How much is too much?

19 August 2018 - By Becky Grimwood

You are running faster than ever, or further than ever, you get a PB or SB, your fellow runners are all so amazed at how you have come back stronger from injury, or worked your way confidently through the pace groups, you get that euphoric glow after you feel that you have pushed your body to its max and have achieved more than you thought your body was capable of, you get high fives or kudos aplenty, you smile or chat your way around a social run with your friends. These are awesome feelings, right?

Well as coaches we want you to keep having these. Unfortunately, as most of us know, a runner’s life is not always that rosy. We can get so caught up in seeking these positive feelings that often we push and push our bodies until something snaps (both in the literal and metaphorical sense). This is overtraining.

Overtraining is something you might be doing right now, or might have done in the past. It is something which, if ignored or not understood, can cause a runner to be out of training for a week, a month, a year or more. However…it is something which can be managed and prevented.

Overtraining can also be seen as ‘under-recovering’ and is generally caused by one or more of the following 4 points.

1. Increasing your mileage too quickly.
2. Increasing your intensity/pace too quickly.
3. Failing to refuel for optimal recovery.
4. Failing to get enough rest or sleep for adequate recovery.

Symptoms of possible overtraining

If you experience these symptoms, consider looking at your training patterns and making adjustments:

• You are consistently tired and/or have a lack of motivation.
• Your pace seems to be dropping, or you feel like your ‘usual’ pace suddenly requires a lot more effort, as if you are running through treacle or you have weights around your ankles.
• Your resting pulse rate is higher than normal for more than a few days.
• You have aches, pains, niggles and injuries which do not go away. This is probably the most common symptom, and often takes the longest to recover from, especially regarding injuries.
• You seem more susceptible to illness – colds, coughing, etc.

What can you do to avoid overtraining?

1. Be honest with yourself – this is THE most important rule. Don’t think you are immune to overtraining because you are an experienced runner, you feel strong right now, or because you are following a set plan; LISTEN to your body as only you know how it feels. You are responsible for your own training choices.
2. Break your week into Hard ‘H’ days (e.g club ‘effort’ sessions on any terrain, races, tempo run at sub chatter pace), Medium ‘M’ days (e.g. runs at short conversation pace, longer slower runs aimed at building endurance) and Easy ‘E’ days (recovery runs – short mileage and think about pulse and breathing. Can you have easy conversation? No? Well go slower!) Alternatively, use ‘E’ days as complete rest from exercise or easy cross training days.
3. Never run 2 or more ‘H’ sessions back to back; this does not allow for adequate recovery. There is a reason our club tempo runs and effort sessions have a day of rest in between, and also why the coaches ask who is racing at the weekend at the beginning of an effort session. If you choose to do a harder run on Monday or Wednesday, run your club session at a reduced pace and stick to it, don’t be fooled by the ‘But I feel fine…’ devil on your shoulder. Ideally, follow up an ‘H’ day with an ‘E’ day. Include no more than 2 ‘H’ days in a week. If you attend club regularly and run tues as a true tempo run, then the tues and thurs sessions would be your 2 ‘H’ days for that week. If you are racing at the weekend or going for your longest ever run – again minimise the effort on one of the club nights to offset the extra strain you are putting on your body with the increased intensity at the weekend.
4. In the event of a niggle – don’t rely on Dr Google or Dr Facebook. Our members and the general forum public have maybe had the same injury/ niggle as you BUT they are not experts. The coaches can advise on training and set programmes etc, but again they are not the experts on injury rehabilitation. Should this occur, we would always suggest you seek out an expert opinion from a proper doctor or physiotherapist as soon as you can. Do not attempt to ‘run off’ a niggle, most injuries are quickly fixable if you catch them at the niggle stage rather than continue to run and make them worse. Consider regular maintenance sports massages, particularly if you are susceptible to niggles, have old injuries, or feel especially tight when stretching or ‘heavy legged’ when running. Also have your gait checked when getting new trainers.
5. Avoid excessive competition – both with yourself and with other club members. Healthy rivalry and using each other as motivation is fine, striving to go faster and further in every training session is not. Every runner in every session will have different strengths, weaknesses, high points, low points, heart rate, recovery time, will have fuelled differently, slept differently, or may even be on a specific training plan designed for them. Do not aim to ‘match’ this persons effort. You and only you can gauge your effort level. See point 1 again.
6. When increasing mileage: increase your weekly total by no more than 10% per week. You might feel able to do more, however if you do then you are risking putting in motion stress and overuse injuries. Some of these might even lay dormant for a while before flaring up apparently ‘from nowhere’, right when you think you’ve reached a training peak. This is also relevant when returning from injury/ a break in running. Do not attempt to come back at the same point as you left off from, this will almost certainly result in further injury. Never let anyone force you into a race or faster group if you don’t feel ready for it. See point 1 again.
7. Every 4 or 5 weeks, have a ‘cutback week’ in training : decrease total mileage or total time by around a third. Have easier runs and avoid hard efforts that week. You could also swap in some easier cross training.
8. Get adequate sleep – each person is different, but general ideals suggest 7-8 hours. When we rest our body repairs itself, allowing for a stronger body to tackle the next run.
9. Look at your nutrition and monitor what impact it has: how much fluid have you had in the day before/ the day of? How do you feel straight after your run, a few hours after? Carbohydrates are the best energy source for longer / endurance runs, protein for recovery. There are many, many articles online regarding nutrition and everyone has personal opinions, so please seek out those if you are interested. Most importantly do what is right for you (see point 1 again).
10. Consider including cross training in your weekly routines. Cycling and swimming both develop strength alongside cardiovascular fitness. Pilates, yoga or similar exercises help to stretch and strengthen muscles, as well as improving flexibility, balance and a strong core.

None of us know if or when an injury will occur and overtraining is just one cause. However, by being aware of the guidance above we can minimise many risk factors and hopefully increase our positive experiences when running.

Here’s to happy, healthy runners, to PBs and SBs galore, and to many, many more personal and club achievements.

Happy running all, see you at a training session soon.

Becky