Hello, I am a sophomore boy in high school who has been mildly obsessed with distance running since I began taking it seriously in eighth grade. I have been through a lot, from overtraining to asthma, and would like to recap my training thus far for both myself and to hopefully provide some helpful insights to other struggling runners. I hope even just one person will gain something from this post that helps them in their running journey, even if it is a brief moment in which you feel comforted and not so alone in your struggles.
Eighth Grade (School Year): After showing decent promise throughout middle school, I realized that I had a bit of talent and committed myself to my training. Our cross country courses were 1.4-1.6 miles, so times are pretty meaningless, but I think at this point my 5k was at about 19:40 by the end of our season. Following this season is where my journey really began. I became set on adopting an athlete's lifestyle, so I absorbed as much training information as possible; everything from the Athlete Special to nutrition tips from various online resources. Through this "research" I concluded that the best way to train was by running hard and running a lot, but I neglected the concepts of rest and a gradual mileage buildup. This led me to get injured quickly before any meaningful times could be shown. I don't remember the specifics of my injuries, but I am fairly certain they were all mild overuse strains and such. Regardless, I was set back for a while and began panicking (performance anxiety remains an issue today, although not as significantly as it was 8th-9th grade). In my panic I took to even more training research and discovered the easy day. This elevated my training massively, and I was able to drop my 5k time to 19:17 in a tempo run (yes I also had problems racing my tempos). Things went great for about two months, the time that should have been track season but was cancelled by covid, but I still lacked proper rest and a gradual buildup, so I ran into more overuse. So far, this seems fairly typical for a new, inexperienced runner.
Freshman (Summer): This period of massive overtraining and caloric deficit taught me a lot. One specific training day looked like this: Intervals run way too hard (6x400, 9x200, 12x100), the fitness pacer test, plyometric/sprint drills, and absolutely no recovery work. Why I did this I have no clue; I thought it was best to "train 'til you puke", so to speak. Days like this were frequent throughout the summer, and it led to me being unable to walk on some days. I didn't help myself by under fueling myself and not having an adequate protein intake. I'm not sure how many calories I was eating per day, but given my training regimen, often supplemented by pickup basketball later in the day, and my rapid growth (~4 inches a year for three years on end including this one), I am 100% certain that I was not eating enough. Throughout the summer I was burnt out and constantly in pain, with little to show for my efforts.
Freshman (School Year): Due to covid restrictions, my first cross country season was inevitably cancelled, but my coach put on a mini season to get some workouts in, as well as a few time trials. Coming off of a horrible summer, I managed a 5:23 in our opening 1600 time trial at the start of this mini season. I never did get a good 5k in, however, because our only time trial was stupidly hilly and I came in at near 20:00. Overall the mini season was fine, but the winter buildup to the real XC season, which was set to begin in March, was another episode of me being constantly sidelined. For some reason I thought it was a good idea to get really into rowing while I was injured, and once I resumed running I continued with my rowing while building up mileage, leading to even more injuries, primarily hamstring based. When the season finally arrived training started to fall into place. I managed to close out the short season with an 18:22 XC pr, with a 17:51 in a track time trial. Our track season, which was immediately after our XC season, yielded even better training and racing results, but at this point I had accumulated so many overuse injuries that it seemed every run was diminished by some twinge or niggle, causing me to train a bit nervous for my body. I finished track with a 4:52 1600 and a 2:14 800. Barring occasional overtraining, as well as the buildup of injuries, Freshman year was the first decently successful training block I have ever put together.
Sophomore (Summer): This is where things get really rough. After nearly two years of running myself into the ground with training and spending way too much time in PT, I had gathered enough information, as well as info from my coach, about distance running to put myself on a successful plan. My goal was to build up to 50 miles per week by the end of the summer and consistently do fartleks and tempos as the main sessions. On paper, my summer looked solid; I was able to hit 50 mpw eventually and I put in a fair amount of harder efforts. I was also only injured once, and it was a very minor hamstring strain that resolved after a few days on the bike. However, I spent the entire summer unable to breathe. Every morning I would get up to run and every morning I would be defeated and breathless. It felt as if something were sitting on my chest, constricting my airways, and occasionally causing wheezing. I told nobody about this until late July, when I finally brought my two months of suffering to their attention. I immediately got an appointment with my doc, was diagnosed with exercise induced asthma, and given an albuterol inhaler to take before my runs. It did nothing. I wanted to believe it was doing something, but my struggles were still the same. I would prep for workouts lightheaded, finish my strides dizzy, and my mental state was declining rapidly, approaching depression.
