Last week was my first week hitting 50 miles per week and I felt pretty good besides some fatigue. But, today I tried a tempo and my pace was slower (6:05) from my usual tempo pace (5:50). Additionally, my sleep hasn’t been as a good as it should be either so I am aiming for 8-9 hours every night from now on. However, should I be concerned about overtraining or should it just be written off as general fatigue that will pass and continue with my training?
needsomeguidance wrote:
Last week was my first week hitting 50 miles per week and I felt pretty good besides some fatigue. But, today I tried a tempo and my pace was slower (6:05) from my usual tempo pace (5:50). Additionally, my sleep hasn’t been as a good as it should be either so I am aiming for 8-9 hours every night from now on. However, should I be concerned about overtraining or should it just be written off as general fatigue that will pass and continue with my training?
Not enough data to tell. Generally, best to err on the side of caution and back off for a few days if you are unsure.
One poor workout isn't necessarily an indicator of overtraining. Fatigue and soreness are part of the process. If you maintain your new mileage plateau for another 2 weeks, take an easy week for recovery, and are still struggling with workouts after that, then consider stepping back the mileage an/or intensity. But until then, as the saying goes, trust the process.
I mean today was a bit more humid than past days and my build up was 5 miles more every week starting at 30. But, the week before I hit 50 I only hit 35 because I was sick for two days. But, I just continued with my assumed progression.
minong wrote:
One poor workout isn't necessarily an indicator of overtraining. Fatigue and soreness are part of the process. If you maintain your new mileage plateau for another 2 weeks, take an easy week for recovery, and are still struggling with workouts after that, then consider stepping back the mileage an/or intensity. But until then, as the saying goes, trust the process.
So if I maintain my mileage for another 2 weeks without continued improvement I should take off or do an easy week?
Your body's just adjusting. I had the same problem when I raised my mileage from 35 to 45 my tempo pace went from 6 flat to 6:10. Now 3 weeks later I'm at 5:45. So you'll be fine most likely. (Not a lot of info so not guaranteed)
go by feel, go by time. if you feel exhausted all the time and want to sleep. if your diet has gone to crap and you have lost significant weight. if you start laboring through runs, no top gears, and your times go backwards.
but this is also the middle of summer and heat and humidity can also knock you down. my suggestion is push your runs back earlier or later. i ran daybreak or after dark. do that, see if you bounce back or still feel like heck.
last point, but if you are preparing for a season or event, keep in mind the goal. all manner of nincompoops on here who seem to think the mileage is more the point than being healthy for their season, or preparing for and setting PRs at races. if you start to feel unwell or physically beat up, it's not even the season/event yet. ease up.
personally i think this is all overrated unless you are pro level. it reminds me of my college soccer coach who would run us in the ground preseason, get early results, but the team would be suffering attrition problems by october. the idea is to finish a season without breaking. the idea is to not peak meet or game 1. to me, this is prep work, not the season, if you feel off, back off or come at it different.
side point but even if you don't buy my approach, the rule of thumb i have always heard is increase mileage 10%. 35 mi -> 50 mi is 43% -- nearly half more. you're excusing it as "but i was sick that week." that is besides the point. the rule of thumb is not based on what you could have done the week before usually. it's based on what you put your body through that week -- actually.
what you are telling us is you were sick, ran less than usual, and then picked the next week to up the distance not a little, nor back to pre-sick, but up by nearly half.
you skipped some steps and worse did so while pretending the week before was full then making excuses after that you were sick. we either acknowledge we were sick and adjust accordingly or we wander off into nana land and try and hit big numbers. your body will prefer the more controlled approach.
side side point but treat the limited increases like a pitch count in baseball. i am sure the all star pitcher could throw a bunch more pitches. but this is not a spring training test of how many pitches you can throw, or a manliness test. this is (to the extent we can) protecting yourself from getting hurt or sick later by stopping yourself when you want to go nuts.