Amen! Down week this week but I was on the heavy training and it's like now I am on the verge of getting sick.. I am tired, demotivated... and really, really worn out

i wasnt exactly fat before and now u can see my spine if u look at my back! will be interesting to see what my weight is like.

For IM I am usually on the line. The ability to remain focused and motivated when shelled is important. That's what's needed for the run in the race. Trying not to overtrain is the tough part. There is a very fine line between tired and overtrained.

I find keeping a log of how I feel, how much I slept, and what I eat helps. When I start to go into illness and overtraining my appetite and sleep decreases substantially. Tossing and turning during the night is a good sign. Now I can pick up on this in a day or two and make changes.

oh if i was so lucky.. why doesn't that happen to me? still can't loose weight, even with all this training :-(

running shreds fat off me. as do long rides

oh not me... i guess it's harder for women.. and I AM training..

Fulla, when I am in heavy training, I rarely feel like I am about to get a cold. When I am in heavy training and sleeping less than 7 hours per nite, I often feel like I am about to get sick.

I try to stay on the 8 hours per nite plan and eat well (ie minimal packaged goods...eat from the outside isles of the grocery store where the fresh food is) and all works out well.

I was feeling like this constantly during the start of my IM training last fall for IM AZ. Then I realized I wasn't sleeping enough and was being way too active in my 'rest' periods.

Lately I have been getting more sleep and have become very good friends with my couch and coffee table. I found that after working out at night I sit down, lay my dinner out on my lap or next to me, put my feet on the coffee table and veg out until I'm about to crash then off to bed. Now that I've started doing this I haven't felt better.

No more colds...

ok.. i hear you guys about the sleep and I agree 100%.. nothing better than a 9-10 hours sleep to get that "i think i am getting sick" feeling away.. BUT what about when you can't sleep? I used to sleep good.. for some reason, i can't fall asleep in the last couples weeks...

If you end all training and all coffee consumption by 1 pm, then there is no reason for an Ironman athlete in heavy training to not be able to fall asleep at bed time. Personally I find that post supper time workouts are a bad thing and interfere with your normal body tendencies to wind down later in the day, as both your brain function and metabolic rate decline. I prefer to train in the morning or at lunch time as much as possible. I realize that this is not always practical with work and family.

9-10 hours of sleep...you gotta be kidding. I can't remember sleeping that much in one shot (aside from coming back from a long exercise in the field when I was in the military and only sleeping 1-4 hours per nite.....then it would be a week of 9 hour nites). 8 hours though is no problem :-)

yeah ive been trying to get 8 hours or more and usually get prob about 7.5. im a diabetic as well so my immune system is alreadyt low.

I agree on the caffeine consumption. I make sure I'm done with mine by noon - otherwise I am a wreck. Unfortunately I can't always get my workouts done before then. I often have to workout in the AM and after work. Usually I'm so wiped after my evening workouts that sleep is 'easy.'

Yesterday morning was a 90 min run to get ready for Boston in minus 18 temp...

At lunch time, I managed to get a 50 min speedskate workout in on the frozen rideau canal, doing a lame Eric Heiden simulation (lack the quads, speed, agility and engine, but I try...).

http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/skateway/index_e.asp

(click on the virtual tour and click the "skate the canal option"...my dutch and finnish friends will love this...)

Yesterday, evening 90 min on snow, coaching kids XC skiing, doing sprints with them. Luckily, I did not have to work too hard and slept OK. I was shelled though for this morning's 30K skate ski workout. I find it impossible to do exercise in the evening and then haul my ass out of bed at 5:30 am for another morning workout. I've been "recovering" all day.

Tonite, 8 hours sleep. Tomorrow, 30 min roller - 60 min treadmill (it is forecasted to be minus 27 in the morning). At lunch time, I hope to get a 40 min speedskate in !

Friday....rest and get ready to run and XC ski long this weekend :-)

Dev

urgh. im feeling worse as day goes on. have a lil headache, feel lethargic, my throat is getting more sore and my muslces have become a lil achey

That canal looks fantastic !!!

Short answer is yes, as an endurance athlete you are more susceptible to getting colds, flu, etc. Especially if you have children. Get in the habit of washing your hands repeatedly - all day long. Also, do not touch your face or rub your eyes. After long training days or events, your immune system is very vulnerable. Alberto Salizar picked up 12 colds over a 12 month period preceding the 1984 Olympic marathon. Only way to combat it is to be a freak about washing your hands.

The canal looks fantastic and it certainly is. Read about the winterlude tri here:

http://www.xtri.com/article.asp?id=1125

Scox, agreed, that hand washing is important, but sleep is even more important. No amount of hand washing will save you from airborne bugs if you are sleep deprived, training 20+ hours per week with a pile of Zone 3 stuff, and pushing your immune system over the limit.

