Whether you are a top-level athlete or just a keen enthusiast, taking a break is absolutely essential if you want to run better, for longer, without injuring yourself. Synonymous with physical and above all mental rest, it should allow you to regenerate so that you can tackle the coming season with maximum enthusiasm and energy. With its shorter days, unpredictable weather and grey skies, winter is also the ideal time to take this famous break. Jean-Baptiste Corbisier*, e-commerce coordinator at SIDAS and holder of a degree in sports training, will explain why. He is preparing for his fourth marathon in the spring and will also reveal the keys to a successful, gradual and injury-free return to running after this long winter break.
How do you resume running after a break? What equipment do you need to get back to trail running after the winter without risk? Why prepare and protect your feet before putting on your running shoes again? Which running soles and socks should you choose in the spring? All the answers from our qualified coach in this article!
‘The break is absolutely essential for running better, and for a long time, without getting injured.’
*When we needed to find a coach capable of giving us valuable advice for this article, it seemed obvious that we should ask Jean-Baptiste. His passion is a healthy one: running fulfils him. You can hear it when he talks about it, and see it when he does it. In the morning before coming to work, or at lunchtime. A seasoned triathlete turned experienced marathon runner, Jean-Baptiste is both an athlete and a coach. A dual perspective that makes our e-commerce coordinator – his job at Sidas, when he's not training – the ideal person to answer our questions about getting back into running after a winter break!
How do you define a break in running? And do you make a difference between a physical break and a mental break?
The break is defined precisely in relation to this difference. For me, the break is above all mental. From my point of view, it's about no longer being under the pressure of a goal, about getting out of your routine of preparing for a deadline. The break is therefore not necessarily coupled with physical rest. For example, during my break, I practise different sports, with a logic of pleasure, without thinking about performance. I observe a period of strict physical rest of one week after a marathon or a main objective, but I do not consider this recovery phase as a break. During my winter break, I do sport. In a purely hedonistic way. Because sporting activity is absolutely essential to my well-being, to my balance. It also allows me to start from a lower level and to be healthy, fresh but ready, when I resume.
‘During my winter break, I do sport. In a purely hedonistic way. Because sporting activity is absolutely essential to my well-being, to my balance.’
Why is winter a good season to take a break from running or trail running?
Winter is an ideal season for a break from running because the training conditions become much less favourable. It is easier to motivate yourself to go running when it is sunny and warm and the days are long than when it is cold, grey and night falls relatively early. It also matches up with race calendars. Most running, marathon or trail running goals are set from early spring to late autumn!
‘Winter is an ideal season for a break from running because the training conditions become much less favourable.’
What are the benefits of a break? And how do you go about it? In concrete terms, how do you achieve a good break in your opinion?
The real break, the mental one, the one that allows you to fully regenerate, is a long one: it lasts between 2 and 3 months. If the last goal of the year is in the autumn and the next one awaits you in the spring, the break can extend over November and December so that you can enthusiastically start your running, marathon or trail preparation from mid-January. The main benefit of the break is precisely to maximise mental and physical freshness. It acts as a ‘reset’. Its purpose? To make you feel motivated and ready to work hard when it's time to put on your running shoes again. Be careful, the desire must be there, but not overflowing!
"The main benefit of the break is to maximise mental and physical freshness. It acts as a ‘reset’.
What advice would you give for getting back into running or trail running after a winter break?
The key word and main piece of advice is to take it gradually! As I mentioned just before, the desire is often present, even overflowing. We then tend to get carried away. To train too much, too fast, too long. The perceived lack exacerbates our motivation. The rule is therefore to resume gradually, I insist! This progressivity is reflected in: the number of sessions per week; the hourly volume and mileage, since the initial walks are short rather than long; and finally in the intensity, with endurance sessions rather than interval training!
To summarise, therefore, my advice for a successful return to running after a winter break is to progress gradually in terms of the frequency, mileage and intensity of training. Moreover, it is pretty much the same protocol as after an injury. Slowly but surely. (A moment to reflect) This period of recovery can also involve adopting a healthier lifestyle, to help the body accept this new physical load: recover well, eat better, make sure you get enough sleep, etc.
‘My advice for successfully resuming running after a winter break is to gradually increase the frequency, mileage and intensity of your training.’
What are the risks of resuming running after a winter break?
When you start running again after a break, the main risk is of getting injured! Motivation can exceed our physiological capacities at a given moment. In other words, we may tend to do more than our body is capable of handling when we start running again. It is therefore necessary to find a balance between desire and reason. Beyond the risk of injury, the other risk is underperformance. I start running too hard and too fast, so I create chronic fatigue which can eventually develop into overtraining. But the body is well made. Generally, physical injury stops us before we reach this stage.
‘When you start running again after a break, the main risk is of getting injured!’
How can you prepare your feet to start running again without getting injured after the winter?
Firstly, to start again with confidence, you need to have confidence in your equipment. A break is therefore the right time to check your equipment – the state of wear and tear of your shoes, for example – and upgrade it accordingly. Secondly, this period is probably the right time to incorporate new equipment into your training: new running shoes, socks or insoles. Adaptation to this new equipment must be done gradually, like a comeback: this is therefore the most favourable phase for integrating new elements, so that your body assimilates them more easily. If you integrate a new element such as running soles or shoes at the heart of your preparation, at the moment when your body is most tired, the risk of injury necessarily increases! Finally, when you start running again, you may need to take special care of your feet. After all, your feet will be used to cycling or skiing shoes, and the skin on your feet may have lost some of its strength. Applying anti-friction cream before your training sessions can help you avoid getting blisters on your first few outings!
