After finishing a long run, whether it’s an extended weekend route or a landmark distance you’ve been building up to, it’s natural to want to give yourself a well-earned break.

After my first half marathon, the thought of having a couple of running-free days after months of training sounded like bliss: 13.1 miles was the furthest I’d run and, not knowing how long to rest and recover, I gave myself an arbitrary week off running. But a week’s rest quickly snowballed into over a month off, and it got to the point that even the thought of putting my trainers on again felt like a slog.

Whether you’re training for your first 5k run, building up to a half marathon, racing the full distance or simply keeping up a new year goal of adding a few extra minutes to your weekly run, finding the sweet spot for a post-run rest is key. You need a break that isn’t so short that you risk injuring yourself but isn’t so long that you feel like you’re starting from scratch when you go for a run again.

This is how long you need to rest after a long run, according to running coaches and sports physiologists