Training = Work + Rest ... ie handwashing is not part of the equation :-)

Hey Fulla,

Many athletes do not listen to the signs of what is called "over-reaching." This is sometimes termed "sympathetic Overtraining." This is the point where you are not sleeping well (difficulty falling asleep), your resting HR may be elevated, Your workouts are suffering (not performing as you once would), restlessness throughout the day, eating copious amounts of food (this one not so different from most triathletes lives!), a dramatic drop or sometimes NO drop in Body fat or body weight ( I know... ambiguous on this one... sorry), elevated blood cortizol levels and the beginnings of resentment of training. Your immune system is also going through hell but not sure if it is due to the elevated cortizol levels or some other factor. If you read the Epic Camp reports, many of the athlete at that camp atleast had the physiologic symptoms of Over-reaching.

If you catch it when these symptoms present themselves, you can take a few days or maybe even a week of recovery training or no training at all and the symptoms will subside and you can return to activity with a gradual build up in volume and/or intensity (you know this).

what is the major bugger is that if you do not catch these symptoms and act on them you can slip into OTS (Overtraining syndrome). Sometimes OTS is otherwise called "parasympathetic Overtraining". In this case, Hr is depressed or at normal resting levels, you still resent training, your cortizol levels either remain high or reduce, your POMS (Perception of Mood Status on a scale from 1-10) is at an all time low and stays there, your Submaximal HR may be elevated or if really shelled it just CANNOT be raised and you are working hard to do so, your body wants to sleep all of the time and you do not feel rested when you wake. Sometimes the illnesses come during either the Over-reaching state or when one is allready Overtrained (OTS).

what i would suggest to all is that you read what your body is telling you. If you are completely shelled one can push through hoping that it will get better and as long as you allow for recovery you most likely will. What can happen when we push through this sort of feeling is that we end up performing poorly or even worse, missing the race entirely!

One great friend of mine and fellow pro suggested this for Over-reaching- "your best friends will be peanut butter and caffeine!" yes, I am making light of the situation but eat well as sometimes pumping yourself with a calorically dense food like PB and stimulating your CNS with caffeine can help pull yourself out of this if you have gone beyond just overreaching. another suggestion that I have researched but not utilized myself is the utilization of Branch Chain Amino Acids and the intake of Glutamine which in some studies has assisted with symptoms of Upper Respiratory Tract Infections (URTI).Good luck!

my sleeping is ok. i had a day off training yesterday and felt fine at the end of the day. woke up this morning feeling a lil tired tho and noticed a lil bit of a sore throat. had a pretty heavy weekend of training just been and had a recovery day on monday. tuesday was a bit harder but nothing too intense. i have been craving fruit and ice cream alot. i dunno if it is overtraining cos apart from the weekend ive felt alot more tired from training during the week. who knows. last night was a bit cooler as well, and with my lessened body fat maybe that contributed to me getting a cold last nite. it has been real hot here at nite for the last week or so. my performance in training recently has been better than ever, parts of my run on tuesday might have been a bit hard tho.



i got another heavy weekend of training coming up with a long run and ride on separate days.

How is your motivation level?

When i begin to get into the over-reached state I begin to really crave Sugar and fat as well. I love the stuff! you have to make the decision to either push through OR you can take a few days NOT OFF but just alittle OFF schedule and see if your weekend brings you better results and feelings. One could argue about the intake of ice cream or not to eat it but if your body is in need of glucose I would try a complex carbohydrate source like Brown rice with olive oil (monounsaturated fat), or Sweet Potatoes and then eat the fruit. yeah... not as fun but if you want to feel better I would go for foods with a higher nutritional value. are you building up for Ironman? remember that intense training will require perhaps more rest than just 24hours. sometimes up to 72 hours before your body is ready to go through the beating again and is "recovered."

yes ironman. motivation level is right up. about 4 weeks ago it was pretty low but i got sick then so had a break, got better, then got back into it.

i really think i need something with a bit of fat in it re the ice cream. i only eat it after ive eaten all the good stuff.

." This is the point where you are not sleeping well (difficulty falling asleep), your resting HR may be elevated, Your workouts are suffering (not performing as you once would), restlessness throughout the day, eating copious amounts of food (this one not so different from most triathletes lives!), a dramatic drop or sometimes NO drop in Body fat or body weight ( I know... ambiguous on this one... sorry), elevated blood cortizol levels and the beginnings of resentment of training."

Man.. that sounds like me right now:-( I am resenting training, not losing weight, can't fall asleep, very tired, eating like a pig, bad workouts.. This is a down week.. Isn't it normal? Just feel the week out?

Fulla,

just sounds like you are going through what we all go through when we up the volume and start to push the envelop! good luck at IM and let me know how things turn out. rest up and eat up!

Marisol,

well, this is where one could tell you just to push through and "man up" OR one could tell you to really take a look at your training in the past few months, sleeping patterns, intensity level of training, volume each week/month, eating habits (calories in/out) and what sort of progression you followed over the course of the winter. I think you know which side of the fence I stand!

I assume that you are training for an IM race? If so, which? I would take a serious look at what you want to accomplish... do you want to resent the sport forever and never actually be able to perform at 100% again, believe me I have seen it happen, or do you want to take a breather, try a few other activities, recharge and then see where your training can go. Sounds like you were very disciplined, to a fault, and that is admirable, but if you are hating training, why do it? True, not ALL training is "fun" but re-evaluate what you did and what you want in the near and distant future. I wish you the best and good luck!