Making the effort .. to Rest or Not to Rest ( that is the question lol!)

North Kohala Coast on The Big Island of Hawaii

Aloha! I am back! I took a vacation last week but I am here now and this seemed like a fitting subject. I am warning you there will be vacation pics 🙂

Vacations… time off.. rest days, these all mean different things to each of us. To me vacations are not a time to sit or lay around and be idle. I typically have my vacations planned with excursions that may be physically demanding in some way or at least give me an opportunity to learn something about the location or how life is there. I last all of about 30 minutes laying on a beach or by a pool. This vacation was no different. I had planned hiking, a farm tour and visiting some old favorite spots. I admit I was most excited about hiking Mauna Kea but was disappointed to find that the controversial that has been around “the white mountain” had not ended and would make hiking impossible. Please look further into the situation if you are interested, I do not feel knowledgeable enough to explain it. Needless to say it has to do with the passions of a proud people and their protective nature on this beautiful island.

I instead remembered a wonderful hike to a remote black beach up on the North Kohala Coast, Pololu Valley. Where is Pololu Valley Look Out? You can find it by taking Route 270 until it dead ends and park. Hike down the rather steep vertical trail to the black beach below, a favorite of the locals and surfers. If you cross over the dry creek bed (usually dry but be aware of the tides) you will find the Honokane Nui Awini Trail, 3.2 miles and elevation gain of 1200 ft.

I wanted to continue my training and to get my mileage in while on vacation so I also did a 11 mile & a 6 mile road run both with some elevation. The new location for my training were both beautiful and inspiring! So that brings me back to our subject here..to rest. I struggle with balance. Trust me I believe I have enough down time but I also hate to waste time and laying around a pool drinking a non alcoholic pina colada all day is not my idea of fun. I want to see all the places, eat all the food and do all the things!

Rest is an important part of training and not only physiological by psychological, muscles need to repair and strengthen and the spirit needs the rest also. What we don’t want to happen is Overtraining which can lead to an injury or burnout.

What happens during recovery? the body adapts to the stress of exercise, replenish energy stores and repairs damaged tissue. When there is a lack of recovery time, you increase the risk of overtraining. The signs of overtraining can be a staleness, depression, decreased performance or immunity, and a risk of injury. Recovery should be focused on both Short Term or active recovery which refers to low intensity exercise or cool down immediately after a hard workout and also the days following. Another part of recover has to do with replenishing the energy stores and fluids which includes Macros and electrolyte replacements. The specifics depends on many factors of the individual. I do struggle with this, I usually find myself nauseous and have to force myself to get enough fuel and enough hydration after a super tough workout. Flower Break….. then a way to self diagnosis overtraining.

The following info I found on verwellfit.com

For the full article please look for “Signs and Symptoms of Overtraining Syndrome in Athletes by Elizabeth Quinn – July 26th 2019.

Conditioning requires a balance between overload and recovery. Too much overload and/or too little recovery may result in physical and psychological symptoms of overtraining.

Signs and Symptoms- These are common warning signs:

-washed out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy

-mild leg soreness, general aches, and pains in muscles and joints

-sudden drop in performance or increased incidence of injury

– insomnia

-decreased immunity, headaches, moodiness and irritability

-decreased appetite or a compulsive need to exercise

Self Diagnosis

There are several ways you can objectively measure some signs of overtraining. One is by documenting your heart rates over time. Track your aerobic heart rate at specific exercise intensities speed throughout your training and write it down. If your pace starts to slow, your resting heart rate increases and you experience other symptoms, you may be heading into overtraining syndrome.

Track your resting heart rate each morning. Any marked increase from the norm may indicate that you aren’t fully recovered. Another way to test recovery to use something called the orthostatic heart rate test, Heikki Rusko ( for method see article).

Well- rested athletes will show a consistent heart rate and if that rate is elevated it could be a sign of over training.

Treatment-Rest and Recover, Hydrate, Get a Sports Massage,Begin Cross-Training.

On my vacation after I had a hard workout I did take a day off to rest. Beach Break!

Early Morning before all the tourists.
I visited a Farm but will tell you about that visit next week 🙂

I came back a day early to run with a friend in the Joshua Tree Night Trail 1/2 Marathon Race. This race was sooo tough, when they said sandy they meant SANDY. About 90% of the race is running in sand both hard packed and very loose. Our time was under 3 hours and for this race we were happy with that. Well organized race, a challenging course, and a gorgeous medal!