Are You Listening?

Runners are notorious for digging a hole and jumping in. We'll push and push thinking that if we just push a little harder, we'll break through that wall and that pain we’re experiencing will just magically disappear. While sometimes a little push is just what you need, other times, REST is better. So how do you tell the difference of when to push and when to rest? The key is listening to your body, knowing the difference between, "I don't wanna" and "I can't" and know the signs of fatigue and over training.

The problem is many athletes (aerobic or anaerobic) don't give their bodies time to adapt before imposing more stress on their bodies. This creates a recovery deficit—that hole you dig and can't get out of. Often runners get stuck in the recovery period or worse, they become injured. This is called overtraining. Overtraining can lead to injury. The signs of overtraining can include any or all of the following

• persistent achiness, stiffness, or pain in the muscles and/or joints (beyond the typical delayed onset muscle soreness felt after a workout)
• elevated resting heart rate
• 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

Bullet #2 above is a great way to determine if you need a rest day. Just before getting out of bed, take your pulse for 15 seconds and multiply that by four. Do this a couple of days to get a baseline for your resting heart rate. If you’re feeling really fatigued during your training, check your resting heart rate. If your heart rate is just a few beats higher than your normal resting heart rate, it could be a sign that you’re over doing it. If you have a cold or virus, that can cause fatigue and an elevated heart rate too. But, if you’re not sick, it could be that you're overtraining and need to take a rest day. When you have a cold or virus, your heart rate will be elevated as your body fights the infection. When overtraining, your heart rate can be elevated. It’s in overdrive while your body tries to rebuild and repair, but you’re not allowing it to, resulting in fatigue.

I frequently hear a runner say, "but it's in my plan." Runners often mistake a training plan for LAW. A training plan is merely a guide to help you reach your goal. A training plan is like a travel plan...a map. Changes will most likely need to be made along the way. A plan doesn't know the factors you may be dealing with in a given week...the stress of the job, lack of sleep from a sick child, dealing with allergies, that pothole you stepped in and twisted your ankle, that unplanned work trip thrown at you. Sometimes life has a different plan for you than what your race training plan had in store. A training plan is based on an ideal world. A training plan also, does not know how long your body may need to recover after a particular workout. The plan is your map. You are the driver and your running coach is your AAA consultant. 

A good rule of thumb to use when listening to your body and following a plan is to never put two hard runs back-to-back. Short and fast (speed workouts and tempo runs) and long and slow (long runs) are considered "hard runs." If you've had to miss a hard run, don't make-it up if you have to butt it up next to another hard workout. For example, in my plans, typically runners do a speed workout on Mondays, rest or cross-train on Tuesdays then do a tempo-type run on Wednesdays, run easy Thurs or Friday, do a long run on Saturday, and have complete rest on Sunday. So, if a runner can't do his/her long run on Saturday, the runner is more than welcome to run it on Sunday, but then that means no speed work on Monday. Another scenario would be if a runner missed his/her Monday speed workout, the runner could do it on Tuesday, but then no tempo run on Wednesday. Missing a workout altogether is better than putting two hard workouts back-to-back with no recovery time, just so the box can be checked off on your plan.

One of the things a coach hears all too frequently is a runner saying, “We’ll it hurt pretty bad, but I pushed through the pain and got it done.” Unless it’s the last 100m of a 5K and you’re in the running for a cash prize, my first thought is, “Why? Why push through pain?” As a coach, I’m always thinking long term. What is going to keep you running for the long haul.

My number one rule for my runners is if you have to alter your gait (your running stride) in any way to compensate for pain, DO NOT RUN.  Altering your gait to help manage your pain will more than likely end up causing a completely different compensation injury.

Running through pain is never a good idea. If you’re experiencing pain along the shin, hip, iliotibial (IT) band, or any area of the body that’s beyond normal muscle soreness, ice it, elevate it, take your usual choice of anti-inflammatory medication, and rest. When you no longer feel any pain, ease back into your running. Use the following 10-point pain scale to help evaluate any pain you’re experiencing:

• Mild pain (rating 1–3): The type of pain you feel when you start to exercise, but it usually goes away as you start to warm up and continue running. The pain may be inconsistent and move around the body, or you may feel it bilaterally, which means you feel it in the same joints in both limbs, such as in both knees. Mild pain or discomfort is common for new runners and considered safe to run through. After your run, place ice on any sore areas. A bag of frozen peas works really well.
• Moderate pain (rating 4–6): Pain at this level is more than mild pain, but it’s not enough to cause a limp or alter your stride. Typically, a few days of rest, low-impact cross-training, and icing as needed will help. If it doesn't, go see the doc.
• Severe pain (rating 7–10): Pain at this level requires immediate medical attention. This kind of pain you feel before, during, and after the run. It usually starts at the beginning of a run and increases until your stride is altered or you stop. Don't let it get that far.

Training? Feeling a Little Run Down?

Runners are notorious for digging a hole and jumping in. We'll push, push, push, thinking that if we just push a little harder, we'll break through that wall hindering us. While sometimes a little push is just what you need, other times, REST is what you need. So how do you tell the difference of when to push and when to rest? Listen to your body, know the difference between, "I don't wanna" and "I can't" and know the signs of fatigue and over training.

