Comments on Running Injury Free: Overtraining In Your Running

i put myself into full-on parasympathetic overtrai...

2010-12-21T15:46:34.606-07:00

i put myself into full-on parasympathetic overtraining in just 20 days of hard low-carb dieting combined with weightfliting, cardio and interval training (I'm a bodybuider) combined total of only 5 hours a week.

Had a resting HR of just 37. Didn't have another period for 3 months after I resumed normal training and eating.

People in hard training need to eat enough. For me it was clearly just the calories alone that did it, since my workload was only 2/3 of normal, maybe less.

Hi Matt, I would say yes- you are in the sympath...

2010-06-14T18:08:39.009-06:00

Hi Matt,

I would say yes- you are in the sympathetic overtrained state. DON'T ignore it. I'm dealing with the parasympathetic stage now... brutal.

okay so I have a little different situation. I am...

2010-04-02T09:30:37.275-06:00

okay so I have a little different situation. I am a division 1 distance runner and going into my sophomore year(summer before) My mileage was beginning to get pretty high. My highest mileage week before this summer was 70 and as I got above that my body felt more and more tired but nothing major. My problem really began to occur towards the end of an 86 mile week. Thursday of that week I got NO sleep at all. I laid in bed and just couldn't sleep. The next 3 nights I slept an average of about 3-4 hours a night. I was running 86 miles that week all in singles. I didn't experience any of the other symptoms other than just being sore and tired. All of this training was prescribed by my coach, I didn't do anything I wasn't supposed to. I thought it might have been a relaxation problem at first but then came across this overtraining syndrome in books. During the fall season my mileage got up around 80 and I was fine. I hit 85 miles again and again began having trouble sleeping. This time it was just a couple nights of 4-5 hours of sleep. I know my body is strong enough to handle this type of training. I have great p.r.'s to back the type of training I do(15:00 5k, 8:40 3k, 25:15 8k) and I know there are many others on our team that have had no problems with the training. Am I overtraining?

Anon, I think I understand your feelings to a degr...

2010-02-23T09:33:46.701-07:00

Anon, I think I understand your feelings to a degree. We do feel great after a run and want to push harder each day to increase our success and good feelings. It is good, though, to run heavy/light, because our bodies need at least 48 hours to recover from a heavy run. Your runs actually damage your body cells. Running is destructive to our bodies! It's during rest after a run that our bodies repair the damage to the cells and in the process become stronger. Thus, getting rest after each run is not only wise, it is necessary!

Heavy/light means that one day you have a good run (heavy stress on your body) and the next day you do a shorter run or a slower run or both to put less stress on your body. Some people will take the next day off from running and do cross training such as light cycling, light swimming, walking, hiking, etc. The key is that you have a day of heavy stress and a day of lighter stress.

Running heavy/light and making small increases in your distance or speed will help you avoid overtraining. Be aware that it is normal for runners to hit peaks and then go into a slump. The slump is your bodies way of telling you that it needs rest. The way to get out of a slump is to take a day or two or whatever you need off from running and do light cross training or even days of complete rest. Then, when you feel OK, go back into your running.

In the meantime, observe your body during and after each run for signs of overtraining. The signs are listed in my post. If you have some of the signs, back off for a day or two or what ever you need to give your body time to recover. And, remember the 48-hour thing. Consider days of light stress as being part of your training.

I Love to run each workout I aim to push myself ha...

2010-02-23T08:13:44.590-07:00

I Love to run each workout I aim to push myself harder than the last day.I even LOVE the way I feel after a hard workout.I can do this for 6 days and not feel HORRIBLE untill that 7th day.I cant even walk without it being a struggle.Then it takes about 3-4 days to get back into the swing of things.
I bet i am overtraining but I just dont know what to do, i feel like i am cheating if a run an easy day.

Anon, your symptoms sound just like my symptoms af...

