Need for rest

It's that time of year again, and I gotta say I'm looking forward to taking a couple weeks off over Christmas holidays. That's a half-lie, since I'll probably still do an easy workout every couple of days (let's be honest, CrossFit is an addiction!), but I'm not going to worry about completing every workout that comes up on CrossFit.com, or feel guilty about relaxing for 3 days straight. If you look at periodization models for athletes, you'll notice they incorporate 4-6 weeks of rest within a one year training cycle. When was the last time you took a week off? I had a week off this summer, but since then I've been training 5-6 days per week. I can tell that my body needs a rest. I'm starting to wake up stiff in the morning, I'm feeling aches and pains all over my body, and I don't have a lot of push during my workouts because I'm always sore from the previous few days. The point I'm trying to make is that we can't perform at our best 100% of the time, so when the gym shuts down over Christmas take it as an opportunity to recharge for 2010.