I think people banter around the phrase "I am overtrained" as a symbol that they are one of the triathlon elite.  I believe "overtraining"  should never be uttered by anyone training under maybe 20-25 hours per week.  I do believe that you can just get tired after a solid training block or after adding lots of higher intensity work.  I don't believe when this happens that I am "overtrained" but rather that I need to "unload" or shed some of my fatigue.  Signs for me that it is time to unload (I was experiencing most of these by the end of last week);

*Eating becomes work.  Funny from someone who appreciates food.
*My internal thermometer becomes set on hot.  Not hot flashes (still some years away) but I find I need less clothes etc.
*My need for sleep increases.  Normally I sleep 7 hours per night but during the last week I am up to 8-8.5 per night.
*Clumsiness increases.  Okay, it is always there but it is a bit worse right now.  I drop things quite a bit.  Two days ago I was getting into Coaches new hot tub and I slipped, fell and tore a chunk of skin off my ankle.
*My impatience factor is way up (especially with myself).
*I am having a hard time taking naps.  My body is humming and it is hard to quiet the energy level.
*Easy workouts start to become hard from an emotional and physical level.  Overcoming inertia takes energy. 
*Heart rate becomes less consistent (higher or lower than normal).
*I develop some acne on my chin.  What am I, 16?

Warning signs that I have gone way too far (not experiencing any of these right now):
*Night sweats
*Crabbiness with everyone
*Lack of hunger
*Sleepus Interuptus

How did this happen in January you ask?  Well, first off I got excited.  I am ready to train again and I am excited to embark on my journey to Boston and Ironman Wisconsin.  I have a solid training program right now and I added the run camp for the month of January (a minimum of 60 minutes running per day...usually split into two runs).  I dropped my effort level quite a bit on running to reach my goal .  At least I intended to drop my effort level until a week and a half ago.  I seriously upped the intensity level racing with the Pain Cave Crew and then hit some nice steady runs. Sometimes you pay to play!

So, what have I done about the fatigue?  This weekend I have unloaded big time.  Less of everything (except the running) in the schedule.  I have dropped intensity too.  Changed my diet slightly and have added some coconut products to up the fat I consume.  Coach is still recovering from a bad cold and decided that we needed to slow down this weekend.  What a great idea!  We have relaxed, spent time in the hot tub and just enjoyed some quiet time.  I have a swim test today and I will get a better idea if I have truly shed some fatigue.

I think these moments are important in my training.  Especially for a long course race.  When I work through this kind of fatigue and come out the other side, it gives me the strength to do the same in the low point of a race.  Just another brick in my road to the finish...

  

 

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