how do you recover from overtraining????

blood work is in order?

desperate wrote:do I just have to take a month off with no running?

Yes. At least a month, though it could take 3 months or more.

desperate wrote:

.......I feel reasonably fresh for a day or two so I try to pick up the pace and my legs have nothing.......I went for a run last night and felt good, so I did a longer run today and t[r]ied to up the pace the last few miles and my legs just didn't have anything even though I felt fine at my normal pace.....

Don't pick up the pace then. Just because you feel good at normal pace doesn't mean you're all fixed. Stay easy for a few days or weeks and don't push it for a while. What's the hurry?

Assuming you know that the problem is overtraining, take two weeks off minimum with absolutely no running or cross training. If your problem is from too much distance this should probably clear things up, depending on how overtrained you are. If its from going too fast, you should also start out with slower runs when you come back and eventually rebuild to your normal (not overtraining) pace.

Agree, 2 weeks off and see how you feel

I'll concur. I tried to push through it and ended up sidelined for a month. Took me a good long time and plenty of rest to get fully over it.

The next time I felt it coming on, I took 5 days off and another week really easy and I was back to about 95%. If I would have had another week, I would have taken it, but it was the end of XC season and my team needed me.

I don't think that is always necessary to go to extremes, but sometimes it may be. I have been there and time off does help, but not always needed.

Syptom:

Take off a few days feel fresh then get back to "normal pace" and in a few days -horrible.

Opinion:

It may be the "normal" pace may need to be adjusted for a while. Even a reduction in mileage won't always get you back to adaption potential.

Personal example and remedy:

Months before-

Steady improvement in performance and volume. runs at 6:30-6:20 in between

1 Monday beginning of the month ( Tempo 5:10 pace, 1000s in 3 minutes)

-- Runs in between at 6:20s

2. Monday end of the month ( Tempo 5:20 pace- Same effort or greater, 1000s in 3:08 and then I bag the workout because I'm disgusted and depressed.

I take 3 days off get back to run a run at 6:20 pace and feel great. Do this for 2 more days and try to pick it up but feel awful.

What to do?

I adjust the intensity of my "easy runs" and my workouts.

So I take 2 or 3 days off, jog 2 or 3 days, then do my 1000s in ridiculously easy paces. ( 3:30 rather than 3:00). )Tempo in 5:50 pace rather than 5:10 pace) . I run ridiculously easy for my in between runs- 7:30-8:00 minutes vs 6:20s.

I do this gradually increasing the tempo and intensity. After a while my body "catches up" and I revert back to where I was and then improve from there.

Now this depends on where I am in the season.

Another example:

I ran a very hard track season and now I'm dead,( June or July) but still want to use my fitness to prove myself in road races. Considering I am interested in cross later( Oct, Nov)

I decide perhaps it may be a good idea to go up hiking and forget about running for a while. ( August 1-15) Now I slowly get back to it Aug 16 until I peak in 6-12 weeks later.

So that's my idea for what it's worth.