Overtraining

I thought talking about overtraining would be an appropriate discussion today since i woke up this morning feeling like all sorts of crap. It was just a cold, but that lingering guilt about skipping my weekdaily duo of swimming and something else was killing me. so i took a couple minutes today to try to get myself back in line.

Over the past 4 years i have used one book as my "bible" for triathlon training. Its called "The Woman Triathlete" and while normally, i dont fall for for anything that tries to capitalize on the fact that i have breasts (though really, not so much since i started triathlon...but thats for a different day) this book is really the most comprehensive training guide that I have come across because its not a book thats only useful for someone that has never run before. It deals with issues that any athlete is going to run into in a variety of different capacities, and though I compile my own training schedules now that I am more experienced, I often still turn to it on days like today.

Todays sickness i dont think is a result of overtraining, but it is a cold that my body may be been a little less prepared for becuase it spends so much time recovering from working out. But the book points to "overtraining syndrome" as a problem that alot of triathletes encounter that results in a lack of motivation, decreased workout outputs and a generall fall back in workouts. to me this is a great reminder of why sometimes you need to just sit on your ass.

A half assed training session is just that, half assed. it goes from being "training" to just a workout, which is fine, but in the end, if you are trying to work on your cardiovascular endurance, and your speed, just burning calories isnt really helpful (though i appreciate it either way since i have a penchant for chipotle.. thats right chipotle. give me a break its delicious)
in the end though im not trying to lose weight. Im trying to maintain my weight, my lean muscle mass, and improve my endurance and speed, though i really want to try working on the latter.

Anyway the reason for all this is morea reminder for me that sometimes its better for me to take abreak then to try to work through illness or fatigue. while you dont want to shy away from the challenge of pushing through sore muscles or that hard brick workout you did last night ( which reminds me, maybe the next post will be about "brick workouts") you also need to be careful if you want to have a successful season.

on that note i think its time for me to start some more focused interval sessions in my biking and swimming, so i think my AM swim will not be my normal 15 minute straight free warmup, 10 min kick 10 min paddles 5 min pull buoy and 5 min cool down.. instead i think ill try the following (from "The Woman Triathlete")
400 free warmup
4 X 100: kick 25, 75 swim
8X 50 easy effort working up to fast
3 X 500 free (1 with paddle 1 with buoey)
cooldown

stay tuned for info on fundraising...