So, this week I have been faced with the fact that I've come off a very stressful few weeks school-and-life-plans-wise, my lungs are still filled with fluid, and my running performance has been way off the mark. I am uncertain how to proceed.
(Monday, 18 February)
What a shitty, shitty day.
Spent all day in the computer lab, which was not what I woke up intending to do. So, instead of going for a nice long run in the Arroyo, I stressed out about blowing the deadline for my learning systems class.
I ended up running for a few miles (read: 3 if you stretch it) before bedtime, but this was really just to make myself not feel like the day had been a complete disaster.
(Tuesday, 19 February)
What was supposed to be a nice long tempo run shepherded by I. turned out to be a wake-up call. I wanted this run to make me feel better about running a slow 3k on Saturday, instead it confirmed my feelings that something's going wrong with my training. Basically, I ran 15 seconds per mile slower than this time last year. After about 2.5 miles, I had to cough in a serious way after about every 400-800 meters, and I think the lack of oxygen was a big contributer to how I was feeling, namely, slow and miserable.
After the run Ian gave me the dreaded "OT" talk, which is NOT what I wanted to hear 4 weeks before the ODC, but he is probably right. I called my dad afterwards and described the respiratory symptoms I've been having - wheezing, thick snot-like mucous, etc - and he said it was classic RSV, which basically means that the virus I had a few weeks ago has implanted itself in my lungs. He said that it often gives people asthma-like symptoms, and an inhaler might help if it becomes necessary. I am considering going to the health center and seeing if they'll prescribe me one, it might be interesting to see if that helps out.
More importantly he sounded concerned that I had been running all this time with these symptoms, and he thought I'd do better if I just stopped running for a little bit. So, I'm getting the "rest" order from more than one source and for more than one reason at the moment.
I may philosophize more later when I'm not feeling down and out. Encouragement and suggestions would be welcomed.
(Wednesday, 20 February)
So, I toddled into the trainers' today and was so mopey they sent me to the health center... the doc there said that my lungs sounded fine, so I guess that's good. She hypothesized that the wheezing and coughing was due to mucous from my head dripping down and pooling in my throat (gross) and that was the deal. So, she gave me some pseudophedrine/guaifenesin that I'm supposed to take to help clear that up. We'll see. She did say that lots of folks had been coming in with the same thing, and that no one she'd given this drug to had come back.
So, I rode the bike for 40 minutes and read "Basketball on Paper" from Dow, which is a book about basketball stats written by a Caltech alum named Dean Oliver. It's pretty good so far.
(Thursday, 21 February)
Rode the bike again today. It's not so bad. Read some code and still can't figure out what our problem is. Bummed. Feeling better though.
(Friday, 22 February)
Ran rather timidly on the NF with Mark for about 25 minutes, it felt good to feel like my legs were fresh, but still couldn't really determine if my lungs are any better. Cough is definitely subsiding. Nose still runny.
(Saturday, 23 February)
Rossi Relays. Ran a 800 in the DMR very nonchalantly and it was 2.42, so I guess that's a good sign. Opposite splits as Interhovse, 79/83. Apparently my form was still okay at the end. Went for a nice run around PP afterwards, including 13 minutes barefoot on their version of the NF. Felt very good to run. About 6 miles for the day.
Note: I spent too much time cold and wet today. Then, I went to the men's and women's basketball games (losses, very sad) and ended up in the computer lab until way too late, totally frustrated and exhausted.
(Sunday, 24 February)
Woke up this morning with the cough again after sleeping well from 1-7 and fitfully from 7-9.30. God. Damn. We'll see how the rest of the day goes.
I can't believe I remembered to stop my watch. Should've run faster.
Feb 20, 2008
Week 7: It's called overtraining, by which of course I mean, I am a worthless pile of shrubbery
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
The thing to remember about overtraining is that it is very sensitive to the recent context of your life. The training load that may have fallen well short of overload during the summer or winter break (or even the first few weeks of the term) can certainly have a different impact once classwork and stress begin to pile up. I know I mentioned that to you on Tuesday, but I'll expound upon it a little more right now in case anyone else is reading this.
Personally I've had extended stretches of 60+ miles per week, including hard workouts and strength training, that didn't appear to cause injuries or overtraining. However, these periods were always during breaks or other times of very low academic/work load. In contrast, during times of stress I've felt symptoms of overtraining or picked up injuries on as little as 20 miles per week. Hell, I swear I've even felt 'overtrained' on zero miles per week, when stress has been high enough to make me feel like breaking down, and I'm not sleeping enough or sleeping very poorly.
However, this context-sensitive-overtraining phenomenon extends far beyond simple measures of sleep time vs. training volume/intensity. Mental stress has a very real impact on the physical self. At the USATF Level 1 class I took a year ago one of the instructors said that, to a certain degree, your body does not even differentiate between physical and mental stress. Personally I don't think there is any scientific evidence that backs that up( the instructor mentioned cortisol, but only as a hand-waving argument) But, despite the lack of any rigorous biochemical explanation, I do think there is an overwhelming supply of anecdotal evidence supporting the stress/overtraining connection.
Just looking at my own personal history, the times during which I have performed best, and specifically the seasons that I have most met or exceeded my own performance expectations, were all times of extremely low workload and stress. My best stints of training and racing came during my summer in Boulder (working only 35-40h/week, with little or no self-imposed pressure to accomplish anything), my senior year (underloading first and third terms, 36 units 2nd term), and fall of my first year as a grad student (a whopping 18 units, with almost no other work). Interestingly, during 2nd and 3rd terms of my G1 year, when I started working in the lab and my stress level increased, I did perform well early in the season (into Feb) , but then that was followed by a long down spell in midseason, only to perk up at the very end of the season when I dropped my mileage to a paltry 25-35mi/wk.
The other piece of evidence I have to offer supports the idea that when performances decline due to overtraining, your fitness level hasn't actuall "gone away", but merely been concealed by the current circumstances. All through spring and summer of '01 (my year in Portland, before starting grad school) I trained poorly and erratically, and had trouble with injuries, which in retrospect I now in retrospect blame on the moderate but perpetual stress level caused by my job at the time. Coming into the start of XC season I gave myself a goal of running 27:30 (having run 26:54 for 8k and 15:12 for 5k two years before), and even that goal time seemed slightly ambitious given how few miles I'd been doing that summer (30-40 at best), how slow they'd been, and how tired I still felt a lot of the time. But given my pathetic course load (18 units) through 1st term I was able to take a nap almost every afternoon, and most evenings I just spent relaxing reading and books for fun. My 4 races that season went 27:25, 27:40, 26:11, 25:44. It blew my mind.
So basically, don't worry about this too much. It's better to identify overtraining early and let yourself recover from it, rather than push through and compound the problem. Your fitness level a month ago was higher than anything else I've seen from you, and it will definitely return with rest. Especially once you settle into a mellow 3rd term, your track performances are going to astound you.
it also sounds like the virus is playing a significant role. you can't expect to perform well while you're sick, so i wouldn't worry about it or overthink it just now. give it another week or two to let your health rebound and then we'll see how you feel.
like ian says above, i know you're very fit, and once your body gets enough of a break to recover you'll jump back up to where you were a month ago.
Yeah, these guys are geniuses.
I think it might just be a good idea to cut out the hard efforts for a while and intensity. Don't give it a time frame, and do a mix of riding the bike easy, running easy, and some days off. Let your health be an indicator of when you're ready to start working out again, but just keep in mind that you can maintain a surprising amount of fitness through easy 30 minute runs and strides.
Post a Comment