I wrote a little about how to tell if you are overtrained, and then a bit about my own experience at the moment and why I am okay pushing the boundary a little bit, but how do you end up overtrained in the first place?
In some sense, the sheer volume of training for an Ironman can put anyone at risk. But plans are generally designed to minimize that risk considerably, but nothing is foolproof, and especially those of us without a coach are following a plan designed for ‘anybody’ – ie not for you specifically – and they do not take into account what you do with the rest of the time, your training history, etc. Additionally, if you miss a work out or more, there is no prescription for getting back to training. Some books have guides, which are great, but ultimately we have to be listening to our own body and considering all these factors the best we can to figure out what to do when.
The common causes of overtraining include:
- Adding too much intensity, or too much time at high intensity, too quickly.
- Adding too much overall training volume too quickly (or within a particular sport).
- Not taking time to recover both during the week and on a cyclical basis. This includes physical rest and generally taking care of your body with a good diet and other self care that your particular body needs.
