I’m training 15-20 hours a week, and working 40 hours a week at a desk job. I’m getting 7-8 hours of sleep per night, and sometimes at work I am super tired. Struggling to stay awake tired. So I’ll eat something, and get a boost of energy, but then get really tired again in about an hour.
So, aside from the obvious solution to sleep more and perhaps reduce training, any other ideas? Foods I can eat? I don’t eat much processed food and eat lots of fruits and veggies. I’m thinking maybe I can find a food solution to my tiredness.
Anyone else get extremely tired when working full time and training?
I had a similiar situation earlier this year, per the wisdom of ST I solved it by adding some red meat to my diet, seems i may have been iron deficient I was eating lots of fruits and veggies but not very much meat of any kind. Stopped on the way home and grabbed a steak for the grill and felt great starting the next day.
if you’ve tried all the other stuff and checked your iron, have the doc check your tsh and ft4 levels…hypothyroidism can make you feel really fatigued for no apparent reason.
anna
YES!,Ive been hooked on this sport for 20 years,did my first race in 1987.Hitting 49 in Dec. it aint gettin any easier.The past 5 years Ive stepped up to IM distance and do the same hours you are doing.For me I have my three meals but all during the day I graze, keeps me topped off.Watch out for some of the carbs you eat during the day,If I eat bread type stuff I crash.Also If I act like Im going to fall asleep all the time the general(wife) may defund my tri trips,time for some coffee.Try consulting a nutritionist.COFFEE!
Of course a well balanced diet helps and making sure you’re taking in enough calories in the mix. Another thing to conider is maybe you’re “overtraining” yourself? The body needs a certain amount of time to recover between workouts and training cycles. Some rest days may be in order
Well maybe it is not the Volume, the sleep or the nutrition. Did you ever think that it could be the intensity at which you train at that is making it hard for you to recover with that level of Volume. I had the exact same problem last year and earlier this year. I decreased the intensity and I have slowly been increasing the Volume and feel much better. But the best thing is when I do test myself by increasing intensity the speed is there.
I had issues at one time with serious fatigue. It turns out I had issues getting quality sleep due to allergy related congestion. The congestion led to snooring, which would often wake me up. Now I take benadryl prior to bed, and use a nose strip. I sleep much better, problem solved. Also, don’t discount the nose strip. I really could not imagine they would help, but my wife can attest to the fact that they have greatly reduced my snooring.
So consider the above, but if the fatigue doesn’t seem related to training intensity and volume, consider if your quality of sleep is adequate.
I’ll try the red meat suggestion. And I’m going to start a food log to see what I’m really eating. When I get really tired, I’ll snag a cookie or something, which, in retrospect, probably isn’t the smartest ‘pick me up’ since it is just simple sugar and may contribute to a later work bonk.
are you hydrated? You should have to get up to use the restroom often enough that its kind of annoying (every 1-1.5 hrs)
Uh… no.
???
I don’t remember the specific mechanism, but hydration has something to do w/ feeling lethargic; ie, dehydration can cause a sluggish feeling. Not the case?
I was objecting to drinking so much that you have to pee every hour. That only contributes to make your kidneys work overtime, while diluting the level of electrolytes in your body. Staying hydrated is not that hard to accomplish and I’m pretty sure that’s not the OP’s problem.
This time of year brings similar results where we are i.e. 100 plus temp /45% humidity etc. Sometimes the environment can add to that tired crap on your mind and body.