Overtraining: The Downfall of Many Runners

When you've run enough races, when you've read enough running books, when you've listened to enough running friends, you know that there are a couple of irrefutable rules of running training.

One of them is this: If you overtrain, you will be sorry! If you are lucky, your only consequence will be that instead of continuing to improve, you will start to feel a bit draggy, and your times will get slower. If you are not so lucky - and this is far more common - the consequence will be more tangible in the form of an injury.

So, don't do it. 

That sounds so easy, but as a coach, I'll tell you, I've told many people that they are overtraining, that they need to cut back, that they need more rest, that their bodies are not getting enough recovery time, that it will be okay to take a couple of days off, that they can skip their long run this week, that it's too close to their goal race to do yet another long run, but time and time again, they do it anyway. 

I have a name for it, training inertia.

The problem is that when runners get in their groove, when they've been sticking to their schedule, they cannot stand to disrupt their momentum. Well, that's understandable, but when they need to cut back because their body is telling them they're doing too much, they need to listen. They forget that the end result of optimal fitness is the goal - or maybe a PR is the goal. Either way, overtraining will move them away from their goal, not closer to it.

The point is that the training is not the goal, sticking perfectly to a schedule is not the end goal, running a certain number of miles per week is not the end goal. Running schedules are arbitrary. What works best for one may not work best for another, and what works best for one person one season may not work as well the next. There are too many variables.

Training is the means to the end goal. It takes great discipline to stick to a training regimen, but it is harder yet to depart from that oh-so-carefully laid out plan. Yet, optimal training requires that you perform the most appropriate quantity and intensity of running and cross training throughout training, and to do that, you almost certainly will need to depart from the plan - or more correctly - alter the plan, from time to time, based on your body's feedback. Don't think of it as cheating on the plan; think of it as personalizing the plan to your own body. Isn't that ideal?

The wise runner follows his schedule only until his body says, "Whoa, too much, back off!"

Now, that won't always happen, but it often does, and the runner who turns a deaf ear is just plain foolish. That runner has lost sight of the purpose of the training. The wisest runner, on the other hand, is a keen observer, always checking for any sign that the body needs something different. It's much easier to blindly follow a schedule, but those who quickly respond to their body's needs will be rewarded in the end.

As in virtually every facet of life, more is not necessarily better. There is a fine line between pushing your body to achieve new goals and pushing your body just a bit too hard.

In the next post, we'll look at the signs of overtraining. 

15 Tips for Increasing Speed Part 3

11. Increase your base miles. Many people try to race and set new PR's after not completing an adequate macro cycle. In other words, they don't spend enough weeks going through the necessary training phases before goal races. If you are striving for a PR in a particular race, you need to carefully prepare for months in advance. Of course, the length of the preparation period/macro cycle depends on the distance of the race you're preparing for. Even if your goal race is a 5k, you will have a much better performance if you started your training/preparation for that race by building a base of at least 25 miles per week. If you are training for a goal 5k and don't plan on racing any longer distances, I still recommend building your once weekly long run to at least 9 miles.This will make it possible for you to taper effectively, which could will be a huge factor in increasing speed. If you have not done this in the past, you may find that it is the secret to greatly increase your speed and have a breakthrough race.

12. Eat more protein. Of course, your whole diet is important, but I have particularly found that many athletes do not get sufficient protein for the quantity of training they do. I suggest keeping track of your protein intake for a few days. It may be that your muscles cannot get stronger and can't recover properly because you are not consuming enough protein. I recommend listening to some podcasts about nutrition for athletes. A highly recognized national authority on nutrition for athletes is Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD http://www.nancyclarkrd.com/index.html. It could be that all you need to achieve a better time is a better diet.

13. Take a long, hard look at your running schedule. Does it make sense? It is carefully planned or haphazard? Are you training to be fit or is your training specific to what you need for the events you normally compete in?

14. Avoid any intense training sessions the week of any goal race. By that I mean a race in which you hope to set a PR. The only hard training you should do during that week is race specific. Even marathoners should not be doing any high mileage the week of a race. This will put you in much better position to run fast. No weight training, no boot camp, no spinning.

15. Take a weekly yoga class. This is an excellent way to improve core strength, increase balance, and work on flexibility. All will make you a better runner, and improve your form, which will facilitate increasing speed.

I didn't even talk about track workouts, tempo runs, and fartlek training, the three most traditional ways to increase speed. My goal here was to provide some not-so-traditional suggestions.

As always, be careful not to overtrain, i.e., work too hard too often, and don't do anything you are not properly conditioned to do. Keep in mind your age, experience, and current fitness level. Also, you wouldn't want to try to accommodate all of the ideas at once, and you should consider where you are in your training cycle before adding some of these ideas. If you are in the middle of your racing season, it may be best to wait until after the season and incorporate some of these ideas into your next macro running cycle. Then look for increased speed next season.