Most runners know they should take rest days. Most runners also find reasons not to.
Too guilty. Too convinced that one more run won't hurt. Too aware of what everyone else seems to be doing on Strava.
In this Coach on Call episode of The Runna Podcast, Coach Anya sits down with Runna athlete and Olympian Colleen Quigley for a short, sharp conversation on rest and recovery. They cut through the myths to answer the one question every runner asks themselves mid-block: am I being lazy, or do I actually need to stop?
Here's what came up. Watch or listen to the full episode for the whole conversation.
"If you're not sore, you don't need a rest day" is a myth
Soreness is a lagging indicator. It tells you what happened two days ago, not what your body needs today.
Cumulative fatigue builds across a training block quietly, session by session, until one day your easy run feels like a tempo and you can't work out why. Coach Anya is clear on this. You don't earn a rest day by feeling bad enough. You take it before you need it.
Colleen spent years learning this the hard way. Skipping rest days didn't make her fitter. It put her in holes that took weeks to climb out of.
Think of the rest day as part of the session
One reframe comes up early in the episode and it's worth sitting with. It's Colleen's way of thinking about recovery.
The hard work is only half of it. The rest day is where that work actually lands. It's where your muscles rebuild stronger, where your hormones reset, and where your nervous system shifts out of fight-or-flight and into the state where adaptation actually happens.
Miss that window consistently and you stop building fitness. You just build fatigue.
Active recovery and complete rest are not the same thing
Not all rest days look the same, and choosing the wrong type at the wrong moment matters.
Coach Anya draws a clear line. A complete rest day means no run and no structured session. A walk is fine. Feet up where you can. An active recovery day, so swimming, cycling, yoga, or a light spin, is still a training day, just a very easy one. It keeps blood moving and flushes out the legs, and Colleen says it often leaves her feeling better than doing nothing at all.
The rule to remember: active recovery is still recovery. Use it to help your legs, not to sneak in an extra session.
How to know when you actually need a rest day
This is the part no training plan can fully answer for you, because the answer depends on your body, your block, and what the past week has looked like.
Colleen's framework is simple. One bad day doesn't tell you much. But several days of feeling flat, poor sleep stacking up, your HRV dipping consistently on your wearable, or a niggle quietly climbing from a two to a four out of ten, that's your body sending a signal worth listening to.
The coaching principle from this episode: never remove a rest day from your plan. Add one when the signs are there.
You are more than just a runner
One of the most useful moments in the episode has nothing to do with physiology.
Colleen talks about the mental side of rest, and why stepping away from training for a day is psychologically healthy as well as physically necessary. Running can become identity. And when it does, a rest day can feel like a threat to who you are.
Her reframe is a generous one. The rest day is a chance to remember what else you like doing. A long walk with the dogs. Something creative. Something that has nothing to do with pace or mileage.
You are more than just a runner. And sometimes the most athletic thing you can do is stop.
Listen to the full episode
Coach Anya and Colleen cover a lot more in the full conversation, including the science, the warning signs, and the mindset shift that makes rest days non-negotiable.
📺 Watch on YouTube
🎧 Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts