7 Ways Runners Can Avoid Overtraining

Feeling the burn after a workout is a great sign that you've done your job. That burn is a result of pushing your body past what it's used to. Challenging yourself toward harder, more intense workouts over a period of time is called progressive overload. Progressive overload trains your body to adapt to the new conditions being put upon it.

The key, however, is making sure that along with the progressive overload you are also giving your body time to recover. Ever notice how most marathon training plans have you run a 20-miler followed by a day of rest and a shorter "long run" the following week? Or the plan may have you increase your long run mileage a little each week up to a certain point and then drop off and build back up again. That's progressive overload or stress adaptation. Build up. Back off a little. Build up. Back off a little. Overloading the body and then giving it a chance to recover, adapt, and heal before placing more stress upon it, is a great way to train.

New runners and seasoned runners both can get caught up in the excitement of training. Before they know it, they've peaked, burned themselves out (physically and/or mentally) or worse, suffered an injury before race day. Below are some good tips to follow to get the most out of your training without overtraining.

1. Follow the 90 percent rule. When doing quality workouts (hill repeats, tempo runs, intervals, long runs), push yourself, but always leave something left in the tank. Think about pushing yourself up to about 90 percent of your maximum effort, but never give push it to maximum effort. After finishing a quality workout, you should feel tired. You should feel like you've worked hard, but you should also feel like, "Hmmm, I could have done a little more." This should be a good feeling, not something to beat yourself up about. Knowing that you've worked hard (close to maximum effort), but not crawling away from the workout and needing three days to recover will greatly benefit you in the long run. Doing every quality workout at maximum effort is an injury waiting to happen. Just knowing that you have that "extra" in you can really help you beat mental and physical fatigue later in a race.

2. Enjoy the easy runs. Almost every training plan includes easy runs each week. These runs are usually designed to keep your base mileage going and to help keep you limber in between quality workouts. Problem is many runners blast through the easy weekly runs as if they were quality workouts. If every run is a hard run, you greatly increase your chances of injury, peaking early, or mentally burning out. Also, running your weekly easy runs at maximum effort can put a damper on your weekly quality workouts and so they're not benefiting you as much as they should.

3. Respect your REST days. Forget the idea that rest is only for the weak. Rest is equally as important as that weekly tempo run or long run. Your body needs time to rebuild the muscle tissue that's broken down with each workout. If you never let your body rest, your fitness level can begin to decline affecting all of your runs, easy and/or quality. No rest is basically a fast forward to overtraining and injury.

[Click Here] to read tips 4-7 at Active.com. 

10 Tips For a Strong Immune System!

My family has ready caught the "cold" and it's only the beginning of September! And today I walked in Wal-Mart and they were giving flu shots. Yep, it's that time of year again. Well almost. Cold and flu season usually has its heyday a little later in the fall and winter, but some "bugs" are already going around. It's vitally important for any one, especially the young and elderly to do whatever they can to ensure a strong immune system and stay healthy during this time of year.

Runners tend to be really healthy, and sometimes that can be to their detriment. Not the being healthy part, but getting cocky about being healthy. Runners need to be really careful in the fall, especially if they're training for a big endurance event. Often when you train your hardest right before the taper your immune system can actually become weakened by the added stress. Ever been training and everything is going great, only to get "the crud" right before the big race. That's often due do to the training stress decreasing the effectiveness of your immune system and making you more susceptable to bacteria and viruses.

So, what's a runner to do? Listed below are 10 tips to help keep your immune system going strong and keep you healthy during your late summer and fall training.

1. Be careful not to over-train. Over-training can not only weaken the immune system, it can cause fatigue, sore muscles, lack of drive, lack of energy, and increased resting heart rate. If you're feeling fatigued, take a rest day. Better to take a day or two off from running and rejuvenate your body than to "stick to the plan" and drive yourself into the ground.

