Training by definition causes a decrease in short-term performance, followed by a super-compensation if there is proper recovery and therefore improved performance. If there’s not adequate recovery you may feel stale in the next workout or race. This is characterized as over-reaching where you are not fully recovered. Long-term over-reaching develops into Over-Training Syndrome (OTS). At this point you’ll notice various symptoms, such as the following; fatigue heavy muscles, depression, sleep disturbances, loss of weight, weight gain, loss of competitive drive, loss of libido, increased emotional anxiety, irritability, raised resting pulse and excessive sweating. That’s a lot of potential symptoms and everyone will experience different symptoms. All of these symptoms are very common for iron deficiency, also a common problem for runners.
I, like most runners, have been looking for a diagnostic test to determine what is wrong. I had several blood tests done and they showed low thyroid levels, sometimes low testosterone, and once a lower iron. Due to the combination of low thyroid for an extended period of time and a family history (including males) on my mom’s side of the family, I was put on levothyroxine. 50mcg did very little and 100mcg I *thought* I felt better. In reality, at that point I was likely training well and had appropriate recovery, and that’s why I felt better.
A major problem with OTS is the role of hormones is poorly understood (Richard Budgett: Fatigue and underperformance…). Stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol have been shown to be increased in athletes with OTS (Richard Budgett). I can attest that I’ve felt the affects of adrenaline issues. I have not been able to find very much scientific literature into the role of caffeine intake and over-training syndrome. Clearly there is a strong correlation with adrenaline. I believe I was having “too much” caffeine that amplified the effects of OTS. How much caffeine is too much? This is a great question I wish someone would look into. According to guidelines of caffeine affecting performance (from the NY Times article), a recommendation of 5-6 mg of caffeine per kilogram of body weight is ideal. On average I was having way less than that, however I was probably close to that on race day/workout days. That amount is equal to approximately 16-20 oz of coffee. For me, that much was too much and the day-to-day variation was another stress on the body.
Also according to Richard Budgett, my doctor at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine Jason Glowney, and Run for Your Life, the hypothalmic pituatary axis (HPA) starts functioning incorrectly. For me, I believe this represented itself in low thyroid and testosterone levels. Dr. Glowney explained that the issue is almost similar to post-tramatic stress disorder where the issue actually resides in the brain. This explains several of my races where I felt like I was physically ‘bonking’ even though I was far from in danger of actually carbohydrate depletion. The race at the US 10 mile was a perfect example of this. I hit mile 5 at a conservative pace and then all of a sudden was struggling to run 5:30 miles…then struggling to hold 6:00 miles. Ten days before the race I did a 10 mile moderate progression run on a muddy day at the Boulder Reservoir – I ran 55:30. I think I ran about 54 minutes at the US 10 mile championships! The best way I can describe it is that moderate feels moderate, but I couldn’t run hard or my body shuts down. Even if I’m very fit, my body will not let me run hard.
At that point two weeks ago I knew I needed time off. During this time I did a lot of research to figure out what I had to do to come back healthier and stronger than before. At the end of May/early June I took two weeks completely off. Yet I was barely able to manage preparing for the Kauai Marathon. Looking back at my log from how I build-up after those two weeks off I was doing moderate workouts two weeks later and hard workouts four weeks later. According to this article by physiotherapy.curtin.edu, heart rate should be kept in the range of 120-140 beats per minute for at least 6 weeks. Also one complete rest day per week is recommended initially.
For the past two weeks I focused on being a high school coach and a PhD student. My only ‘exercise’ has come in the form of yard work. Per the doctor’s recommendation I stopped taking medication for the thyroid. I’ve added in BCAAs for recovery (Gastmann A and Lehmann M 1998). For this week I plan to run up to 30 minutes per day with several days of cross-training instead of running. The week after this I plan to run up to 45 minutes per day with one day of rest and one day of cross-training. The following two weeks I plan to run about an hour easy 6 days of the week with one rest day. I’m planning on wearing the heart-rate monitor so I never get too fast and keep the heart rate under 140 bpm. In addition, weight lifting will be kept very light and core also light.
I’m going to be a contender again soon. I’m looking forward to tying up my racing flats and competing to the best of my abilities. First, I’m recovering to get better. Hope you’re able to learn from my mistakes this blog post. Please post questions you have.
-Tyler
References:
Fatigue and Underperformance in athletes: the overtraining syndrome, Richard Budgett, Br. J. Sports Med 1998;32:107-110
http://physiotherapy.curtin.edu.au/resources/educational-resources/exphys/00/overtraining.cfm
http://www.runforyourlife.com.au/downloads/issue6/Testosterone.pdf
Your research continues! Thanks for sharing. Therapeutic in writing and posting your blog, I’m sure it feels good to do so but also to be getting back into it. NICE! Always in learning mode…
It will be interesting to see what pace keeps your HR within the 120-140 zone.
