What counts as rest? Maybe a nice easy run with a friend
We all (hopefully) know that both your hard workouts and your easy runs/rest matter. The hard days are the stimulus for improvement but recovery is when the improvements happen so you need to make sure you’re recovering adequately. Not to mention, if you don’t recover adequately, you’ll eventually break down and either get burned out or injured.
But what classifies as rest? Well, that’s a difficult question.
What a typical runner’s progression might look like
In the spring of 1996, I lowered my 5K PR from 17:06 to 16:08 in two races. Afterward, I could consistently run in the low 16s. However, lowering that PR just wasn’t happening for the remainder of that track season or the 1997 season.
Then, after a year away from track for reasons that had nothing to do with running, I returned in the spring of 1999 and progressively worked my PR down to 15:43. Sub-16 became routine. I took my 10K PR from 34:12 to 32:57 in a single race. A mid-33, a short time earlier over 30 seconds faster than my PR, would now be a bad race.