2. Get your "D"! During the winter you're exposed to less sunshine, the main source of vitamin D. Vitamin D is key to a strong immune system as well as strong bones, both important to runners. Taking a vitamin D supplement can help ensure you're getting enough. The daily recommended allowance is only around 250IUs, but more and more research is showing that higher amounts are safe and provide more benefits. (Because of my colitis, I take a rather large dose of Vitamin D each day, plus what I get in dairy products and I've seen no adverse effects and I've been taking it for several years.) Vitamin D is obtained from a few different sources. Research shows the D3 provides the most benefits. Be sure the Vitamin D supplement you purchase has D3 listed as the main ingredient.

3. Wash, wash, wash your hands! Simple, but washing your hands is one of the most effective ways to catching or spreading illness. Also, try to avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unclean hands. Carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer in your pocket or purse, or keep one in the car, for times when washing your hands is not an option.

4. Have a "spot of tea." Research shows that the immune systems of tea drinkers react much faster to bacteria and viruses than non-tea drinkers. They think it has something to do with L-theanine that's in the tea. It kind of "primes the pump" and puts the immune system on high alert for intruders. Doesn't seem to matter what kind of tea, either. Just be careful not to load it up with sugar!

5. Order mushrooms on your pizza instead of pepperoni! (Whole wheat crust of course.) Mushrooms support the thymus gland. This gland produces immune cells which increase your resistance to infection. Any mushroom will do, but Shiitake mushrooms are one of the best.

6. SLEEP! Be sure you're getting your Zzzzzzzzs. Your immune system actually does a lot of work while you're snoozing. If you cheat yourself out of sleep, not only will you not be well rested, you're body doesn't have the opportunity to release as much immune-enhancing compounds to keep you healthy when you're awake.

7. Eat your veggies, especially broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and kale. These are high in antioxidants that help protect you from viruses.

8. Snack on Almonds. A handful of almonds (~1 oz.) is a great way to boost your immune system. They are high in vitamin E which boosts production of immune cells that attack bacteria. Be sure to buy raw almonds. Steer clear of the heavily salted variety or the ones cooked in oil. Even if it's a "healthy oil" that's a lot of unneeded calories and fat.

9. Have some yogurt. Yogurt contains good bacteria that helps protect the body from the bad bacteria and infections. Yogurt also makes a great medium in which to put some fruit and low-fat granola adding even more vitamins, minerals and fiber. And men, hear this! Research has shown that eating nonfat or low-fat yogurt each day can help reduce abdominal fat in males.

10. Don't forget the C! Vitamin C has long been hailed as a cold fighter. Research shows that 8g of vitamin C a day will shorten the length of a cold. Doesn't have to be orange juice either. Bell peppers (red, green, and yellow) actually have more vitamin C than oranges.

FATIGUE.....It's Such a Drag!

Fatigue...It's a dirty little 7-letter word. We've all experienced it and the source of it can be almost too numerous to count.

Most of the time the source of the fatigue is temporary—late nights at work; a new baby in the house; exam time; a stressful relationship. Regardless of the cause, if you don't get on top of it, and set in place some steps to counteract the fatigue, you'll may go into that non-functioning zombie state from pure exhaustion.

Runner's can experience fatigue as well. It can be the stress-of-life-induced fatigue, but there can also be many other more running-specific sources for the fatigue.

One of the main causes of fatigue in runners is overtraining. Overtraining happens when you don't provide your body ample amount of recovery time. This often happens with runners using and over zealous marathon (or any race distance) training program. A good rule of thumb to follow when training is to alternate hard and easy days. Hard and Easy don't always refer to distance. The terms also refer to intensity. A short run can be "easy" if it's a 3-4 mile run at a conversational pace. Or short can mean "hard" if it's an interval workout at the track. Long can be "easy" if it's a leisurely 10-miler or it can be "hard" if it's a 10-miler at race pace.

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Throwing in a day or two of cross-training is a great way to give yourself an aerobic workout while giving your "running muscles" a break. And even a complete day of rest (meaning not doing anything) once or twice a week is much more beneficial that going full steam 7-days a week.

Overtraining can also be due to repetitive exercise when resistance training. If you don't vary your workouts and you're constantly subjecting your body to the same stress over and over, those muscles can become overtrained. A good rule of thumb is to wait at least 48 hours before working the same muscle groups again. So for example, if your do a chest/triceps workout one day, you should wait at least 2 days before working those muscles again. Professional bodybuilders will often workout a muscle group so hard in one workout, that they'll wait an entire week before working that muscle group again.

