We all know what overtraining means. Even the most intelligent athletes can fall victim to this sexy and alluring concept. You know who you are – perhaps you’ve earned the nickname “Workout Queen”, you’ve frequently run 100 mile weeks just because you want to hit the triple digits, or you’ve hit the pool 4 times a day just because you have some extra free time.
Well, overreaching might be a tempting concept to you “enthusiastic” athletes. While there are a variety of definitions for overreaching in endurance sports, the one I like is from Matt Fitzgerald, a contributor to the magazine Triathlete. In the March 2009 issue, in his article titled “When Too Much Is Just Enough”, Fitzgerald defines overreaching as “when you are training hard enough so that, after seven to 10 days, your performance begins to decline due to accumulating fatigue. But the art of overreaching lies in cutting back your training as soon as you reach that threshold of performance decline in order to give your body a chance to adapt to all of that hard work.”
As I read this article, I began thinking about the physical and mental art of overreaching. Physically, if you know your body reasonable well (as most athletes do), you can find that delicate balance between reason and insanity and ride it pretty well until its time to cut back your training. Mentally, however, you face a different monster. You’re asking yourself to make peace with an unbelievable amount of physical exhaustion, perhaps entering into a training chaos mentality, and then expecting yourself to adjust immediately, without hesitation, as soon as you think you’ve reached that nasty threshold.
How do you make that transition from chaos to calm?
Keep in mind your ultimate performance goal. Allow that goal to guide your reasoning. When it is time to cut back from an intense training load, be aware that your body will likely respond favorably, but your mind might have tasted the cruel and delicious taste of fatigue and want more. We endurance athletes know this taste and often hunger for it. By keeping in mind your ultimate performance goal, you’re more likely to enjoy your slightly more relaxed training schedule and appreciate the physical and mental benefits of shifting your training. Remember, while we certainly want to enjoy or athletic journey, we still want to perform to our potential in competition. Try to avoid sabotaging that goal by becoming so addicted to the “training hard” component of your training that you fail to enjoy the easier and more relaxed side.
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