Thursday, June 10, 2010

Tired...

The past two training weeks have been the hardest yet, and not just because of mileage (in fact, my mileage hasn't really increased since mid-May). My legs have felt perpetually tired and sore for over a week, even with the extra rest day that I took on Tuesday.

I take cut-back weeks religiously every third week, and during those weeks I only run 20-30k. I don't think I'm overtraining. I don't feel the mental drag that tends to come with overtraining, and mentally I feel fine--even eager for each run.

So what's going on? Is it just regular fatigue from approaching the peak of the training period? I've been increasing steadily since January, going from 0 to 100k weeks in 5 months. I'm maintaining my highest training load ever. I'm almost done. Does that explain how tired I feel these days, or is there something else?

I feel like I'm not recovering well from the runs, and that concerns me because last year at this time I said the same thing and a week later I was injured. So I want to be careful... but I also want to recognize that my mileage is high and that's going to make me tired. And I haven't been sleeping well for the past few weeks, so maybe that is part of the problem too.

For now, I'll continue doing what I'm doing, but I wanted to record all of this in case I need to revisit it later.

Tonight, bed early! Long run tomorrow. Onward!

4 comments:

  1. Well I'm no expert Holly, but the only things I can think of that make a really noticeable difference for me in how I feel when I'm pushing it is:
    - the glycemic window (when do you hit it and what do you hit it with) I've noticed such a change when I hit it within 15 minutes with high-quality goods.
    - yoga and/or stretching (like really taking the time to stretch yourself right out). In fact ... that's what I should be doing right now! ;)

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  2. I'm pretty good about eating right after my long run (not necessarily after a shorter run), and lately I'm eating a lot during the long run too (goal is 100 cal every half hour). I *used* to stretch regularly after running but I fell out of habit quite some time ago. I guess I should get back on that. I may not be hydrating enough either... I know I'm not sleeping enough but that is normal for me!

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  3. Soooo stretching, hydrating, and snoozing! You went from 0 - 100 km weeks in 5 months and nothing's changed in the snoozing department? Get to bed Missy! ;)

    My trail running coach has told us that even just a quick 20-min power naps is awesome for training and giving our bodies a chance to repair.

    Can you sneak in 20-min?

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  4. it's not for lack of trying... I have a history of sleep issues and have been chronically sleep-deprived since 1999. :) For awhile the training was helping, and I was sleeping better... just the past couple of weeks have been rough. But Nytol is my friend... and I will keep working at it. ;)

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