"The most important day in any running program is rest.  Rest days give your muscles time to recover so you can run again.  Your muscles build in strength as you rest.
"
Hal Higdon

"Anyone can train hard. Do you have the discipline to recover?"
Lauren Fleshman

"…that’s just how I am; I really take my recovery days to recover."
Kara Goucher

"Recovery is just as important and equally as productive as the training itself."
Jasyoga

Rest is a four letter word in many runner's vocabularies. It's hard to back off the training, especially when inundated with the message that you should push through pain and more is better. Runners need to build recovery into their schedules just like strength, stretching and yes, hard training.

Be sure you have rest days on your schedule and when you do, we have the threads to enjoy the recovery in.

And while you have your feet kicked up or you're rolling out your tire muscles, here's some great reads on recovery:

Recover the Right Way - Runners World
Recovery "Equipment" - Lauren Fleshman
Post Run Recovery - Jasyoga
The Importance of Rest - Active
The Importance of Rest Days - Nicole Less BS
Recover to Run Faster - Competitor
Post Race Yoga for Recovery - Jasyoga