Rest Day

So that whole New Year's Resolution to take at least a day off a month? Yeah, it didn't happen. At all. I know it is not good for my body, and there are definitely some emotional issues, but I just can't make myself take days off. The first 3 months of the year, I did okay because I counted days I went downhill skiing as days off. Since then however, I have had a solid streak of working out every day.

It is not like I do hard multi-hour workouts every day. I usually aim for 45-60 minutes of cardio a day, and then 10-20 minutes of strength 2-4 times a week. I do take easier, shorter days after a particularly hard or long workout or race. Or, if my schedule is just super busy, I will just do a 30 minute workout. So, my worry is less about the physical impact on my body and more about the emotional side. I get anxious and upset when I try to take a day off. I am not a physiologist, but that sounds an awful lot like an addiction to me.

I recognize the problem and I am working on it.

In fact, Monday I took a day off. No running, no biking, no strength, no yoga, no nothing. Just a day filled with boating, sunshine, family and fun.

at the wheel of the boat!

We took off early in the morning and spent the whole day out on the boat enjoying our new outboard. I figured that since we were leaving super early in the morning and would be gone most of the day, it would be a good day to take off. I wasn't in a place where I could work out, which helped alleviate the feeling that I should be doing something. Even when we got home earlier than expected, I didn't use that as a chance to get in a run. Instead, I enjoyed a long, leisurely shower, and then an equally long, leisurely dinner with my family.

In 20 years, I will remember a wonderful day on the water with my boyfriend and family, but I probably won't remember whether or not I worked out.

How often do you take rest days? Do you have to force yourself to take them? Or do you look forward to them?