Hi,
So I’m a complete newbie. I’ve never done a tri before and this is the first time I’ve trained for an endurance sport. I started training about 2 months ago, alternating swimming days (was 1500m) with either running 5k or biking about 10 miles. Starting 2 weeks ago I’ve had to cut out workouts or cut short workouts because I felt like I just didn’t have anything. I’ve started taking days off and I feel somewhat better but it’s still been hit or miss with my workouts. Either I can do them or I burn out and this is at distances that I was able to do 3 weeks ago. I’m not sure what to do next. I’ve tried just pushing through it but it hasn’t worked. Do I need to take time off and if so how much? And how do you know when you’re rested up again? And what can I do to avoid this in the future? Any advice would really be appreciated.
LM
Do you check your heart rate? An elevated heart rate first thing in the am is a good sign of overtraining. There are lots of over symptoms, such as trouble sleeping, depression or lack of motivation, proneness to injury, etc.
How hard are you running/cycling? If you’re going hard a high percentage of the time, then cut back on the intensity a lot (use the conversation test – you should be able to talk easily during most of your runs/rides).
How old are you?
How much do you weigh? Height?
Have you had a physical recently?
What is your background in sports, physical activities?
What is your diet like?
How much sleep are you getting?
How many hours are you putting in at work?
Any chronic illnesses? Medical conditions?
Goals for training?
How fast are you doing the workouts?
Total hours training each week?
There are more ?s, but you get the idea.
Anyway, you are about to receive 50 or more responses from people who don’t know this information either. My suggestion is too take it all with a grain of salt.
How old are you?
27
How much do you weigh? Height?
180lbs, 5’8, ~15% body fat by cheapo body fat scale
Have you had a physical recently?
No
What is your background in sports, physical activities?
I’ve been pretty active all my life, was a weightlifter but stopped that 6 years ago, played a lot of soccer and volleyball, was a recreational swimmer and runner before getting started with this.
What is your diet like?
lots of carbs, not too much fat, vegetable intake varies with whether I can get to a grocery story that week
How much sleep are you getting?
About 7 1/2 hours a night, but I’ve been pretty restless lately
How many hours are you putting in at work?
80+
Any chronic illnesses? Medical conditions?
None
Goals for training?
Finish every event I enter next season, goal is several sprints, maybe 1 or 2 olympics with ideally, ever improving times. Then I plan on working towards getting faster for the following season.
How fast are you doing the workouts?
Swimming wise I was working doing 1500 in about 35 minutes
Running: 5k in about 26-28 (there’s a big nasty hill ~1/4 mile at I’d guess 30-40 degree angle which really kills time and energy - don’t know why but I love that hill)
Bike: 10 miles in a little over 30 minutes, I go alone but I think I’d be able to talk
Total hours training each week?
When I was able to workout properly ~7
Morning HR
I haven’t really been checking that on a regular basis but a resting HR at work was in mid 60’s, recently has been high 60s - low 70s
Mood and sleep: irritable sometimes and sleep quality has been pretty poor
Thanks
LM
When I started out I thought I was getting symptoms of overtraining. Over the years I’ve come to realize that as few hours as we are putting in, we don’t get overtrained. You can toss that idea right out. Are you fatigued? Sure. Overreaching? Perhaps. Overtrained? No.
The workouts you describe are pretty light. Running can wear you down physically. Try cutting the running a tad just to see if you get your energy levels up and then bring it back in the fold. Eat more. And eat normal. Nothing helps the mood like a little sugar (the brain needs glycogen too).
"What is your diet like?
lots of carbs, not too much fat, vegetable intake varies with whether I can get to a grocery story that week
it might be worth trying to eat a little more good fats (nuts, evo, avocado etc); eating too little can contribute to fatigue. And get those veggies! Your body is under a lot of stress from training, so fill it with some high-quality fuel.
as far as if you’re overtrained or not, I can’t answer that, but a day or two off never hurt anyone (I don’t think). so it might be worth trying and see if things improve.
two cents
that’s a good list of questions.
The numbers that you are doing are by no means extreme you may have other factors that are involved one thing I noticed was this answer
How many hours are you putting in at work?
80+
My buddy and I are both research chemists he works 60 hours a week and I work 38. The difference in tiredness and stamina is huge. Find a better job. No one on their death bed says “you know I wish I worked more and spent less time enjoying life”
There are some disconnects in your answers.
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Unless you can do an impressive impression of Hulk Hogan, your cheapo scale is significantly underestimating your body fat. I would guess that you are north of 20%. A long term goal would be to work on body composition and get it officially under 15%.
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Regarding diet, it sounds like too much carbs. You need protein and some good fats in there to balance. Search the forum for nutrition threads for details.
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There is a major disconnect on what you say you are doing and what you are actually doing. 80 hrs/wk work, 7.5 hrs sleep/night and 7 hrs training = 139.5 hr/wk. That gives you less than 30 hrs/wk for personal hygiene, grocery shopping, cooking, eating, cleaning dishes, laundry, house, friends and family(?) and posting on Slowtwitch. I gather watching football is completely out of the picture.
From personal experience, if I am lacking sleep, I can compensate, at least for the short term, by eating more, specifically carbohydrates, to get through. However, it does leave me irritable and somewhat sluggish. Are you sure you have time to tackle an endurance activity at this point in your life?
Overtraining … no
Overworking … ummmm yeah.
I love my job but I wouldn’t want to spend any more time at it than I do now. There are other things I love to do more. Good luck with triathlon though. You’ve already made one good decision and one bad one by discovering ST.