Fine Line Between Peaking and Overtraining!

One of the challenges all athletes, who are trying to improve, come up against is walking the fine line between over-training and peaking for a particular competition or series of competitions.  I define a competitive athlete as anyone who is striving to be the best they can be at their particular sport or sports. Over training happens in almost every sport, but can be particularly insidious to runners and cyclists.

The ideal is to gradually build up ones training and intensity to a peak just before competition and then have a slight rest phase called a taper to allow the body to regenerate itself without losing the peak competitive edge one has built up. And, to do this without stressing the body to the point of breaking down or over-training.

So what exactly is over-training? There is no specific blood test or physical examination that can show that someone has Over-training Syndrome, but there is a list of symptoms that if you have at least two of more of, may indicate the you are over-trained. They include:

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

Physical

• Low energy levels
• Decreased training capacity and tolerance
• Decreased levels of performance including, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance,
• Strength, and power

Physiological

• Altered resting heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration
• Chronic fatigue
• GI distress
• Sleep and eating disorders
• General muscle aches and pains and increased incidence of overuse injuries

Psychological

• Loss of enthusiasm for the desired sport or exercise
• Decreased self-esteem
• Sensitivity to stress

Biochemical

• Decreased storage levels of muscle glycogen
• Altered glucose regulation
• Decreased serum testosterone
• Increased cortisol (“stress hormone” levels)
• Adrenal stress

I once got to a point in training for a particular competition, where out on my long run I could not get my heart rate up into the normal range for the effort I was running. I felt tired and lethargic and was straining to keep my normal easy pace, yet my heart rate was 5-7 beats per minute slower than normal and it was not because of a difference in weather conditions. This was a classic symptom of over training! I had ramped up my weekly mileage too much too soon over a 4 week period and my body responded by sending me a signal that is was shutting down. So for the next two weeks I did not run any distance more that 8 miles and I cut my weekly mileage in half. In two weeks I was feeling great and gradually began to rebuild my mileage at a more reasonable rate of only 10% per week.  Prior to that I had built more like 25% per week for at least four weeks strait resulting in Over-training Syndrome!

So how do you find that fine line between peaking and or building intensity or endurance without over-training? The key is to gradually build using the 10% rule for increasing mileage. But, intensity is a little more difficult. One general rule for intensity or speed training is to not run more than 10% of your weekly miles as speed work. As for racing the general rule is a day of rest for each mile you have raced i.e a 5K would require three days of rest and a 10K six days of rest. Rest, of course, can be anything from not running at all to running shorter very easy efforts. My own personal opinion is that for Half Marathon and Marathon you only need about 3/4 day of rest for each mile run before resuming a normal running schedule again. According to some studies it can take up to 4 weeks for full muscle recovery after a full marathon and that is without any running at all. Most runners would go crazy taking a full four weeks off from running. I believe that for best recover from a marathon, and still keeping active and fit, one should continue to run but not more than 60 - 90 minutes at a time and then at a very easy pace. After two weeks one can resume building intensity and endurance over the next 6 weeks back to where they left off. But, everyone is different and some my need more or less time. Half marathon would be about half of this time period.

It is a really good idea to keep a training log so you can look back and see where you might have gone wrong if you develop any of these symptoms, and then modify your training for a while until the symptoms have disappeared for at least two weeks. Then gradually resume building again. Some of the things I believe you should put in your running log are listed below.

• Heart rate
• Distance
• Training frequency, intensity, time
• Sets and repetitions
• Passive and active rest
• Body weight
• Levels of muscular fatigue and soreness
• Acute and/or chronic repetitive stress injuries  
• Weather
• Shoe Mileage

I understand how easy it is to fall into the trap of over-training! I have done it myself several times and the worst was the time I fell into depression! Believe me when I say you do not want to go there! Train hard but use caution and build at a reasonable rate in both your weekly miles and your speed training. Always make sure you are getting enough rest between hard workouts. Follow the general rule of easy, hard, easy, hard days.

Happy Trails,

Russ