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I saw a post on Threads this week that said something like, “Elite marathoners take at least a week off after a marathon – and so should you.”
The post got mixed responses, but many people chimed in to agree with the original post. My response was that this is factually untrue. And I offered a couple quick examples of elites who did not, in fact, take any significant amount of time off after a marathon.
I’ve often seen it repeated on internet that Kipchoge takes multiple weeks off after a race, and maybe that’s true. But that’s morphed into something of an urban legend that everyone does – and that you should do the same.
I was curious to see what a range of elite marathon runners actually did. So I went to Strava to see who I could find with a public profile. I started with the World Athletics top list for American runners for the 2024 season, and I went down the list to identify a group of ten men and women with public Strava profiles.
In the last two years, some of them took very little time off, some of them occasionally took an extended break ,and some consistently took time off after a marathon.
Here’s the rundown.
Conner Mantz
Conner Mantz has had a great last two years. So far this spring, he set an American record in the half marathon at Houston and would have set another one at New York City – if the course were record eligible. He’s currently gearing up for the Boston Marathon in a couple weeks.
His last full marathon was the New York City Marathon last November. He was the top American, finishing sixth overall in 2:09. Immediately after the race, he went out for thirty minutes (4 miles) on Monday. He ran every day that week. He put in 33 miles the first week, 68 miles the next, and he was back up to 109 miles the third week following the race.
In August, he placed 8th in the Olympic marathon in 2:08:12. He did take two days off following that race, and he bounced back on August 13 with a 45 minute, 6 mile run. Again, that first week was low (35 miles), but he was right back to 80+ miles the following week. With a relatively quick turnaround between the Olympic Marathon and New York City, there was no time to waste.
Last February, he finished first in the US Olympic Trials Marathon. He took three days off after that race, before returning for a brief 3 mile run on February 7. According to Strava, his “legs feel like trash.” Although he took some downtime in late March, he was back to running daily (or nearly daily) that same week.
Rewind the clock all the way to Chicago 2023, and he finished 6th in 2:07:47. He rolled right into training the following day, with a short 3 mile run. He did take two days off at the end of the week, but not until he ran five consecutive days after the marathon.
So if you look at Conner’s track record, he took a couple days off after two races and zero days off after two other races.
Clayton Young
Clayton Young and Conner Mantz are training partners, and there are a lot of similarities in their schedules. Although Clayton has finished a step or two behind Mantz, he’s been at most of the same races over the last two years.
After the New York City Marathon, he did take Monday off. And then he got right back to it with a 30 minute run on Tuesday. He continued throughout the week and rebuilt his mileage over the next three weeks. By the week of November 25 – the fourth week post-NYC – he was back to 100 miles a week.
After the Olympic Marathon in August, he took two full days off. He was back at it on Tuesday with a 30 minute run. He did some cross training throughout the week, and there were other days of downtime sprinkled in. But by week three he was back at around 100 miles per week.
After the Olympic Trials, he took a solid three days off. Then, he was back with a short run on February 7. The same day Conner said his legs felt like trash, Clayton said, “My legs feel shot.” Good to know we’re all human, and we all suffer the same.
At Chicago, he took no days off. He rolled right into a thirty mile week of easy running, and then he built back up to 100 miles over the next few weeks.
So again, usually a couple days off, but no sustained down time.
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CJ Albertson
CJ Albertson is a great example that challenges the accepted wisdom of what’s “possible.”
In late 2023, leading up to the US Olympic Trials, he won CIM one weekend and followed that up with another 2:11 race one week later. That one still boggles my mind.
After his most recent marathon – CIM 2024 – he did in fact take two full weeks off from running. But that’s likely because he had a monster of a year. That capped off a twelve month period in which he ran seven marathons (including both CIM 2023 and CIM 2024).
The morning after the New York City Marathon, he did a full loop of Central Park. He did at least take it a little easy over the next few weeks leading up to CIM.
But in October, he ran the Chicago Marathon and then went out the same day. He ran a 30 minute shakeout Sunday afternoon. And he rolled straight into three more 100 mile weeks in that period between Chicago and New York.
He ran Boston in April, and he took two days off before bouncing back on April 18 with a 5 mile run. The next two months, he had some downtime with reduced mileage before he started to build up for Chicago.
In February, he did take one day off after the Olympic Trials. But he came roaring back on February 5 with doubles – 8 miles in the morning and 6 miles in the evening. He didn’t take any time off in December after either Baja California or CIM.
Zach Panning
If you watched the 2024 US Olympic Trials Marathon, you may remember Zach Panning. He was the guy that was running with Conner Mantz and Clayton Young until late in the race.
Unlike the previous three runners, Zach does seem to be religious about taking time off after his marathons.
He ran Chicago this fall, and he didn’t run for almost three weeks. He logged a few bike rides and walks, which you might count as cross training. But his first run was November 3.
After the Olympic Trials in February, he took a full two weeks off. And the summer of 2023 he ran at the World Championships Marathon in Budapest. He finished in 2:11 and proceeded to take the next two weeks off.
So here we have our first example of someone legitimately taking an extended period of time off.
Reed Fischer
Reed Fischer has run three marathons in the last year, with pretty good results – although behind the guys listed above.
He ran Chicago this year, and finished in 2:10. He took two days off, before he was back to running and biking throughout the week. He did spend a month at reduced mileage – and by reduced, I mean 40-60 mpw – before bouncing back to his regular volume.
Before that, he also ran at the US Olympic Trials in February. He never challenged for a podium spot, but he did finish in a respectable 2:11:34 – good for 9th place. He took three days off after that race.
