Want to trigger a Type A, high-striving perfectionist? Challenge their work output.
When the training status on my Garmin flipped to “Unproductive” recently, my mood flipped to indignant. The middling “Maintaining,” where I’d been stuck most of the preceding thirty days was bad enough. But unproductive?
“Pshaw. As if this thing knows how my training is going,” I may have said out loud. “I’ve handled way more than this.”
After a few days of poor sleep, persistent soreness, inexplicable irritability, and a lingering malaise toward running in general, I began to wonder if the little gremlins pulling levers inside my watch might be on to something.
Overtrained. The word rolled around and settled in. Yes, I was overtrained.
What is it?
You’ve probably encountered the term, and maybe thought you were “overtrained” at one time or another. Like many words in our sport (junk, tempo, threshold, easy—shall I continue?), it carries as many definitions as there are Instagram run coaches.
By and large, it expresses a feeling: “I have trained too much.”
I learned something researching this article. In scientific circles, “overtraining” describes an actual syndrome, characterized by underperformance over time, and best diagnosed by a healthcare provider. So, the relatively abrupt feeling of having done too much might more usefully be called something else.
Like everything in life, overdoing it exists on a spectrum.
In fact, folks who know a great deal more about the science-y side of running than I do have created actual spectrums, which usually look something like this:
The words we choose to describe our feelings matter. So, finding the zone that accurately describes where we’re at is step one in a personal inventory that helps us understand whether and how to respond.
Where am I, and how did I get here?
The next time your watch decides to turn on you, or your running feels off for a few days, spend some time in self-reflection. Bonus points if you’ve kept a journal and can dig into other data, as these are valuable inputs. Some questions to consider:
Subjective: How has training felt in the last several weeks?
Farther back? The past month? Six months?
Objective: Have you hit or missed planned workouts/paces?
What else can your run data tell you?
Adjacent: What else is going on in life that could be at play?
We should consider “all stresses” in our running.
For me, I could trace a creeping discontent to a missed a PR on a mis-measured 10k course in early August. Writing about that helped a little, and I took a week off running before Lisa and I traveled to Hawaii for a month.
When I started back up—launching straight into a training block for the California International Marathon—it was in the heat and humidity of a tropical summer. Hitting prescribed paces was hard, which took a physical toll. I adjusted expectations, but that took a mental toll. Slowing down felt like early-stage failure.
When I sat to write about my favorite running route on O‘ahu, I’d lost the juice. By the time my Garmin called me “unproductive,” I was already flat, unmotivated, more sore than I should have been, and edgier than usual.
What I wasn’t, as I looked farther back, was underperforming over time. It’s been a great season of training and racing… Maybe my best ever.
“Without a drop in performance, there is no overtraining.”
- Asker Jeukendrup, fastrunning.com
All the introspection (together with the prep work for writing this article), helped me place myself somewhere in the early stages of Non-Functional Overreaching.
Occasional dips into Functional Overreaching, by the way, are a natural part of any progressive training plan. The key, like a good heist, is to get in and out quickly.
Three signs it’s time to intervene.
As you do your own overtraining inventory watch for these signals and how they’re differentiated on the gradient between Fatigue/Functional Overreaching (F/FOR), Non-Functional Overreaching (NFOR), and Overtraining Syndrome (OTS).
Signal 1: Tiredness
F/FOR: Mild to moderate, and to some degree expected. You’re “tired,” but can still complete workouts (if at a lower intensity). Resolves with days of rest.
NFOR: More pronounced, and perhaps unexpected. You’re “exhausted,” and find it difficult to complete workouts. Lingers with days of rest.
OTS: Severe and chronic. You’re “overwhelmed,” and it may be impossible to complete (or even initiate) workouts. Persistent with weeks or months of rest.
Signal 2: Sleep and Mood Changes
F/FOR: Minor, including passing anxious or irritable moods. Motivation may dip. Your sleep could be “disturbed” for several nights.
NFOR: Persistent and prolonged mood changes. Poor quality sleep could last weeks, compounding fatigue and motivation challenges.
OTS: Severe, even clinical mood disturbances possible. Sleep issues may become chronic, with insomnia being prevalent. Motivation is all but gone.
Signal 3: Recovery Time
F/FOR: Relatively quick, typically hours or days. You bounce back after rest, and could experience performance gains after the overreach.
NFOR: Significantly longer, often days or weeks. In spite of rest, your performance may stagnate or even decline.
OTS: Full recovery can take months or even years. You may struggle to regain previous performance levels, and in extreme cases never do.
Three interventions.
Wherever you land on the overreaching/overtraining gradient, some kind of intervention (change) is likely in order. Here are three approaches to get you started on the path.
Intervention 1: Let Go
I’m guilty of holding tightly to training plans, often feeling that pushing is the only path to improvement. Can you relate? When our body (or Garmin) says to slow down, it’s time to release rigid expectations and the need for constant improvement. Try to accept the setback as temporary, and to embrace recovery itself as progress.
Intervention 2: Change it Up
Changing routes and routines can reintroduce joy and curiosity to training. If you’re an overthinker like me, try not to obsess over the run itself, instead plugging into the world around you. It’s also a great time to cross-train… Swim, bike, do some yoga. Engaging in different movements gives the mind and body space to reset.
“Research has found that one of the variables related to overtraining is monotony. Doing the same type or pattern of training leads to an increased likelihood of overtraining.”
- Steve Magness, scienceofrunning.com
Intervention 3: Rest
Rest is the cornerstone of recovery, but stopping physical activity completely may have its own adverse affects. Instead, try reducing volume and intensity significantly (up to fifty percent), then ramping up slowly as you begin to see improvement. Emphasize quality sleep. Introduce gentle movement and mindfulness practices like meditation to stay tuned in to your body and mind.
A note about prevention.
The simplest way to combat overtraining is to not flirt with it in the first place. You know the standard advice here (see also: The Formula) …
Increase volume and intensity gradually
Work with something like an 80 percent easy, 20 percent effort ratio
Prioritize hydration, nutrition, and recovery
Don’t push hard in the heat of the day in Hawaii, ya bonehead
That said, you love running and will probably overdo it at some point. When that happens, notice the circumstances. What were the “cumulative stresses” in your life? What were the running stresses? Take note of any patterns, journal if it helps cement them in your mind, and be aware of these signals in the future.
The Finish Line
When my watch flipped to “Unproductive,” I wanted desperately for it not to be true. But, as I thought about how my running was going, it was clear the Garmin gremlins were right. I’d been antsy about maximizing every run in a short marathon build, and came close to sabotaging the whole thing.
“Find the request in the complaint.”
- Leo Babauta, zenhabits.com
Old school, tough guy advice tells us to push through pain and adversity. But we’re wiser in these situations to hear the body’s complaints, understand what’s being asked, and respond intentionally, with patience and self compassion.
Run lightly,
-mike
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I don't love that some latex-laden gremlins in your Garmin have been making you feel some kind of way, but definitely loved this read. Most especially this, which can be translated to so many parts of being human:
"Old school, tough guy advice tells us to push through pain and adversity. But we’re wiser in these situations to hear the body’s complaints, understand what’s being asked, and respond intentionally, with patience and self compassion."