Sophomore (School, XC): Heading into this season I was expecting big things. Sadly, I felt small and weak despite the training I had done. I would go into each workout and race scared and sometimes lightheaded. My breathing was awful. Because America's healthcare system is dog sh!t, I couldn't get in to see any doctors until late in the season. I went to a cardiologist to get an EKG, and my heart was fine. I went to an allergist/asthma doc and got tons of tests for environmental allergies. My arm swelled so much that the doctors found it amusing (I, on the other hand, did not). I tested positive for a plethora of pollens, grasses, weeds, dust, molds, and other things, and was advised to take precautions such has having an air purifier in my room, dust-proofing the house, taking Claritin, etc. As for my breathing, I had a decent bit of inflammation in my lungs and was prescribed Montelukast and, if necessary, a steroid inhaler. However, I did not begin treatment with this medicine until after the season, as state was nearing closer and I didn't want to risk anything. By some miracle, I managed to qualify for state as an individual with the worst districts race of my life. I went on to run 17:45 at state on a tough course. Going into the season I had hoped for much, much more. I had only raced three 5ks in the season (with a few two miles and a three mile) because of a sophomore outdoor ed trip and, of course, a mild injury. Looking back now I am proud of my 17:45 because I ran it through injury delays, a sickness (sick two days prior to state, absolutely wiped afterwards), and rampant breathing issues with the ensuing anxiety caused by them. Sophomore summer and XC season were some of the hardest periods of my life, and only now (mid year, sophomore) am I really figuring out my breathing. These months resulted in more post workout-tears, more anxiety, and the most significant dearth of motivation I had experienced ever.
Sophomore Year (Mid Year, Winter Training): I am currently taking time off to resolve my breathing issues and the numerous nagging injuries I have acquired thus far in my training, including ANOTHER hamstring injury (this one due to excess lifting) that I hurt about four weeks into my winter buildup. I have always known that I have had food allergies to certain things like nuts, eggs, and fish (among others), but the extent of my allergy profile ranged much, much further than I had initially thought. Two of the largest offenders were sunflower seeds and garlic. I had been using sunflower seed butter as a peanut butter substitute every single day throughout the summer and most of my cross country season until I got a positive test result back. The swelling in my esophagus had constricted my airway and created sternal pressure as well. I am still finding problem foods, and I am beginning an elimination diet soon to hopefully discover all of them. Things I would eat regularly like bananas, mangoes, and avocados, to name a few, are all gone now. I am headed to a GI doc for some examinations and potentially some new meds. The Montelukast is helping immensely, and the environmental allergy precautions are beneficial as well. I hope to be fully healthy by the time I resolve the GI portion of this as well so that I can excel in my training in future years.
Now that I have recapped my training I would like to share a few of the most important lessons I have learned along the way:
1. Eat a lot and eat well. As a growing athlete, eating more than enough is infinitely better than eating too little. Do not fall down the calorie counting trap as I did.
2. Keep a log of your training. This was perhaps the biggest development for me. I personally use Garmin Connect to upload my activities and write notes in, but any other log, digital or hand held, works great. Write things like how you felt, what you plan to do in the future, what was hard/good about the run, any pains you had, etc so that you can reflect, analyze, and improve your training.
3. It is better to be a bit undertrained than a bit overtrained, especially while you're young. Some people might be able to handle the workload that I tried to maintain, but I could not, and I never learned how to adapt. Always train within your body and repeat the somewhat of a running cliche: consistency is key.
4. Be open and vocal about your concerns and injuries. Keeping things to yourself will do you no good, ever.
There are lots of other lessons I learned, but these have been the most impactful for me. If you have specific questions about asthma, environmental or food allergies, or even anxiety please reply and I will try to write back as soon as possible some personal anecdotes and advice from various doctors I have visited.
This is my training experience so far. It has been difficult, to say the least. I am not looking for sympathy at all; people have been through so much worse. I am instead hoping that some runner, some avid athlete out there can take something out of this, whether it be managing asthma or how NOT to train, and make themselves a healthier person and a stronger runner. I hope this was helpful, and I wish everyone reading this a great 2022.