Too Tired To Run?
Sports doctor Jordan D Metzl on how to spot the warning signs of overtraining and so avoid injury and burnout
Spot the signs of overtraining
THIS MONTH IS THE BUSIEST time of year in my office. The phone rings constantly: ‘Dr Metzl, I’ve got an achy ——, and my marathon is in a month.’ Why? As my friend Ramon, a running coach, says, ‘Marathon runners typically get hurt because they violate the rule of toos: too much, too quickly, too intensely.’ With thousands of runners training for spring marathons, peak mileage hits around now. We work hard, but when we go overboard, we can end up with overtraining syndrome, which is characterised by diminished performance. It shows up in three key areas – mental, hormonal and physical – and the tricky part is that you might not realise you have it. Here’s what to look out for.
1. Mental
One of the most common symptoms of overtraining is burnout. The runner who piles on the stress (poor sleep quality, calorie deficiency and increased anxiety about a race) will feel spent. A tired mind goes hand in hand with a tired body. When the energy is low, breakdown and injuries occur.
To prevent burnout from getting the best of you, mind your mind. Get more sleep during long-mileage weeks – resting is when your mind and body have time to heal. Schedule activities that are relaxing, such as having a massage or taking a ‘me’ day. It’s OK to give yourself licence to ease up. Skipping a long run to sleep in is more helpful than pushing yourself.
2. Hormonal
Your hormones are responsible for maintaining homeostasis, the body’s delicate balance that controls many of our daily functions, from sleep cycles to hunger cues. When overtraining hits, the hormones get out of whack – you produce too much of some, too little of others. This ends up causing problems, including decreased immunity and abnormal hunger cravings. It can even cause amenorrhoea, the loss of menstruation in women.
If you suspect a hormonal imbalance, talk to your doctor and consider seeing a sports nutritionist. Your doctor can perform blood tests to check for hormonal irregularities and iron levels that give clues to a diagnosis. The most common issues are nutritional – such as not taking in enough calories for athletic expenditure – and can be fixed with a smart nutrition plan.
4. Physical
The most obvious component of overtraining is physical injury. The severity of these injuries ranges from mild overuse injuries to stress fractures that can take several months to heal.
As with mental and hormonal overload, physical overtraining means you’re pushing too hard. Pain that changes the way you run and alters your gait mechanics needs to be checked out by an expert. Small aches can turn into serious problems if they aren’t properly diagnosed.
In the end, structured training plans, smart nutrition and reliable gear are all important to runners. But they’ll mean nothing if you don’t pay careful attention to your body. If the signs of overtraining syndrome are caught early, it’s more likely that I’ll see you on the starting line of the marathon and not in my office.