Tough Week

I have recently been experiencing “overtraining” issues.  Basically, I am hitting the limits on what my body can handle.  It started with having trouble finishing long runs.  I would get to around 8 to 10 miles, and it felt like someone had put a ton of bricks on my back.  No specific muscle soreness, breathing and heartbeat did not significantly change, but I was TIRED.  Then is started coming at 6 miles, finally, by last Monday, it hit at 3 miles.  I took three days off with no running, and then eased back in with 2 miles on Friday and 3 miles on Saturday.  Meanwhile, I was a bundle of nerves and anxiety.  

I also focused on sleep, using the three off days to make sure I got a good night of sleep.  I was in bed early, and slept in until 6:30am when I needed to get up for work.  Bit different than the 4am I need to set the alarm for if I am going to run before work.  

Sunday, I ran 8 miles.  I was tired at the end, but did not have the bricks hit me.  I was afraid almost the whole run that I would have the bricks, but I finished strong.  

On good advice, I did sit down and modify my spring plan.  I lowered the overall weekly mileage goals, and also instituted a “rest’ week every fourth week that has no speed work and is capped at 50% of the previous week’s mileage.  I hope this will get me to the starting line of my spring races without injury and as close as possible to the condition I hoped to be in to post the times I was hoping to run.  

I am in this for the long haul, I have goals that reach a few years into the future.  That makes it easier to make these changes now.  But I do worry that at 47 years old, my best days may be slipping away, and even with the weight loss, I will not be able to run the paces and mileage I would like to, and not be able to post the race times I thought I could.  But I have no way of knowing that today, and my body is a work in progress.  So I simply am focused on 4 easy miles today, and continuing to find the right balance in training so I improve without overtraining and any crash and burn.