I wonder if there is a way to avoid it by changing the way top runners train.  I recall watching a World Cup MTB race where they interviewed one of the trainers with the team of one of the most dominant athletes in the sport.  He claimed that the athlete did not focus solely on riding as training, instead breaking his training time into thirds between running, weight work, and road/MTB riding.  I see so many top runners just cranking out miles running and maybe just throwing in a few quick yoga sessions or body weight workouts per week.  No one could imagine spending just a third of overall training time running...

I see some similarities to Burn-Out Syndrome, also the aspect that it might be a one-way ticket without full recovery ever again.

Another difficulty in dealing with Overtraining Syndrome could be that if you suffer a physical injury which forces you to pause, you can "see" something, maybe need surgery, be on crutches, wear a cast or bandage. But with OTS, there's nothing to "see", just to experience, so it can be very frustrating for athletes who are used to pushing themselves over anything that's not clearly "visible" (or sometimes even over clearly visible injuries) to settle with the diagnosis.

I have suffered from Burn-Out Syndrome, and never fully recovered. For me, running long distances is a way of dealing with my Burn-Out, and I guess if I was a top athlete who gets paid for running, I might be vulnerable to OTS as well.

The hope that more scientifically rooted advice for ultra runners will prevent OTS is small, in my opinion. Because if you are an ultra runner, you are not very likely to respect and accept limits, let alone your own limits. That's what allows you to succeed in ultra running, especially at an elite level. Maybe with ultra running becoming more popular, more athletes will learn about OTS (not through their own experience, though), and recreational runners will recognize their own propensity to it, recognize early symptoms, and just be aware of this possibility and its long-term consequences, just as ITB issues are "common knowledge" nowadays, and most runners (and doctors) will know how to deal with it for best outcome.

I wonder if there is a way to avoid it by changing the way top runners train.  I recall watching a World Cup MTB race where they interviewed one of the trainers with the team of one of the most dominant athletes in the sport.  He claimed that the athlete did not focus solely on riding as training, instead breaking his training time into thirds between running, weight work, and road/MTB riding.  I see so many top runners just cranking out miles running and maybe just throwing in a few quick yoga sessions or body weight workouts per week.  No one could imagine spending just a third of overall training time running...

I think Kilian Jornet does this because he switches to ski mountaineering in the winter and then back to ultrarunning.  They both compliment each other but he's probably avoiding the OTS and any burnout from being stuck in one sport.

interesting read- thanks for posting

 

I've met Mike Wolfe a couple of times, super nice guy- hope he can back to where he wants to be; those miles and hours of running he was logging are mind blowing (possibly literally! )

 

I'm probably safe from having to worry about OTS seeing I run a meager 4 times a week and on a very good week- 50 miles

 

This probably has more to do with age than anything else, but I found I performed better running 4 times a week vs five.   I've also found that strength/core training helps as well.  I also get a lot of hiking/backpacking year round, I think it compliments running pretty well and offers a nice variety.

 

Balance in everything is good 

I've done only 4-5 days of running for 10-12 years now.  Stated because it fit my schedule, but noticed I was running better.  It coincided with when I hit 40 and I read a research article about a 4 day running week for over 40's.

+1 on core.

I have some thoughts on the subject.

First, I often watch the Youtube video of Mike Wolfe racing Dakota Jones in the 2011 TNF 50 Mile Championship:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jIeqfKlRKs

I think this run video is pretty awesome, and it made me sort of follow Mike Wolfe's running after that. I was surprised to see that he quit his job to focus on running full time. I was disappointed to see how things went at subsequent races. I hope he gets all that worked out.

Next, and not really associated directly with running, I used to be weightlifter. And, I was pretty strong, especially in bench press, military press, etc. I used to push extremely hard with heavy weights when I was in the Marines. When I got to college, I took a weightlifting class just for an elective. I was pretty arrogant (confident?), and I thought I knew more than anyone in the class, including the instructor. However, he asked me to go with the flow and change my routine for that semester and just do the exercises he had for the class and see what happened. I listened to him, and to my great surprise, I got stronger, quite a bit stronger. I think that was the first time I bench pressed over 400 pounds, which was a level that had alluded me for a long time. The key to that gain was more rest between workouts. I think the same approach is helpful in running. I sometimes find it hard to hold back and push a little too hard. I don't know if I could bench press 200 pounds now.

Finally, some of these folks in the article push 150+ miles per week. I don't see how anyone can keep that kind of volume up for very long without negative effects. I run best when I can average in the 200 miles per month range for 2 to 3 months going into a race, 50 to 100 mile event. Of course, I am probably not going to have a super fast time, but I look at 50 mile per week averages as something that I can do and still keep my life in balance. There may be a few 80 mile weeks in those months, but they are offset with less mileage for that 50 mile per week average.