An elevated pulse is a good indicator of possible overtraining or even sickness such as a respiratory infection. If your waking resting pulse is elevated more than a few beats, you could have an infection or be suffering from overtraining. In either case, taking a day off may be the best thing. Rest is the best thing for overcoming overtraining. If rest doesn't do the trick, schedule an appointment with your doctor.

Improper hydration can also be a source of fatigue. Most people in general don't get enough water (2-3 liters) each day. If you fall into that categore and you're also not replacing the water you're losing through perspiration from running, you're risking dehydrated. A sure sign of dehydration is fatigue. In addition to your normal daily hydration requirements, you should drink 12-16oz of water about an hour before your run. One good way to determine how much you need to drink after your run is to weigh yourself before your run, then weigh yourself immediately after your run. For every pound lost, you should drink 16oz of water or sports drink. Of course you can't do this after every run, but if you do it on a mild day and once on a really hot/humid day, then you'll have a frame of reference to help you determine how much to drink after runs in various conditions.

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If you're running less than an hour, water is perfect. If you're running an hour or longer, a sports drink will be a better choice especially on hot/humid days because it will help replace vital electrolytes lost through sweating.

Lack of sleep, is a big-time cause of fatigue. Your body does most of it's repair and rebuilding while you sleep. If you're not getting enough sleep, then you're not giving your body time to heal. Plain and simple. Sleep requirements can vary from person to person. Teenagers need about 9 hours on average (mine seem to need about 15!). Most adults need 7 to 8 hours a night for the best amount of sleep, although some people may need as few as 5 hours or as many as 10 hours of sleep each day. Fatigue can result when your normal sleeping hours are shortend for whatever reason—stress of a new job, a new baby, or that heartburn you got from the 5-meat pizza you ate just before bed. If you're not getting your normal amount of sleep, then you need to back off on your training until your sleep hours are back to normal.

Low iron levels can be another cause of fatigue. If you've ruled out other possible causes of fatigue, it may be worth having your doc take a blood test to check your iron levels. This can especially be problematic for some women during their menstrual cycle. Sometimes just a change in diet can help boost your iron levels, but sometimes an iron supplement may be needed. (Check with your doctor before taking an iron supplement.) Good food sources of iron include: turkey, clams, enriched breakfast cereals, beans/lentils, pumpkin seeds, blackstrap molasses, canned beans, baked potato with skin, enriched pasta, canned asparagus

Sometimes you may not experience the fatigue during your run. For some the fatigue may come after the run. Insufficient post-run refueling can be the culprit. If you've had an intense workout, it's normal to feel tired, but if you're feeling fatigue that just won't go away, you may not be giving your body enough refueling carbs and protein after your run. A good rule of thumb is to consume a 4:1 ratio of carbs and protein within 30-45 minutes of finishing your workout. Oddly enough, lowfat chocolate milk has the optimal ratio of carbs to protein to help refuel tired muscles.

So, if you're experiencing fatigue, whip out this list and see if you can narrow it down. If this list doesn't pin down the cause for you, make an appointment with your doc.

Recognizing the Signs of Overtraining And How to Prevent It!

Do you feel that burn after a hard workout or a hard run? That's from pushing your body past what it's used to. Challenging yourself to harder more intense workouts (resistance training or aerobic training) over a period of time is called progressive overload. Progressive overload is how you train your body to adapt to the new conditions being put upon it. The key, however, is making sure that along with the progressive overload you are also giving your body time to recover. Ever notice how most marathon plans have you run a 20-miler followed by a day of rest and then the following week's "long run" usually isn't as long. That's progressive overload or stress adaptation. Build up. Back off a little. Build up. Back off a little. Overloading the body and then giving it a chance to recover, adapt, and heal before placing more stress upon it, is a great way to train.

The S.A.I.D principle (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand) refers to the idea that your body adapts to the specific type of stress put upon it. So, when an endurance runner pushes to finish that 20-miler in a specific time frame, his/her body is adapting to that specific type of stress being put upon it.

