Overtraining Syndrome!

Holy heck!  I know I have readers from coast to coast, but here in California we endured record heat waves, which does not make outdoor running very fun.  Kudos to everyone that got out there and did what they needed to do, despite uninviting running conditions.

When I think of “running conditions”, I don’t think just about the climate or the running route topography, I look at the bigger picture, including life outside of running. How life plays into running or more accurately, how running plays off life.  I am currently writing the training schedule for 25 runners preparing for October-January half and full marathon races.  As October is soon approaching and November is not too far behind, my runners training for October and November races have the volume turned up on them for mileage, as well as some greater intensity workouts.  A small part of me feels bad, but really this is the beast we call endurance training and I also know with 100% certainty that I have their very best interest in mind and would never overload them.  This is the difference between optimal vs maximal training.  Optimal being, just the right amount of miles at the right time, with just the right amount of intensity, at just the right time, with plenty of opportunities for rest throughout a “season”.  Maximal being, too much, too soon for distance and intensity, without proper rest and recovery.

Unfortunately, I have witnessed far too many runners train too hard leading to injury or overtraining.  Overtraining syndrome (OTS) does exist in sports psychology, but interestingly, it is difficult to diagnose, mostly because it is of multifactorial etiology and signs and symptoms of OTS are different amongst individuals.  Researchers on the subject emphasize the word “syndrome” to acknowledge that training is not the sole causative factor of OTS (Meeusen et al., 2006). 

To understand the etiology of OTS beside an imbalance of excessive overload and inadequate recovery, additional factors must be included; exclusion of organic diseases or infections, dietary restrictions, inadequate carbohydrate/protein ingestion, and iron and magnesium deficiency.  Important factors to take into account for OTS include the sum of multiple life stressors along with physical training such as: sleep loss, exposure to environmental stresses, work stresses, and interpersonal difficulties.  Additionally, there is a complex set of psychological factors to consider regarding the development of OTS such as: excessive expectations from self, friends, or family, competitive stress, personality structure, and social environment (Meeusen et al., 2006). 

I know I load my runners up properly for them to adapt to the training, not breakdown from training.  However, I have no control over what they eat, how much they eat, how they rest, how they deal with their work/family/training balance or other stressors in their lives.  But if I had to pinpoint one factor that seems to be a reoccurring problem/ misunderstanding, it is the nutritional factors.  I know, I know, I have already covered nutrition (if you haven't read the nutrition blog, get on it!).  But I know many workout junkies and runners that have this poor misunderstanding of how the body works, “Today I burned 700 calories during my exercise/run, so I can only eat 700 calories today”. What!?  If I only ate 700 calories on a non-running day, that would put one leg in the grave for me, never mind a running day.  That is a calorie restricted diet and a sure-fire way to lead you to improper recovery and goal failure over time.  This is one of those subjects where people in the past have said to me, “But I have always eaten under 1000 calories a day and I do okay in my runs and races”.   Uhmm…okay if you are okay with doing just “okay” in your runs and races.  If you want to be the best you can be, then you need to fuel your body like an athlete.  Bottom line, true story!

What we “burn” for exercise is not the only energy we expend, therefore, not the only number of calories we need to "put back in".  The sum of calories a person uses/burns in a day is known as total daily energy expenditure and it comes from several sources including resting metabolic rate, the thermogenic effect of food, non-exercise activity thermogenesis, excess post-exercise oxygen consumption and last, but not least, exercise.  Guess what folks?  Just to perform normal activities of daily living, excluding exercise, you need at least 1,200 calories a day…and that is for a small person, not even an average sized person!

Sometimes when I am writing my blog posts, I know there is someone out there I am offending and someone out there wondering if I am writing about them…because I get text messages regarding the latter.  To anyone I am offending, that is certainly not my intention. My only intention in my blog posts is to pass on valuable information to help my readers be the best runners they can be and if you are not a runner, just be informed.  That being said, please email me at runwithgina@gmail.com if there are other subjects that you want more info on or if you are reading the blog posts on the Run With Gina Facebook page, please leave a comment or reach out via messenger with any subjects you want to learn more about.

Fight ON!
Coach Gina
P.S. Overreaching and burnout are different than overtraining…just an fyi.

Reference
Meeusen, R., Duclos, M., Gleeson, M., Rietjens, G., Steinacker, J., & Urhausen, A. (2006).  Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the Overtraining Syndrome.  European Journal of Sport Science, 6(1), 1-14.