2009-12-08T21:46:09.794-07:00

Anon, your symptoms sound just like my symptoms after I had blood clots last January. I had no strength or endurance. I gained 38 pounds in two weeks due to swelling of my waist and legs. I ran 7 miles two days before and could only *walk* 100 feet afterwords. Now, after 10 months, I can only run 1/3 mile and then I have to walk about the same distance to recover. My total distance of running and walking is only up to four miles per run.

Since you're still suffering from an injury a year ago, I would suggest that you see a doctor ASAP. Your injury apparently isn't a "normal" one that you can treat yourself.

hey, this is just an update from my previous messa...

2009-12-07T16:38:00.881-07:00

hey, this is just an update from my previous message. i have taken so far about 4-5weeks of complete rest, the soreness in my legs have gone down, but are STILL present. it's like a month of rest for me is equavilent to a day's rest for any other runner, i don't know how much rest im going to need, but all my muscles still feel really over worked, i went to try weights on upper body, but my musles feel fatigued and i feel no lactate respone whatsover, im not sure if i will be able to get back into running...its crazy that im still feeling these symptoms from training during the summer from more than a year ago...(and something i didn't mention but thought was interesting, the list say weight loss as a symptom..i have done the opposite, since last year xc[and i haven't gotten taller] i've went from 122/123 lbs to 138lbs weight change, so i gainded weight, but i think since im experiencing a lack ofappetite, i think it killed my "used to be" great metabolism, in result a weight gain rather than loss of weight...)im at a lost for what to do at this point...

Thank you very much!

2009-11-18T14:25:51.927-07:00

Thank you very much!

It's good, Evan, that you have your diet and h...

2009-11-12T00:54:17.085-07:00

It's good, Evan, that you have your diet and hydration under control. It sounds like you have a good plan for the coming year. I want to congratulation you on listening to your body and recognizing your symptoms! Good luck in your spring training. Let us know how that goes for you.

Thanks for the suggestions. I seem to have most of...

2009-11-09T14:47:23.079-07:00

Thanks for the suggestions. I seem to have most of the overtraining symptoms:fatigue, reduced concentration, troubled sleep, irritability, decreased performance, delayed recovery from training, increase in injuries, chronic muscle soreness, frequent minor infections, and decreased enthusiasm for training. On the other hand, I have a really good diet that I follow carefully, and I hydrate well too. I think it just comes down to that my body couldn't handle that kind of mileage, and I peaked way too early. Of course it is too late for all this now, because I was the 5th man on Varsity the whole season, and now I lost my chance to win a state championship. I guess I just have to prove myself during the winter and spring track season. I am going to take 2 weeks off between cross country and winter track, without any running. I am going to try to stay under 40 mpw for track.

Another comment on food. You need to eat enough fo...

2009-11-07T20:08:50.554-07:00

Another comment on food. You need to eat enough food to maintain your current weight plus replace the 4500 calories you burn each week. Probably more like 5000 calories. Get rid of sugar, refined flour, sodas, coffee. Eat foods with a medium and low glycemic index. You can google glycemic index or similar words to learn about that. If you're hungry, eat some nuts instead of a candy bar. Drink 4-5 glasses of water each day.

I don't know your physical condition, so my co...

2009-11-07T20:03:15.433-07:00

I don't know your physical condition, so my comments may be off mark. However, the pattern I see is that your overdoing it, and your body isn't ready for that level of training. You worked up to 45 mpw. You felt great during the summer. You had two great meets. Your third meet wasn't as good as the first two. You went downhill from there. Colds are common symptoms of bodies that can't handle the stress they are receiving.

Be sure you get a good night's sleep each night, and be sure you have a good diet. Approximately 65% complex carbs, 20% protein, and 15% fat (no trans fats). If you're not already doing this, take a rest day before each meet. 45 mpw means you're burning about 4500 calories, which translates to a pound and a third each week. So, don't skimp on food, just make sure it is proper food for an athlete.

