January 1, 2015 not only brought in the New Year but also brought on the next phase of training. Not since my first year of University at TCU have I trained so many hours in a week ( I'll let you figure out how long ago that was!)
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| This Swimmer is learning to Run. |
I am a bit embarrassed to admit, but by day 2, I was really hurting and silently cried during a bike workout. As a grown woman with a job and kids why would I continue to put myself through that, you may ask? To my own defense I had had two run workouts and a swim workout the day before. I was exhausted and overwhelmed with training, work, and kids, but I have this insane desire to compete to the best of my ability. To show myself and others what's possible when you put your mind to it, even if you have 3 kids, a busy spouse, and a full time job. It just made me wonder how I would make it through the rest of the week in a functioning state.
We are now at the end of January, I made it through the first week of 2015, and we've tweaked and changed our training a little. As the temperature has suddenly plummeted to the -10C and -30C with the windchill my run partner and I have decided to hit the treadmill and we have added an additional bike session each week. It seems these extra workouts started to take more of a toll on my body than I thought, as I currently am feeling pain through my ribs and back on the left side....no it's not an impending heart attack, and if I could I would try to nap every day (this is unusual for me).
Since my body has not endured this type of training in quite a few years, I thought perhaps I've put myself through more than my body could effectively recover from currently. Could it be overtraining I thought?
So I looked up some signs of overtraining thinking that might be playing a role in my overall feeling of pain and exhaustion. Here's what I found.
Signs of Overtraining or Over reaching:
1. Feeling of Fatigue- I'm always running on a slight level of fatigue due to schedule of life/sport. But it's when it becomes overwhelming and even with a good nights sleep waking up feeling like staying under the covers is the best idea; that's when it may be a sign of overtraining. Which in turn leads to #2.
2. Irritability- that speaks for itself.
3. Lack of Motivation to Train- not until this past week have I truly felt this. I want to train because I like to win. Only the thought of potentially winning my next race is what kept me going to practice at all. To make it harder my training partner became ill, so he wasn't at all the workouts to keep me going. But I went - mind over matter.
4. Perceived Higher Levels of Exertion - and yes...it felt like I was working hard, but really I was going nowhere. Many of you swimmers will understand putting in the effort at practice and feeling as though the times being swum should be fast, when in reality the 12 year old on the other side of the pool is swimming faster and just making the pace time ends up being the goal for the workout.
Good News Is- Ironman.com posted an article and called what I was feeling "Functional Overreaching". This is not a bad thing. This is where we push our bodies to experience a greater level of fatigue then we are used to. Our body then adapts to this level and adjusts, building a stronger and faster athlete.
What I learnt from this past week is to listen to my body and my coach. When the coach gives you a training program, follow it. It was designed for you. Don't add in extra just because you are going to be at that swim practice with your kid anyway. When the coach says "you look tired, take tomorrow off, completely", do what he/she says. Take tomorrow off. More training doesn't always make you faster; its a combination of training, rest, and nutrition, and listening to both your coach and your body. I've realized I can handle more than I originally thought when we started at the beginning of the month. We can all handle more than we think, it's okay to hurt, pushing through makes us stronger. As long as we learn when to pull it back.
