While reading through blogs, articles and the like, and watching some great YouTube videos, I noticed just how many other runners were having similar issues. Some had opted to adopt the age old "tough it out" approach, while others decided that maybe it was time to put their running shoes away and move on to other interests, many more fell somewhere in the middle. Most seem to be grasping at straws. I've got my own collection of straws I've grasped onto.
After running well through difficult conditions at Black Canyon 100k in February, my year took a nose dive. Truth be told, I am now certain that it was already taking a nose dive and my performance at Black Canyon could have actually been much better. Earlier, in 2014, I had a very disappointing showing at the Bear 100 in Utah and ended up cranking out an amazing 10 miles before dropping at the first aid station due to calf strain. Following that, I experienced a death in the family of a particularly close aunt – I took that particularly rough. At the same time, I was having personal issues with friends I had thought I could trust, who were proving otherwise. And the icing on the cake? My daughter fell from a bunk bed and cracked her skull, landing her in the hospital and then on a 3 month regimen of various doctors visits and activity restrictions.
You might be looking at this list thinking, "Yeah, Marc, that's life." And maybe most people would have dealt with it much better than I did, but all of this drama was slowly taking its toll on me. Just when I felt like I couldn't take any more stress, something else would happen and the stress would increase. Running was my only outlet, and I had decreased my running volume due to the injury in September. Truthfully, I also wasn't getting the old reliable "runners high" that I used to experience on or after my runs. Something was really off.
I noticed a trend in my own experience with running that seemed to align me more with the classic symptoms of burnout than simply a lack of motivation due to depression/anxiety. There seemed to be a medical link to what I was experiencing than just the mental component. I'm not a doctor, and I have no medical training (not even First Aid certified), but even I could see that there was something else involved.
In my own research, I went back to on of my favorite sources, Dr. Phil Maffetone, for answers. What I found was a newly designed site (or, I just haven't been there in a long time...) with an excellent article on overtraining syndrome. I read the whole article and realized that I had been experiencing symptoms of overtraining for the past year. I don't have the luxury of being able to talk to Dr. Maffetone directly, so some of this is self-evaluation, but some of the symptoms were at the root of many of my doctors visits over the past year. Nothing linked them all together until I came across this article; it was both a relief and a jolt into reality.
My self-evaluation has led me to believe that I am likely either on the verge of being in Stage 3 overtraining, or that I'm deep in stage 3 territory. With the exception of the women-specific symptoms, obviously, I have all of the symptoms of Stage 1, almost all of the symptoms of Stage 2, and definitely some of the Stage 3 symptoms. NOTE: I don't have the means to test my cortisol levels at home, but that is currently being done in a lab somewhere out east, I believe.
At this point, I'm at a fork in the road. I can either continue on, pushing myself through injury, lack of motivation, etc. (the "toughing it out" approach), OR I can take the more conservative approach and begin retraining. After weighing the pros and cons of both approaches, I decided that running (and physical activity as a whole) is too important to me to gamble with possibly hurting myself even further. Besides, the "toughing it out" approach doesn't seem to be working for me.
So, it's back to the drawing board for me. I need to re-evaluate my goals and my training. I need rest. I need change. Until I get some specific answers about my self-evaluation (some are forthcoming from medical professionals, while others I can do on my own) I will be following Dr. Phil Maffetone's suggestions:
- Decrease training time 50 to 70 percent, or more if necessary.
- Immediately cease all anaerobic training and competition.
- A helpful remedy for an overtrained athlete is walking, which can gently stimulate circulation and aerobic muscle fiber activity, and offers mental benefits much like those of meditation. Walking also helps redevelop the aerobic system—the first phase of retraining.
- Retraining, that is, building the aerobic base, should last three to six months and does not include any anaerobic training or competition.
Of course, exercise is important, but it isn't complete without a dietary compliment. I'm still trying to figure out what that needs to be. I have on my list to check my carbohydrate tolerance with Dr. Maffetone's Two-week Test, but that's two weeks of no carbs... I'm not sure if I can manage that. The important thing for me to remember with this is that it's not a "diet", it's a test. Two weeks of no carbs to see how the body responds. But it's two weeks of no carbs... ugh.
For now, I will be running, but running slowly. I'll be doing my best to keep my HR below ~135 bpm. There will be plenty of walking involved. But if I can see improvement and increase my aerobic capacity, it will be worth it.
---------------
Useful Links:
- Dr. Phil Maffetone
- Two-week Test
- The MAF Method - Really, this is the place to start.
- The Sock Doc on overtraining
No comments:
Post a Comment