Talk to your coach about your performance. If you wern't on a team, I would suggest that you take a week or two off for rest (light cross training is ok during the week), and then cut your distance by 25-50%. When you resumed your running, be sure you run heavy/light and follow the principle of the 10% rule. But, since you're on a team, you need to get your coach involved. I just hope he is an understanding person. and not a "no pain, no gain" guy.

Go back and reread the list of symptoms of over training and see how many fit you. Start taking your wakeup heart rate each morning.

My situation is very similar to Anonymous. In my s...

2009-11-07T09:27:53.171-07:00

My situation is very similar to Anonymous. In my summer going from freshman to sophomore year (high school), I trained very diligently for cross country, slowly working up to around 45 mpw, and I felt amazing during the summer. No pain, no soreness, just flying through my runs. I dropped down the mileage a little bit during the season, and my first meet was very successful. My second meet was the best of the year, I was really in tip top shape. My third race I did not run as well, but still was a good showing. I then got sick and had a bad race the next week (attributed that to the sickness), and continued to have worse and worse performances, got sick again 2 weeks later (both times it was a bad case of the common cold), and finally culminating in a horrid performace at sectionals, causing me to lose my spot for the state meet. The last 2-3 weeks of the season I felt tired, my legs were always heavy, and even though i got a very large amount of sleep, I was still tired during the day and had trouble keeping my eyes open. My quads and calfs sometimes had minor pain during my runs as well. I am very frustrated with all of this, what should I do to ensure that this does not happen for track season, and how can/should I recover from it?

THANKS very much for those suggestions!

2009-09-28T08:15:30.042-06:00

THANKS very much for those suggestions!

Anon, If you running for yourself and not on scho...

2009-09-23T12:13:47.022-06:00

Anon,

If you running for yourself and not on scholarship, I would suggest that you continue taking it easy as you did over the summer. I would also suggest that you include light cross training, such as swimming or cycling, to help keep your body "toned up" while you recover. In this case you could take as much time as needed for your recovery.

However, being on a scholarship complicates things. There could be other factors that are involved, such as your diet and your sleep. And, being in college, you have the stress of classes. So, my suggestion is to talk your coach and the appropriate college officials to see if they can help you make contact with a good sports doctor. It sounds like you need professional help with your recovery and with your future training so you don't have a relapse into burnout.

I was getting ready for my first cross country sea...

2009-09-23T11:26:29.094-06:00

I was getting ready for my first cross country season, and I trained all summer doing about 50miles per week and at least two workouts a week. this was all great, and i never felt better, but I didnt rest between the transition from my summer training and my cross country season. I ran my best times (17s in the 5k) at the beginning, then by state i ran (19s in the 5k). I was so burnt out. but i rested for about 3-4days, then continued training for track, did awfull in my track season. So i baiscally trained for about 11-12month with minimal rest. I took still ran over the summer, but took it easy, but i still feel fatigued (dead legged, heavey legs, lack of motivation) but now im running in college and struggleing cus im menatlly and physically dead.i feel like im just going through the motions right now, but its hard to quit cause im on a scholarship so im stuck. WHAT SHOULD I DO AND HOW MUCH REST SHOULD I TAKE?

Went into parasympathetic stage after sympathetic....

2009-07-31T10:18:36.242-06:00

Went into parasympathetic stage after sympathetic. Resting HR suddenly went from long-term normal 48bpm to 52bpm for a week (sympath. stage?) to sudden 43 bpm over two days (parasymp.) and BAM! Immunity drops like a stone, bad chest infection and laid out for a week. Slowly rebuilding. I'm a road cyclist.

Had the elevated heart rate and disinterested runn...

2009-04-27T06:02:00.000-06:00

Had the elevated heart rate and disinterested running state that suprised my household. This happened 2 weeks from taper wherein I rested but faulted a bit getting back into the swing of things. Ran a pb but not in the time I originally planned.