Forums >Racing>Sudden Extreme Drop in Performance
This is my first year as a college runner. My 8k times in my first 3 races were 28:20, 27:07, and 27:12. During a 2 week break from racing I began to feel sluggish on workouts, and eventually easy runs. My next race was a 30:35 with the last 3 miles at 6:30 pace (only 30 seconds faster than easy running pace). Since then I have been struggling to complete any run and am keeping up about 8:30-9 minute pace for 3-4 miles and then feeling exhausted. Does anyone have any explanations of what could be wrong? I've been running 65 miles a week since about halfway through the summer. My mileage is similar to my junior and senior years in high school, but the intensity is higher, and easy runs are much faster than I'm used to. I was tested for low iron levels last year, and I was fine. So I do not believe that that is the problem. Thanks for any suggestions.
Mono?
Runners run
Anemic?
Not enough food/calories?
Ferritin levels?
Go see the doc and get some bloodwork
Rebuilding my aerobic base....racing next year.....nothing to see here....move along now.
Take it from someone who made the same mistake, didn't realize it for longer, and had bad consequences...you are training too hard.
Right now you probably need a break (I know, its conference meet time, but your body will not care). Then back off on the easy run pace by as much as a minute per mile, the spring will come back into your step and your race times will come back down by the second half of indoor season. You are lucky it is only burnout and has not manifested in an injury.
I've definitely considered burnout as I do not agree with a lot of my coach's workouts, and have been trying to hold myself back almost the entire season to prevent it. There's a good chance I am burnt out, but I do not think it would affect me to this extent. Dropping 40+ seconds per mile in a race seems extreme for burnout.
Feeling the growl again
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
Why is it sideways?
Hi Joel,
I experienced this as well in my first year in college. It took until track season for it to hit me. I was running under 26 minutes in the 8k XC in the fall, but by spring at my nadir was running as slow at 17:30 on the track for 5k! I had increased mileage, intensity, and everything. It was awesome for a while and then the wheels fell off.
I ran great my sophomore year after a summer of easy running, and then got faster from there.
The first thing you should do is talk to your coach. Get tested for mono. But more importantly don't be afraid to ask him to alter your schedule or suggest alternative workouts. This is a great chance to establish a working relationship with him that hopefully will continue through all four years of your development.
I remember that my coach told me when this happened to me that if a first year runner ran as fast as they did in high school, then it was a successful season. You are adjusting to workload, academics, dorm life, new friends, etc. Hang in there, but definitely talk to your coach and get his perspective.
Good luck!
Also: get test for mono.
I realize I'm piling on.