And in 2023, he ran the New York City Marathon. But he ended up pulling out about halfway through, and he didn’t finish. Despite DNF’ing, he was healthy enough to return to running three days later.
So chalk Reed up as another fan of brief respites. No extended breaks here.
Matt Richtman
For the last man on the list, let’s take a quick look at Matt Richtman. He doesn’t have a long history to look at, because he’s only run one marathon. But he made it a good one – winning the Los Angeles Marathon in 2:07:57.
He earned some time off with that one, and he took the next two weeks off. He just got back out there this week.
Emma Bates
On the women’s side, fewer of the top athletes have public Strava profiles. One that did have a public strava profile was Emma Bates, but she hasn’t shared anything since June 2023. But we can look back at her history before that.
In April 2023, she ran the Boston Marathon. She led much of the race and hung with the lead pack until the very end – finishing as the top American woman in 2:22:10. She took three days off after the race, went for a short run, and then took a couple more days off. She returned to training more seriously a week after Boston.
In November 2022, she ran the New York City Marathon. It was a solid race – 8th place in 2:26. She took a week off and she eased back into training over the next three weeks.
And before that, she ran the 2022 World Champs Marathon in Eugene. She took nine days off after that race.
So chalk up another one for an extended break – but usually on the order of one week, not two.
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Dakota Lindwurm
Dakota Lindwurm – aka Dakota Popehn – had a great year in the spotlight in 2023 after she placed third at the US Olympic Trials. She’d previously won Grandma’s Marathon in 2021 and 2022.
This year, she ran the New York City Marathon. Her 2:31 performance was good for 17th place, but it was an off day for her. She tracked a lot of walks over the next week, but it was a full week before she went out for a run. And much of that second week was also spent cross training.
In August, she was the top American female at the Olympic Marathon with a 2:26 finish. She took a week off after that one, before going back out for a run on August 19. “My quads still feel like they did in the last 10k of the marathon, absolutely wrecked.” Ah yes, another reminder that we’re all human.
In February, she finished third at the US Olympic Trials Marathon in 2:25. That was followed again by a week off before she got back to training.
So she’s another example of someone who takes a full week off after a race.
Lauren Hagans
Next up, we’ve got Lauren Hagans. She was #11 on the top list for 2024 with a 2:25:47 finish at the Chicago Marathon. Her first run back after Chicago was on October 20 – just under a week later. But she took the following week off, too, and didn’t really bounce back until two weeks after the race.
She, too, ran the Olympic Trials in February. But she dropped out after teh miles and did not finish. She took three weeks fully off after that race before slowly building back up.
Before that, she ran Grandma’s Marathon in June 2023. It was her debut marathon, and she finished in 2:25:55. She did some cross training that first week, a few runs the second week, and really came back the third week.
So Lauren is an example of someone who takes two full weeks off.
Keira D’Amato
Finally, we’re wrap up with Keira D’Amato. Initially, she wasn’t on my list. She DNF’ed at the Olympic Trials, and she isn’t on the 2024 top list. But she has an impressive track record from previous years.
In 2022, she ran at Worlds, Berlin and New York City – two fall marathons.
She started off the summer with the World Championships in Eugene. She finished 8th in 2:23, and she took two days off before rolling back into training.
In September, she ran Berlin. She came in 6th place with a time of 2:21:48. She took three days off after that race, and she was back at 60+ mpw in the second week.
New York City wasn’t much later, so she didn’t have a lot of time to take off. She finished in 2:31, and she proceeded to take the next week off. And it was three weeks of very light work before she got back into the swing of things.
Earlier in the year, she had an even more impressive outing at Houston. She won the race in 2:19:12 and set a new American record. After that race, she took a full week off.
So Do Elite Runners Take a Full Week Off After a Marathon?
Let’s review.
We took a look at 10 of the top American marathoners – 6 men and 4 women.
Of them, five (Lauren Hagans, Dakota Lindwurm, Emma Bates, Matt Richtman, and Zach Panning) runners routinely took one to two weeks off post-race. In some cases, they logged some walking or easy cross training. But they weren’t logging any runs.
The other half routinely rolled back into training with little or no downtime. CJ Albertson was back out the same day for a double after Chicago, and both Conner Mantz and Clayton Young were back out the next day in some cases. Keira D’Amato and Reed Fischer both took some time off, but not consistent extended breaks.
It’s also worth pointing out that both Keira D’Amato and CJ Albertson did take extended breaks at some point. But they both also had impressive strings of successive races in a single year.
So What Does This Mean?
Well, that’s up to you.
On the one hand, it’s worth remembering that you should not necessarily try to replicate the training of the elites. You (probably) are not elite, and you don’t have the training history and volume that they do.
But there’s also no reason you can’t go out for a run the day after a marathon or at some point during the week. If you follow a Pfitz training plan, you’ll see that he recommends taking two days off and then returning to running on day three. And in my experience, I’ve found that an easy thirty minute run the day after a marathon is a good way to test out how my body feels.
If you’re burnt out from training and you need to take some downtime, or if you’re physically beat up and you need to give your body a break, then there’s no shame in taking a couple of weeks off. But don’t let anyone scare you into thinking that you must take time off – and that all the elites do it because it’s the “smart” thing to do.
I think the most wise and sound advice is that you can take two to three weeks off without worrying about losing any significant amount of fitness, but you can get straight back to running the following day if you feel up to it and you keep the effort sufficiently easy. Figure out what works for you, and don’t accept the Internet’s tendency to dichotomize things into a “right” and a “wrong” way to do this stuff.