Dude heavy weight lifting might help you. It stimulates GH release and testosterone release. It always makes me feel great if used in the right manor. Shouldn’t bulk you either if done during even moderate mileage.
Thanks for your insight on running!
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Thanks for the comments! I’ve been doing research on the heavy lifting too. The main thing is I have to be very very careful. If I go to failure when lifting I’m over-stimulating the central nervous system just as I would be running too hard. However, I’m starting with light dumbbells and hope to work up to heavier weights for that natural boost in HGH/testosterone – great response Steve!
Tim – really interesting too…I rarely wear the heart rate monitor when running but have noticed a few things. Running 7:30/mi is comfortable in the mid 120s. However, when running uphill everything changes…I was almost walking up a sharp uphill just to keep the heart rate below 140. I’ll keep the blog updated and let you know how progress is going.
Hi Tyler:
My boyfriend sent me a link to this post as I am having similar issues to those you described. I’ve been working with a Naturopath for several months and nothing we’ve tried has significantly helped. At last resort he tried me on synthetic thyroid (porcine), but it did little. Then, doubling the dose actually made things worse (worse fatigue), etc. I’m reluctant to go to a mainstream endocrinologist – for fear she/he will simply try the same approach. Wondering what has most helped you feel better and get back to real training.
Any updates on your process/progress would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
KC (female)
in NYC
If you want to email me directly
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Wow you have almost described my OTS symptoms to a “T”. I am 47 days into being able to do almost nothing. I race XC mountain bikes and really buried myself I guess. Did not even know I was going that hard…but all of my friends were not surprised when I told them what has happened. I did not even realize it until the insomnia started one night…then the next and it kept going like that for 36 straight days. I was not even riding or anything after the first night of insomnia. The strange thing is that I never felt any body fatigue. The only fatigue I felt was from lack of sleep. The last 8 days or so I have been sleeping better again with the help of Melotonin and Tylenol PM.
I did notice that if I ride at anything above an easy endurance pace I pay for it. Last weekend I did a couple of days of 30 min tempo and had the worse insomnia of this whole experience. Since then I keep it really easy, except for yesterday which I tried another tempo ride with an avg. HR of 160 and had a terrible nights sleep, bit not as bad as last week.. I have read more about this and adrenal glands, thyroids, petuitary….than I thought possible, and the reading and list goes on.
The worse part about this is the doctors know nothing. My first blood test showed high cortisol. Two weeks later had another test which showed morning cortisol as being normal. He then tried to tell me it was anxiety that I was feeling. He then ordered a 24 hr urine test to check for tumors and such on adrenals to make sure. It was here that I agree with something you mentioned and that is adrenaline. After my rides I am so over amped…like 50 cups of coffee amped. My heart beats really hard, HR is higher than it should be for the next day or so and the headaches the adrenalin causes really sucks. I know its not anxiety because of the pattern I have developed from watching my bodies response to my rides.
Anyways to end this ….Have you had any luck with eliminating any of these symptoms you have had? If so maybe you could give me some pointers. i plan on only doing low heart rate rides and very short at that for awhile, at least until I can sleep again without the help of supplements. Thanks for your article, I learned more from an athletes view than I had in all the other things I have read.
Clint,
First, if you’d like to discuss more you are more than welcome to e-mail me at tcm5026@gmail.com!
Second, I am sorry you are going through this rough patch. It really sounds like OTS and adrenal fatigue. When you say you are over-amped after riding, is that because of excessive caffeine intake? Are you still having caffeine?
I’m now running better than I ever have been before. There are a couple of reasons. One is that I eliminated all caffeine for about 5 months! Now the amount of caffeine I have is very small and I’m running remarkably well and FEELING GOOD without coffee.
The reason your body is acting this way is due to the flight or fight response. Because of OTS, your body is currently treating exercise as a flight or fight response like you would have if you just missed a car accident and your body was amped up. For me, I took two weeks completely off and then the next 6 weeks I was JOGGING EASY EASY with one day off per week. I also significantly reduced my exercise volume from 100+ miles per week to only 75 miles the 7th week. Now I’m consistently running 90 miles per week with a lot more quality miles. In addition, my workouts are shorter and more intense and I’m not doing very long runs. This has really really helped me regain the best shape of my life and feeling good again.
What have you done to take time off and slowly regain exercise?
I hope that helps!
-Tyler