Hi,
I should start by saying I’m a junior and a female runner, but definitely not one of the elites on this site; just an average high school girl runner, but I’m really getting desperate.
So between last year and this year, I really believed that I improved as a runner. I went from running a 5k on a certain course from 20:54 to 19:57 in the beginning of the season and was thrilled about that. However, all my best meets were at the beginning of the season. Since then, my times keep getting worse it seems. We had a conference meet on our state course two days ago and I ran a terrible 21:30, which seems so slow in comparison to the 20:50 I ran there last year, but still somehow made all conference. I honestly don’t understand because, for example, I ran 400 repeats in xc in 1:26ish last year and now run them in 1:20ish (for xc not track). I’ve run harder workouts than I ever could’ve last year (for example 5 x 0.7 mi repeats faster than 5k pace) and I really want a strong state meet so I can make all state this year.
What confuses me most is why this has happened. Looking at possible reasons, I want to believe it’s most likely nutrition (low iron?), overtraining, or maybe even mental burnout? My coach says he truly believes I should be able to be racing faster right now and has given up as to why my times have slowed so much. After a week of 2 meets and a speed workout as well as not so “easy” runs with my determined teammates, I assumed I was overtrained. This soon proved to be wrong though when he gave a week with only one workout and mostly easy, longer runs (my favorite) and I did even worse. Nutrition wise, I’ll say that I’m vegetarian and almost vegan, but I feel as though I get enough of major nutrients. I don’t get my period but I haven’t for years. I do believe my nutrition isn’t its best, though, because I have been eating less chickpeas, beans, brown rice, etc and relying more on protein bars and simple meals like pasta or a soup and sandwich lately out of less time to make nutritious meals. That also brings up the fact that junior year and APs has taken a lot of stress and sleep from me, but I’m working just as hard if not harder in the sport to make up for that. I don’t know if it might be mental as I feel almost exhausted from the season and am definitely ready for the offseason, but I really really want a strong state meet. I just really want to understand why my times seem to keep getting slower and most of all, what I can do now to try to have a strong last few meets. I keep working harder and harder as a runner, but my times just keep getting worse and I’m really frustrated. To anyone who writes a genuine response back, thank you so much; I really appreciate it.