Forums >General Running>Overtraining
Hi all,
I've been running for 4+ years now and recently ran marathon #5 (Boston) in April. I probably didn't rest up enough since Boston and got back into training a little too soon. Looking back, there were some warning signs starting in early to mid-May. Runs that should have been easy felt tedious. I blamed it on rising temperatures. I had Escape from Alcatraz to train for on June 11. I found myself needing to take an extra recovery day here and there and thought I was listening to my body but apparently not enough. Since Alcatraz I felt stale; my speedwork was a bit slower than planned or I'd have to cut it one rep short. A little over a week ago I decided to start resting up but my idea of rest was to cap my workouts at an hour and keep them all at a very easy pace. Then I woke up one day and was so exhausted I could barely walk. I'm on day 3 of only walking and I'm still very moody, lethargic, and just generally feel like shit. I'm waiting for the results of blood tests.
Has anyone else gone through this? If so, how long did it take to bounce back? Besides antioxidants, fish oil to reduce inflammation, and BCAA's, are there any supplements I can take that will help?
Btw, I am eating ridiculous amounts of food even though I'm not training and gaining weight at an alarming rate. I'd like to stop but it's hormonal. :-(
Mariah
For supplements, I'd definitely recommend calcium-magnesium pills. They get essential recovery minerals into your body. A little pricey, but definitely worth it for your training. Cheaper option could be regular epsom salt baths, that will hopefully help in the recovery process too. Being a female marathon runner, there is a 99% chance you are low on iron, I'm sure the blood work will tell the full story of that as well. Hope you get back soon!
You describe something that came on suddenly after cutting back on training. That sounds more like some sort of infection, possibly aggravated by heavy training.
Do you have Lyme's disease in your area? About 1/4 of Lyme infections are not associated with ticks.
Do a lot of walking, get a lot of sleep (2-3 hours more than normal), and convince the doctor that this needs to be looked into until a cause is found. Good luck, and let us know how things work out.
You describe something that came on suddenly after cutting back on training. That sounds more like some sort of infection, possibly aggravated by heavy training. Do you have Lyme's disease in your area? About 1/4 of Lyme infections are not associated with ticks. Do a lot of walking, get a lot of sleep (2-3 hours more than normal), and convince the doctor that this needs to be looked into until a cause is found. Good luck, and let us know how things work out.
Thanks. I don't think we have Lyme disease in Oregon. I'm going for a blood draw today to hopefully rule out other issues but it does seem correlated with overdoing the training.
Thank you! I had my iron level checked recently and it was good, only because I supplement with liquid iron and make an effort to eat more red meat since I was borderline anemic 2 years ago. I definitely have been doing a lot of walking and sleeping about 11 hours a night. I did a 3-mile run today for the first time in a week, and my pace was a blazing 10 mm. I think I'm on the mend but it's going to be a long recovery process.
Dream Maker
When I decided to train for my first 50 mile after running 40 on a whim in June, I ran over 2000 miles in 6 months - lots of marathons and ultras, and at a higher weight than most runners because I tend fat. In August I ran 42 at a good pace after 60 miles in the previous 6 days and felt like I could keep running. By November, I was struggling to finish marathons an hour slower than before. By race day, I had to stop at mile 14 not able to run another step despite a taper. I left the watch at home and. didn't run over 10 miles again until March, at which point I finally did finish my first 50 miler. It made me a believer in overtraining. Lots of factors play in- including nutrition, sleep, and weight- not just training and current ability, Forget the watch and plans for a few months and run for fun is my advice.
Just work on drinking a ton of water and getting lots of rest. try stretching or massage to help drain fluids and lymph nodes throughout your body. But I would really recommend getting this checked by a doctor as it does sound like a deeper lying issue such as an illness or infection.