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. The create a recovery deficit....that hole they've dug and can't get out of. They're constantly stuck in the recovery period or worse, they become injured. This is called overtraining.

Often I hear a runner say, "but it's in my plan" or "but my plan says." Runners often mistake a training plan for LAW. A training plan is merely a guide to help you reach your goal. A training plan sis like a travel plan...a map. Change will most likely need to be made along the way. A plan doesn't know the factors you may be dealing with in a given week...the stress of the job, lack of sleep from a sick child, dealing with allergies, that pothole you stepped in and twisted your ankle, that unplanned work trip thrown at you. Some times life has a different plan for you than what your race training plan had in store of you. A training plan is based on an ideal world. A training plan also, does not know how long your particular body may need to recover after that first 20-miler. The plan is your map. You are the driver and your running coach is your AAA consultant.

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 a couple of days 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 also 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.

Other Causes of Fatigue When Training Include:

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 category and you're also not replacing the water you're losing through perspiration from running, you're risking dehydration. 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 (without your running shoes), then weigh yourself immediately after your run (without your running shoes). For every pound lost, you should drink 16oz of water. Don't have to drink all that immediately after your run. Drink some and then make sure you get in the remainder within a few hours after your run. No need to weigh before and 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 (mainly sodium and potassium) lost through sweating.

Alcohol consumption should be decreased during training. Excess alcohol consumption can increase your chance of dehydration in several ways. Alcohol decreases your body's production of anti-diuretic hormone. This hormone is used by the body to reabsorb water. Having less of this hormone causes you to urinate more increasing your fluid loss. Side Note: The average beer is about 4-5% alcohol. When you drink a 200ml beer, you don't just urinate 200ml of water, but more like 320ml of water which calculates out to 120ml of dehydration. (Sorry, for the bad news.)  

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 shortened 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 Re-Fueling 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.

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. 

Beware of the Ambition Trap!

If there's one thing that can get a runner into trouble, it's ambition. Now don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with being ambitious. Ambition has built sky scrapers, discovered cures for diseases, founded institutions of higher learning, and even invented The Clapper. "Clap on. Clap off. The Clapper."

But sometimes ambition, drive, and excitement can make the most intelligent person take some short cuts leading to some pretty bad outcomes. Sometimes runners fall victim to that same ambition trap. Only problem here is that the trap can often lead to injury.

Before starting any race training plan, a runner should have a solid base. The mileage of the base can vary from person to person as well as from race goal to race goal. If you google "base mileage," you'll probably find a variety of suggestions for a variety of race distances. I recommend that runners wanting to join one of my race training groups have a weekly mileage base of 15-25 miles for at least a month if they're planning to train for a 5K, 10K, or a half-marathon. For a marathon, a 20-25 weekly mileage base is good to have under your belt.

Okay, so the idea of a solid base before beginning a race training plan makes sense and most runners at least know about the importance of a base. So where does the ambition trap come into play? It usually rears it's ugly head in two different scenarios.

Scenario #1: The New Runner

We've all see it. A friend of yours has been running for a couple of weeks and things are going pretty good. He's been bitten by the running bug. Awesome! So, he decides to run a 5K or a 10K. He probably doesn't even know how many miles that is, but he wants to race... be a real runner. You try to talk him into getting a few more miles under his belt, but he's so smitten that he sign's up for the next race (the following weekend). It's race day. You're coming out of the port-a-potty and you see your friend at the front of the Start donning the 100% cotton race shirt (tucked in) he received in his packet about 30 minutes earlier. He's pumped! You're sick. He spots you a few rows back and motions you to move on up "where there's more room." You decline. Then the starting pistol's fired and your friend ducks for cover causing a few runners to jump over him while reeling off the most 4-letter words you've ever heard in 10 seconds. You run by your buddy, grab him by the scruff of his crisp Beefy T and get him to his feet. He replies, "Who got shot?!" You want to cry, but you just keep running. Your friend, now on his feet, bolts past you. You shake your head. A half mile into the race you see your buddy with a medic on the side of the road, 3rd degree road rash covering his face from the fall he took after losing consciousness from lack of oxygen. The medic gives you a thumbs up, so you keep running. Monday at work, you're not surprised to learn that you're buddy has given up running. The classic case of too much too soon.

