Is there an Science behind taking 1-2 weeks off every 6 months?

Depends on how hard you've been training. Summer base, then XC season ... if you really went after it, then it makes sense to take a week or two off before getting into indoor as a preseason for outdoor ... then, if you really went after it, it makes sense to take a week or two off before building back up again.

Now, if you are just running for general fitness and throwing in a road race here & there, it probably doesn't matter as much. Unless you do that for a while, then really train hard for 3-6 months for a solid taper & peak. In that case, yeah, a week or two off will do you some good.

OP, if you have just been running for 7 mos and now you are "tired AF" then you probably should back off a little.

Maybe you have built up your mileage too much, too quickly -- in which case, reduce mileage and build back up *slowly* then reduce again (but not as big of a reduction) and you may be able to build back up to even more mileage.

Or, maybe you have too much intensity in your training. Easy runs too fast? Workouts too hard? Too many hard days per week? If so, a combo of easy jogging plus cross training for a few months should restore you. Then, make the adjustment in intensity going forward.

That's my 2c

Yes the science of recovery. When coaching high school I had my athletes take a week off after XC and indoor track and two weeks off after outdoor track. As an adult if your not taking breaks or doing cycles your spending to much time in any one phase so you will stagnate or even burn out. So when your older you can do a peak every 5-7mons depending on your event focus.

Appreciate the response so far. I do very structured training still, so in the late fall and throughout most of the winter I do base building, and then I slowly sharpen through out the late winter and through the spring and cut way back on the mileage. One of my theories for feeling run down around this time of year is that the base I built back in the winter slowly degrades throughout the sharpening phase and eventually your base mileage runs out and you need to reset and run through the cycle again.

Unless injured &/or in pain, taking two weeks off is too long. If a person were to take a week to 10 days off ever six months, do other activities. Don't be a healthy scratch. Don't just lay on the coach for a week to 10 days. Ride a bike, swim, hike, scuba dive, climb a mountain. A healthy scratch for a week does not help.

Maybe not science but common sense.
I personally structure my year about major races I want to do and the weather.

After a hard race I take it easy for a little bit. That is not just good for the body but also for your mental state. You need a break for your head as well.

Just do it in a way that fits your major races and the weather. Schedule your "breaks" in times of a lot of snow or heat so that you have to good times for the most important training.

I agree with this, unless the person is utterly exhausted and has been through a demanding summer of racing for example. I used to take one week off after track season and one week off after XC.

Hmmm, I dunno, that doesn't sound quite right to me. I'm no expert, but from what you are saying it seems like your sharpening phase has too much intensity, over too long a period of time.

Something has to give. Either you're running too fast on your easy runs and/or too many hard days per week. Or, you end up tired AF -- even though you have a solid base -- and need time off, instead of feeling fresh & strong and running your best.

Done right, in my understanding and in my experience, cutting way back on the mileage should have the opposite effect versus what you're describing.

Maybe is something in how you structure your blocks, and that makes it look like it's the "time you spent training" instead of "the training you did in that time"?

If by "science" you mean controlled studies, then I would say no. But it makes sense intuitively. Just as you need recovery days throughout a training block a recovery period after a major competition makes sense for physical and mental reasons.

Not sure it has to be 2 weeks for everyone, but some stretch seems right.

Sometimes a week off after each season is a good mental break, especially if you are a part of an intense year round program. But I agree, stay active and have fun while off of the running.

Injurie's?

That is magnificent.

I think I read JK write that the human body is pretty well set up for 6 month training cycles

I understand you should feel fresher during your peak and sharpening phase but you cannot hold that peak forever. Eventually the athlete is going to run out of base mileage and need to reset/rebuild. I feel like that's what happens to me every late may/early June.

I’m not aware of any studies, but just switching to only running over distance was rest for me and it never occurred to me to take a day off. The great British marathoner, Ron Hill, ran everyday for about 50 years.

I haven't seen any science but I would guess it has something to do with the amount of time it takes your body to rebuild itself after training.

Most people can't consistently get that 14+ hours of sleep and perfect nutrition needed to do hard efforts year round.

No. There's as much science behind this as there is behind "peaking" and "supershoes". People just need things to talk about/discus.

There's no study about this that would confirm. Better way to schedule one or two days off every week.

The human body is very much a creature of habit. If your body has become accustomed over a period of time to having those few weeks off each year it will now be expecting it. What you could try is reducing your time off gradually. So instead of taking the full 2 weeks off, try shooting for 10-12 days. See how your body responds. If that's ok, the following season try reducing it by another couple of days and so fourth.

The GOAT, Haile, ran 364 days a year (365 on leap years).