In training for a mile or 5k, how do you know when you are just the right amount of tired? I find it's very easy to overcook it and just become sorta burnt out and kill my growth. Whenever I see others talk about their training, they become really tired in their base phases. When this happens to me, I am rarely able to bring it back for my peak phase and am usually just plateauing. How do you know when and where to cut the intensity/mileage where you're still getting better?
a few warning signs would be:
- constantly tired
- very demotivated with running/life in general
- constantly procrastinating/dreading doing tough sessions
- finding easy runs really tough
- finding it harder to run times you used to run easier
Rule of thumb - you don't need to train extremely hard to train well. Train smart and often slower is better.
My best guess is to train by heart rate zones.
I think there is a pie chart of how much time should be spent in each zone.
Yeah unfortunately I've certainly become familiar with a good amount of those symptoms in the past. So you would say that maybe the slot below that is where improvement comes from? Like if what you described is an 8/10 on the fatigue scale, would you aim for around a 7 in your training?
few warning signs wrote:
a few warning signs would be:
- constantly tired
- very demotivated with running/life in general
- constantly procrastinating/dreading doing tough sessions
- finding easy runs really tough
- finding it harder to run times you used to run easierRule of thumb - you don't need to train extremely hard to train well. Train smart and often slower is better.
When this happens, my usual response is to take a day or two totally off. Then a day or two of very easy running. Just 20–40 minutes of super slow jogging. Eat more than you think you should and sleep as much as possible. Stretch and roll a little, but don't go crazy. I find I come back and the fitness has "set in" and I feel stronger than ever.
KingChimmins wrote:
Yeah unfortunately I've certainly become familiar with a good amount of those symptoms in the past. So you would say that maybe the slot below that is where improvement comes from? Like if what you described is an 8/10 on the fatigue scale, would you aim for around a 7 in your training?
The general idea is that training super hard and destroying your body doesn't necessarily translate into improvements. It comes hand in hand with overtraining, and there's only so much v02 max improvement you can have at one time without working on what really matters.
If you slow your easy runs down, and replace some of the gutwrenching intervals with majority threshold/tempo stuff then training becomes much easier AND more beneficial. A lot of the improvement for the mile and 5k will come from getting your threshold down and having a huge aerobic base. So actually easy easy runs, easy long runs, mid-distance tempos and threshold intervals around 1 hour pace.
You don't need to do v02 max repeats or be hitting 5k and mile pace every week.
Easiest way for me to tell is my legs or my entire body are shot on easy days. Not that they aren't sore necessarily from yesterdays harder workout but they feel very fatigued. Then you get into the next hard workout with your legs feeling like crap and then it keeps snowballing.
Like above has said, usually miles isn't the issue, its pushing yourself too hard. Im only running 40mpw but my new training plan of easy days being very slow pace (~8:40/m), I have been able to run for 2 months straight no days off with 3-4 workouts a week with my legs feeling great.
Took a lot of inspiration from that popular Norwegian training thread on here and it has let me up my miles 10%+ and actually feel more rested overall. It actually fits in really well with my overall training as I lift every day, and incorporate deadlifts and squats so having a training plan that helps me stay recovered is important.