“I’ve never regretted taking a day off from running—but I’ve regretted not taking a day off before.”

That’s what my high school distance coach told me as I stood on the sidelines watching the rest of my teammates complete a track workout at a practice one afternoon. This did nothing to ease my guilt for skipping the session though, and my mind started spiraling. I should be ripping some 800-meter repeats with my friends , I thought to myself, but an annoying pain in the ball of my foot said otherwise. The ache didn’t feel bad enough that I couldn’t run, but coach still prescribed me a rest day.

A big question ate at me: Wouldn’t missing a quality workout affect my fitness?

Turns out, I had nothing to feel anxious about. Coach’s advice proved correct—and my skepticism was wrong (who would’ve thought, right?). Sure enough, a complete rest day and some easy runs later, the pain in my foot subsided, and dare I say I felt even fresher than I had prior to bailing on that workout.…