Overtraining Part 2

So, where did we get to?

Well, once I'd established I was overtrained (not to mention pretty ill, too), there were two questions: how long had I been in this slump, and what did I need to do to recover? The two are inextricably linked as recovery depends very much on how long you've been overtrained for.

Triathletes are achievers. We may look for free time here and there – bike fits to aero helmets – but we also understand that the road to improvement goes through the towns of Dedication, Hard Work and Consistency (which, come to think of it, sound like the sort of towns that Westerns are set in).

This is, in many walks of life and training, good; but it means that when a triathlete suffers a bad result (as I did this weekend due to overtraining/illness), it's easy for them to do the maths and decide that they must need to train more. Why not? It seems logical. However, by doing so, we're just digging deeper and deeper. So, if you can't dig yourself out of a hole, what do you do? Just stop digging.

Looking back, I raced an Olympic distance race in the first week of Feb and did well, feeling good. I trained well that week, and did the Wadi Bih run the following weekend. Again, I felt OK, but to make up for the lack of normal Friday training that week, I put an uncharacteristically big day in the next day. I then started feeling run down and ill (stomach bug and flu-like symptoms) during that week but perked up enough to start the RAK Half Marathon, which I struggled with and, looking back, felt flat at. So, that's where I think the problem occurred which means I'd only been overtrained for a couple of weeks – good news.

That generally means around a week or so of total rest, a couple of days of active recovery (gentle runs/walks and spins on the bike that aren't hard enough to engender a 'training effect') then beginning to train again with shorter, harder sessions initially, adding time and distance gradually.

There are other things you can try to ease the OT syndrome too – staying well hydrated, proper nutrition and massages will all help you along the road back. For me, however, there's a slight difference – I'm not just overtrained, I'm ill too. So, armed with my newly-discovered 'sensible approach to triathlon', I made recovery my first priority and decided I wouldn't jump on to a bike, dive into a pool and don a pair of running shoes until I'd totally kicked this flu's ass.

But recovery isn't enough – I also want to put in some precautions to stop me making this mistake again. So, I've decided on some new rules. Key to these are understanding the theory of 'overcompensation' or exactly what happens when we train. I may be preaching to the choir here, but this has really helped me to get my head around the importance of rest and recovery. Put simply, training doesn't make us fitter – recovering from training does.

If I do a 5 hour bike ride and put my body under the stress of doing such a ride, that, in and of itself, doesn't make me fitter. In fact, it makes me less fit as it breaks down muscle etc... What makes me fitter is my body saying “Sweet effing Nora that hurt – I'm going to recover and, when doing so, I'm going to recover even stronger than I was before so that kind of stress never happens to me again.” Therefore, rest without recovery is just breaking down the body time after time.

So, the new rules state that, on my programme, I add recovery aids just as though they're training – whether that's 'protein shake and ice bath', 'wear compression shorts and socks today' or 'rest is essential this morning', it now features on my March programme.

My next rule is that, as someone who usually loves and embraces training sessions, if I feel down and unenthusiastic about two sessions in a row, I take a step back and take a day or two off – a bit of hard work and discomfort is always to be expected when you're training for triathlons and Ironman but my enthusiasm levels, I'm learning, are a remarkably accurate indicator of health and wellbeing.

As are my lymph glands. Annoyingly sensitive, they swell at the first sign of infection or virus. And when they do, in future I'll take note.

The final one I'm going to call my 12 hour rule. This only applies to big training days during the week but training and my working day should never exceed 12 hours. This is fine – my big midweek brick is usually a three hour session after a 9 hour working day. However, if that working day becomes 10 or 11 hours, then the session has to be missed, shortened or swapped up for another day accordingly.

So, there's my guide to overtraining – hope it's of use to some but really hope it's never of use to most. More than anything, the message I've taken from the past week or so is to be sensible rather than obsessive – we do this sport for fun, self-improvement, to socialise and for general enjoyment. Not to pay the rent of put kids through school. In the grand scheme of things, a week off just doesn't matter.

Progress and motivation

Another week of training complete and, well, I hate saying it coz surely it’s sure to come hurtling back like a malevolent mosquito set on biting me on my ass, but…whisper it…I’m feeling pretty confident.

This was arguably my biggest week to date and as big a week as I have scheduled. In total, I managed 11k swimming, 277k cycling, 58k running. Most significantly, this week contained both the longest ride (163k) and the longest run day (32k) that I’ll do.

Now, I know there are a few doubts – as I do more than half that ride in part of a group, you benefit from group riding dynamics. We also get a couple of quick rest stops to refill our water bottles during the ride. The run I have to do as half in the morning and half in the evening due to temperatures. Again, I factor in fairly regular stops to rehydrate.

However, I’m choosing to ignore those doubts. Two runs in a day, most coaches now tell us, is just as good as one long run, if not better. After all, it’s not as if your legs have a chance to recover in the 8-10 hours in between, so the second run is still done on tired legs. The only difference being that you’ve had a chance to get some food and drink on board – but I think the fact that the IM marathon won’t be taking place in 40 degree heat outweighs that. Same goes for the cycling – not to mention that I won’t be doing it after a week of heavy training and I’ll be well rested and properly fuelled. Plus, just as there are times when the group pulls you along when riding, there are times when you have to keep feathering your brake to avoid hitting the wheel in front.

So, all good so far and I’m feeling great – OK, slightly tired legs but today is a recovery day (just stretching this AM and easy swim tonight) – not to mention motivated.

People often ask how you manage to keep your motivation while doing something like this. I don’t think there’s any single one thing – you have to take inspiration wherever you can find it. This week, that hasn’t been hard. Firstly, I been watching those awesome riders in Le Tour de France put in such monumental work each day. The way Schleck and Contador attacked some of those mountain stages was heroic – as was the way Evans refused to let them out of sight. And Evans’ TT performance deserved le maillot jaune. Then there was the news that Oscar Pistorius (the Paralympian athlete with carbon blades for legs) got a 400m PR in Italy which qualifies him to be picked by South Africa for the full Olympics. Again, heroic.

But there’s the small stuff. I really like inspirational phrases and quotes (I’ll share some with you soon) and, so, when I see a new one, I print it out and stick it on my wall near where I keep all my swim/bike/run gear. The greatest one, however, is that mental image of me coming into the final couple of hundred metres of the Ironman – of crossing that line and knowing what it has taken to get there. That’s the image that I keep readily available in my mind for 4am starts or when I have to dig deep.

So, why do I want to ‘become an Ironman’ so much? That’s hard to explain but I think this video (for IM Hawaii) comes closest: