[hlnx1]

Illness, injury, holidays or life events interrupt training. The good news is that fitness fades more slowly than most people fear, especially after years of consistent work.

• A few days to a week off has little measurable effect for most trained athletes and may even help if they were fatigued
• Over roughly 2-4 weeks of complete rest, reductions in VO2max and blood volume become noticeable
• Plasma volume is among the first things to drop, which is why the first runs back often feel harder than expected
• Long-term adaptations such as capillaries and muscle structure tend to decline more slowly

More: overtraining syndrome explains why sometimes a break is the right call.

How long was your longest break, and how did the return go?

[hlnx1]

A useful rule of thumb for returning: after a break of one or two weeks, start at about two-thirds of your previous volume with easy running only, then build back over a similar number of weeks. After longer breaks, rebuild more gradually and delay intense sessions.

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