Scenario #2: The Race-a-holic

There's usually one in every running group. You know, the guy that has a race planned for every weekend. There's nothing wrong with racing frequently, but maintaining a solid base during this racing frenzy is vital. Sometimes the ambitious racer will get a false sense of conditioning. For that first marathon, the runner's married to his training plan and as a result has an awesome race. The dedication paid off. The rest of his family might be ticked at all the running he's done, but the fruits of his labor provided a bounteous run. Stoked with this accomplishment and pumped with motivation, he finds himself scouring the Internet for upcoming races in the hotel before leaving for home. Again, there's nothing wrong with this. The ambition trap only rears its ugly head, if "Joe Runner" doesn't allow enough time to recover from the previous race as well as maintain a good base mileage during the period of time before the next race. Joe may think, "Hey, I just ran a marathon. I'm already trained. No need to kill myself like before." Joe has a point. He may not have to train the same way or as long as he did before, but he still needs to maintain his level of conditioning with a good weekly base as well as some other key workouts such intervals and the long run. If Joe rests on his laurels and doesn't maintain his racing fitness level, he's probably not going to have the same experience as the first race. If it doesn't catch up with him in the next race, it most likely will in the 3rd, or 4th race. It will come out of nowhere....the legendary WALL will smack him in the face. Even, the elites have seasons to their training. It may appear that they race nonstop yearround, but there's definitely a method to their madness.

If you're a new runner, log some good mileage before racing. If you want to experience a 5K or 10K race sooner, go into it with the idea that it's just another regular run. It will be hard, but hold back and use it as a learning experience to find out what it's all about. Then use the motivation you gain from that experience to continue building your base before starting a training plan for the "real" race you'll run later in the season.

If you find yourself wanting to race frequently, make a plan. Avoid racing off-the-cuff. Prior to race season scope out the races you'd like to run. Make a list. Then star the ones you definitely want to run. Next circle the ones in which you'd like to set a PR. Now evaluate your list. How many races do you have? Is there enough recovery time in between the ones you've starred? How about the ones you circled? Or did you circle them all? Go back and make yourself circle only the ones for which you really want to blow it out and set a time record for yourself. There should probably only be 2 or 3 (if that).

By doing a little planning, you'd be less likely to overtrain or actually undertrain because you have too many races back to back. This pertains to the 15:00-pace novice marathoner and the 6:00-pace experienced 5K racer. Both are susceptible to the Ambition Trap. Outsmart it with a little planning, keeping a good base, and allowing yourself ample rest and recovery time.

Theodore Roosevelt once said, "Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground." I think that applies nicely here.

Rest: It Does a Runner Good

I know several runners who feel guilty if they take a rest during a training week so they'll cross-train or just do a really easy run instead. I've never had a problem with taking my rest days. Should I feel guilty? Does that make me less of a runner? I don't think so. Look at any training schedule—5K, half marathon, marathon, triathlon—they all have rest days. They're not there just because the creator of the training plan drew a blank and had nothing else to put down for those days. Rest days are a vital part of training.

Dictionary.com defines rest as "to refresh oneself, as by sleeping, lying down, or relaxing." The key word in this definition is refresh. Actually, a runner could replace refresh with repair, because that's exactly what a runner's doing on those days off—repairing, rebuilding, strengthening.

When you exercise you actually break down muscle tissue as well as deplete it of its glycogen stores and fluid. Bryan Heiderscheit, Ph.D., P.T. the director of the University of Wisconsin Runner's Clinic says, "It's when you're not running that the muscle rebuilds itself and becomes stronger. If recovery is insufficient, you'll break down more than you build up." Professional marathon and triathlon coach Joe English says, "Although it may seem counter-intuitive to many runners, much of the benefit of any workout comes in the time after the workout while the runner is recovering from it. It is during the recovery process that runners reap the benefits of the workouts themselves. Another way to think about this is that the improvement that is seen over time develops during the recovery periods between the workouts, so cutting that recovery short actually stunts the growth of the runner, by not giving him or her the time to develop."

If you've ever felt blah, disinterested, frustrated, or even depressed during your training, this could be a sign of overtraining. Elizabeth Quinn of About.com suggests that the following may also be signs of overtraining.

Possible Signs of Overtraining:

• Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
• Mild leg soreness, general aches and pains
• Pain in muscles and joints
• Sudden drop in performance
• Insomnia
• Headaches
• Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats)
• Decrease in training capacity / intensity
• Moodiness and irritability
• Depression
• Loss of enthusiasm for the sport
• Decreased appetite
• Increased incidence of injuries.
• A compulsive need to exercise

Not only do rest days allow your body time to repair and rebuild, it allows your mind to rest and refocus. Training for any race, especially an endurance race, can be mentally taxing. If you're overtraining and experiencing decreased training capacity or intensity, then you're going to get frustrated. Depending on your personality, you may berate yourself, become sullen, or just quit because you're not seeing the progress you expect. You're telling yourself, "I'm working myself like a dog. Why am I not making any progress?" That's just it, you've just told yourself the answer to your problem but you're not listening carefully enough. You're working yourself like a dog. You need to pull back, re-evaluate your training plan and put in a rest day or two.

An easy way to tell if you're well rested is to check your resting heart rate each morning. If you notice any marked increased in your resting heart rate from its normal rate, this could be a sign of overtraining.

Make good use of those rest days. Take time to do some of the things that you've been putting off due to your training. Find that novel you've been meaning to finish since last summer or pick up a copy of Once A Runner by John L. Parker. I guarantee an afternoon of reading that awesome book will have you running like a new man/woman on your next training day! Okay, okay....if it will make you feel better, read it wearing your running shorts, singlet, and running shoes while sipping on a sports drink.