The problem is many athletes (aerobic or anaerobic) don't give their bodies time to adapt before imposing more stress on their bodies. So they never make it to the gain threshold. They're constantly stuck in the recovery period or worse, they become injured. This is called overtraining.
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Overtraining can also be due to repetitive exercise. If you don't vary your workouts and you're constantly subjecting your body to the same stress over and over, those muscles can become overtrained. A good rule of thumb is to wait at least 48 hours before working the same muscle groups again. So for example, if your do a chest/triceps workout one day, you should wait at least 2 days before working those muscles again. Professional bodybuilders will often workout a muscle group so hard in one workout, that they'll wait an entire week before working that muscle group again.

In running you should think more in terms of hard/easy. Hard workouts can include speed workouts such as intervals, repeats, tempo runs, hill-work, or long runs. Easy workouts can include short or mid-distance runs that are run at an easy to moderate intensity (60-75% of your VO2Max). So, if you do a hard run one day you should wait at least two days before running your next hard run.

Some common signs of over training include:

• persistent achiness, stiffness, or pain in the muscles and/or joints (beyond the typical delayed onset muscle soreness felt after a workout)
• waking up with an elevated pulse (good idea to take your waking resting pulse frequently to give you a base from which to compare)
• lack of energy
• fatigued and/or achy muscles
• frequent headaches
• feeling lethargic or sluggish
• drop in athletic performance
• not able to complete your normal workout
• depressed, moody, unmotivated
• nervousness
• lack of sleep and/or appetite
• weight loss
• lowered immune system

An elevated pulse is a good indicator of possible overtraining or even sickness such as a respiratory infection. If your waking resting pulse is elevated more than a few beats, you could have an infection or be suffering from overtraining. In either case, taking a day off may be the best thing. Rest is the best thing for overcoming overtraining. If rest doesn't do the trick, schedule an appointment with your doctor.

Sometimes It's Just Not in the Stars!

Sometimes the best laid plans go awry. In July, I began in earnest the training for my 11th marathon—Marine Corps. I and a group of my friends (some training for Chicago, some for the OBX Marathon, and the rest for Marine Corps) began following the F.I.R.S.T. marathon training plan. The plan consists of 3 tough weekly runs (speed, tempo, long) and 2 days of aerobic cross-training. All started well for me. The training was hard, especially in the July North Carolina heat and humidity, but we were troopers and hung in there.

I registered for the marathon before I decided to begin the 6-month personal training and nutrition consultant certification program I'm currently in. Of course, at the time, I thought I was Superman and figured I could handle school and training. Well, like I said earlier, "Sometimes the best laid plans go awry." During the first month of the certification program I could hardly move! Each day (four days a week) consisted of 2.5 hrs of lecture and 2 hours of working out in the gym. These workouts were above and beyond my marathon training. I still thought I was Superman and was hanging in there with all the required marathon training workouts. Well, the body can only take so much before it says, "Whoa, Dude! What are you doing?!" Basically I was overtrained. I was slowing down and getting know where fast.

To back up just a bit—earlier this year, I figured out that even though I'm 44, I could use the Boston qualifying time for 45-year-olds because of when my birthday fell. So, the big plan was to run Marine Corps in 3:30, qualify for Boston 2010, and set a PR as well. I have a couple of friends running Boston 2010 and my goal was to join them.

Back to being overtrained—about a month ago, once I realized a PR and a BQ were not in the cards, I decided to bow out of the race. You see (as many of you can attest to)being laid off, having a family of 5, and living on one income (my wife's) while in school full-time, can be quite a challenge. We're managing, but taking a trip to DC to run a marathon (just to run it) and not achieve a monumental goal, didn't seem fair to the family.

I'm only 44. There are many more marathons in my future and I'll get to Boston one day. While being a little depressed on the day of the race, I realized how fortunate I am. I have a loving family who is fully supportive of my life-transition and career change. What more could I ask for!

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PS: Dena (Chicago), Andy (Marine Corps), and Mike (Marine Corps)—my training buddies—all set PR's! Lisa is about to run the OBX Marathon and I have no doubt she'll blow away her marathon too!