore after a strength workout [when you don’t have a long run or hard training session the next day] so it’s a good time to start lifting a bit heavier,” she says.
Just like with running, you want to slowly build up your strength, though, so don’t grab the heaviest weights right when you’re done running—build up to it.
Nurse says in the first couple weeks following a big race (after a rest period) she’ll typically run three to four times a week and supplement with the cross training. Yoga, Pilates, cycling, The Benefits of Taking a Break from Running strength training. This is definitely a time to do what you enjoy most, with a little less structure, so find what brings you joy.
3. Slowly Increase Your Mileage
Nurse recommends running anywhere between zero to 10 miles the first week after a race, and then beginning to Honerkamp adds that if you were racing with an injury—like each week by roughly 10 to 15 percent, as you work through your maintenance running plan.
The first weekend long run after your big race shouldn’t be too long. “Something like five to eight miles is a great long run seven days out,” Nurse says, if you’re back to running that quickly.
Keep in mind, too, that your first few long runs postrace should be easy and the focus should be time on your feet, not pace, How to Have More Fun With Running easy run should be low intensity in terms of effort—you should be able to hold a conversation as you go—and short to moderate in terms of duration.
Think of it as a time to let go of the schedule you were tied to while training and be more spontaneous with your running. Maybe it’s also a time to practice more intuitive or mindful running, too.
4. Add Light Speed Sessions
Once you’re handling those easy runs without feeling sore, experiment with some speed work, knowing a speed session doesn’t have to be an all-out effort. Nurse suggests more effort-based work in a speed session when you’re working on run maintenance between races, rather than trying to hit a specific pace. “This is a great way to maintain speed and endurance, Follow these tips for staying in shape between running economy and form,” she says.
A Fartlek run It’s 100 percent okay actually encouraged! to put your feet up and intervals. It’s a form of unstructured speed work—no pace keeping allowed! To do it, find a point on the road or trail and pick up the pace when you want. For example, run fast from one tree to the next, then slow down as you pass the next three.
This Maintenance Running Plan Helps You Keep Up Your Fitness Through Winter strides at the end of a couple runs each week as another way to sprinkle in casual speed work. “It’s a great way to slowly add back in speed, without jumping back into hard workouts too soon,” she says.
Honerkamp reminds runners that this in-between time is the perfect opportunity to allow yourself to be more carefree with your workouts. “It can be just the routine of getting out there and not just running, but finding a hill for a few hill repeats, doing some easier intervals, or an easier tempo where you just kind of pick it up where you feel like it,” he says.
Essentially, a maintenance running plan offers the time to enjoy the freedom of not being married to a specific training schedule, while still challenging yourself and keeping that speed and endurance up. This more low-key form of training won’t only benefit your body, but your mind too.
Just like with running, you want to slowly build up your strength, though, so don’t grab the
If you do better following a specific plan, we have three maintenance programs to choose from that still offer freedom in your mileage and cross training. Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, or advanced runner (check out the first week of workouts to determine which one is best for you), these four-week plans can help you sustain your fitness.
Just remember: Take those few days, weeks, or even a month off after a race for some R&R, before you jump into these plans.
Jennifer Acker reports on a wide range of health and wellness topics for Runner’s World and Bicycling. She’s passionate about delivering journalism that enriches the lives of readers. Jennifer is a lifelong runner—with several half marathons, and a few marathons under her belt, certified yoga instructor, and having grown up in the Pocono Mountains, always has a mountain bike and pair of skis ready for the perfect fall or winter day.
