Rrrrrrrrest Day?

No... don't make me...  can I at least swim? Maybe, but some times a complete day off might be an order. What criteria should you use to make this call?

1. You magically weigh 2+ % less than the previous day and/or your urine is dark yellow, both of which are signs of dehydration.
2. You're resting heart rate is elevated and/or your blood oxygen levels have dipped (below 95%). Both of these are also signs that you might be getting sick.
3. You've slept like crap more days than not for the past week.
4. You have no energy and/or are in an unusually bad mood (which may be the result of 3).
5. You've had a string of bad workouts.
6. You're nursing an injury and/or are trading a bunch of nagging injuries on a day to day basis.

The original Runner's World article had split these up into 10 things (I grouped some together because I felt they were the same problem), and came up with a scoring system for deciding if you should call it a day or not (0-1: go for it; 2-4: scale back the intensity of the workout; 5-6: start easy, and if you don't feel right, call it a day; 7+: rest). However, as I only have 6 things (and maybe really only 5.5 if you consider having no energy and being cranky the result of not sleeping), this obviously won't work. Plus, I think some things are more "severe" than others. So, here's my revised scoring system:

• Being dehydrated is pretty significant... so x2 if you are.
• Elevated heart rate and low blood oxygen will make paces seem more difficult, so a high intensity workout will suck, but you can still do something... so x1.5 for this.
• Sleeping, while important, can be overcome temporarily with caffeine... x1.
• Sometimes I feel more energized and in a better mood after I work out... although either of these things make getting out the door tough... so x1 again (note: if you're energy levels have been low for a while, consider getting a blood test, as there may be something bigger wrong).
• A string of bad workouts probably indicates that you are not recovered... so x1.5 for this one.
• Being injured and/or trading injuries for any length of time is not a good idea, and you should pay attention... so x2 to prevent more than one day off.

This puts me at a total of 9 points, so I'd like to propose another +1 rule (that I usually take into consideration) so you can use the 10-point scoring system:

• You have a race that you really care about that is close-ish (<15 days away), you've been training hard for a bit and you're just not feeling right (getting sick, nagging injury, etc.).