Beware of Overtraining

Here I am sitting in front of my laptop after a two hour run”¦well actually I ran for 1:59:27 but here among friends I’m sure you’ll give me the other 33 seconds.

Anyway, the first thing that popped into my mind as I did my stretching was the fear of overtraining.

It’s happened to me before and I am hoping that it doesn’t happen again.

For those who are training for their first full or half marathon the obvious question that continues to run through their head is, “Just how far should I be able to run BEFORE the day of the big race.”

Oh I have been there. While training for my first half that question bothered me so much that on Labor Day, some four months before my first half-marathon, I went out and ran almost 14 miles.

Then in December I tried to work too hard on speed and overdid it”¦and it cost me a week of training.

It’s very easy to fall into the overtraining syndrome”¦especially if this is your first real long distance race.

First you worry about doing the distance.

If that isn’t enough you may also be concerned about your pace and just how fast you COULD go if you went through the perfect training regimen.

Even those who have done these long distance races are prone to overtraining because we want to always do better than our last race”¦we want to be faster”¦stronger”¦.and more refreshed when we finish.

So how do you know if you are overtraining?

It’s an individual kind of thing. Overtraining for me may be just basic training for the next person.

There is one voice who you should listen to when you are within one month of a long distance race”¦that voice emanates from your body.

If a day or so after your most recent workout if you feel a new pain or ache that you haven’t heard before that’s your body saying, “I think we need a break or something serious could happen.”

Overtraining could result in a pulled muscle, a possible stress fracture, or just about anything that could set you back.

You don’t want a setback with only a couple of weeks to go.

For the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend the key is to level of right about the first week in December.

I won’t tell you what you should do but I will tell you what I do.

I try to run one long distance once a week from now until one week before the race.

To me, a half-marathon runner, that means no more than 10 miles once a week.

I allow myself only two other training runs during the week, both of which are no more than 6 or 7 miles long.

The week before the race I will do a long run exactly one week before the race”¦.and at a slow pace.

Five days before the race I will run 7 miles and three days before the race I will do about 6 miles”¦I want fresh legs for the big day.

I will be very careful with my speed training or interval running. Don’t want to pull a muscle”¦.thus any interval running will be very subtle and actually that’s the best way to go.

For you marathoners the last month becomes even more of a personalized matter because everyone has a different recovery system and hopefully by now you know what you need and that information is vital in helping you how close to the big race should you be doing your last long run.

So be vigilant in your training but don’t do anything drastic.

These distances are long and so is the training”¦.with the short window in front of us we all have to beware of overtraining.

Good luck.

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One Reply to “Beware of Overtraining”

  1. I can’t agree with you more. I was training for my first marathon (Disney) and over did it. In fact, stress facture in my hip. I have been on crutches for 6 weeks now and looking at a very long recovery. I was following a training program but did my training runs too fast. Definitely take it easy as you train and don’t worry about the speed, it will come.