Possibly overtrained - looking for recovery input (Read 527 times)

I had always thought that overtraining was a lame excuse for those too weak to put forth the effort...until this past Saturday. The week of 3/3 I only bagged 27 miles due to weather. The week prior I logged 31. So this past week I ran 44 miles, some of which was tempo work and an attempt at a progressive long run (scheduled for 20, only did 12.5 and things fell apart for me). That brings us to this week. I had planned something along these lines: Monday – 4 easy Tuesday – 12 easy Wednesday – 6 easy Thursday – 6 easy Friday – 3 easy Saturday – Long run TBD by how I feel (18-20 would be nice) This evening I set out for my 12 miler and only made it 8 miles. My heart rate was highly elevated. I don’t train via HR, but I monitor it. By mile 8 my legs had just about had it and my HR was in the low 160s which is what a tempo effort generally yields for me. I was running at my standard easy training pace. Next week I was scheduled for a cutback week along these lines: Monday – 3 easy\ Tuesday – 8 easy Wednesday – 8 w/5 x 600 at 5k pace Thursday – 3 miles Friday – 8 miles w/striders Saturday – 14 miles progressive What I’m considering is moving the cutback week up to this week making almost all of my miles easy miles, then next week doing something close to what I had slated for this week. I'm getting a bit antsy because, while training has gone well overall, my long runs haven't been what I would like them to be and the marathon's less than 10 weeks away. I'm pretty sure that's enough time to get things back on track, getting in two or three 20 milers, possibly one 22 miler and a few 18s What are your thoughts?

Well as you have likely found out, overtraining is a real deal. It's where your demon lives as you try to push the outside of the envelope (borrowing heavily from The Right Stuff). When my heart rate is up and everything else is constant, I know I need to either back it WAY down or completely rest. You were smart for recognizing yours was elevated. There are so many ways to overtrain, but if you are trying to increase mileage and speed at the same time, that's an easy way down overtraining street. Right now I would completely stop for 2 days and do NOTHING. Then ease back into it. I know it's tough to do but your body will thank you for it. Just cutting back on pace doesn't always fix the problem. Overtraining effects more than just your legs and cardiovascular system. It also effects the nervous system as well, and that's a lesson I learned the hard way several times. If you take Wednesday and Thursday off completely you can probably have a decent long run on Saturday and end up with a decent week. Or you can keep running and get seriously injured. As you can see, gaining running fitness is like sharpening a knife and if you get the point too sharp it gets too thin and breaks off easily. Do break yourself off!

What you are describing is likely lingering fatigue, not truly overtraining. Overtraining is an insidious syndrome where further training can actually reduce performance and short-term rest does little to bring about a recovery. Overtraining typically requires a minimum of a few weeks to reset the system. Being the expert in overtraining that I unfortunately am, I can tell you that if you are really nasty to yourself you can cause endocrine and blood issues that take months to recover from. At this point, do some slow and short jogs for a few days and see how you feel. When you feel good, then add another few easy days on. I doubt you are really overtrained. You ran way higher than your normal mileage last week, and it is normal for your body to need some extra recovery.