At the end of every racing season, my high school cross-country coach laid down the same strict decree: Two full weeks off. No runs, no light jogs, no cheating. I hated the rule. I spent those two weeks pawing at the gates, desperate to keep moving for fear that I’d lose my fitness.
But last month, as I blearily packed my bags for yet another day in the mountains, I found myself wishing more than anything that Coach Stasko would appear on my left shoulder and tell me to take a break. Then, I told myself to snap out of it. It’s just hiking, I reminded myself. Hikers don’t need an off-season.
Or do we?
Who Needs an Off-Season?
For many endurance sports, a designated off-season is a crucial time to rest, heal nagging injuries, and give the nervous system a break from the endless cycle of prep and exertion. Most trail running coaches advise their athletes to take two to six weeks off of running at least once per year, especially after completing a demanding objective. Runners often follow that period of total rest with several months of unstructured outdoor time or cross-training. Cyclists and triathletes are known to take even longer—sometimes up to two full months of rest before they start their cross-training. But what about hikers? Does taking long walks through the woods count as an endurance sport?
In 2021, German researchers tested a group of walkers before and after they hiked 60 miles over a 24-hour period. What they found surprised them: the group’s post-hike health markers were similar to those of ultramarathon finishers. Admittedly, that’s a long way to hike in a single day. But those results indicate that periods of low-intensity, long-duration exercise can create muscular and metabolic stresses similar to high-intensity running events. Even if you’re not doing grueling, single-day forced marches, extended hikes leave a lasting impact. Do enough of them, and your recovery plan might need to resemble that of an ultramarathoner, too.
The Mental Benefits of Taking Time Off
Physical exhaustion isn’t the only thing an off-season break can solve. Like fatigue, mental and emotional stress can be cumulative, and forcing yourself to take structured breaks from a sport gives your brain time to reset. Regular off-seasons are one of the keys to keeping hiking sustainable as a lifelong hobby. Prolonged rest is also one of the most consistently prescribed fixes for athlete burnout—the very thing I was experiencing when I realized that hike prep had begun to inspire more dread than joy.
So, I asked myself a question for the first time since the 12th grade: What would Coach Stasko do? The answer was obvious: He’d take a break. He’d go drive his mustang and see his friends and update his Facebook page and do all the other things a cool, aging, earringed cross-country coach did. He’d chill out, reconnect with other hobbies, and give his legs all the time they needed.
So, that’s what I did. I confess I didn’t stop hiking entirely, but I did put a moratorium on long hikes above treeline, and I cut the time I spend on my legs each week from four days to just one.
Those changes have made all the difference. Over the last month, I’ve started to feel my stoke come back. Now when I think about hiking, I feel more curious than tired. Which, as far as I’m concerned, is a sign that it’s working.
How to Tell if You Need an Off-Season
So, do hikers need time off? Physiologically, it depends on your training load. But mentally, it all depends on you: If you feel like you need a break, you probably do. Here are a few symptoms that could mean it’s time for a proper off-season. If any of these apply to you, it might be time to step back and focus on other things for a while.
- You’re not enjoying hiking as much as you used to
- You’re thinking about quitting hiking altogether
- You feel slower than usual despite hiking consistently
- You’re tired all the time
- You feel overwhelmed at the idea of planning your next hike or trip
- You feel guilty or anxious about not getting outside often enough
- When you do hike, it’s out of a sense of pressure or obligation, rather than because you’re genuinely excited to get out
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