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by
Amby Burfoot
Too much hard work and
dedication can hinder your progress. The key is finding the right balance
All training theory rests on a simple foundation--the
principle of gradual adaptation to stress--that can be tauntingly difficult
to follow in practice. This book contains many words to guide you toward a
sound training program, one you can change and adjust to your own needs. But
you may still fall into the overtraining trap.
Why? Primarily because runners are sometimes so motivated, so dedicated, and
so focused on a goal that they don't follow the old adage "Listen to your
body." Sure, you've had a long week of business travel or a sick child at
home or exams to study for or a developing sniffle. But your program calls
for a Sunday morning long run, and darn it, you're going to stick to the
program.
Most of the time, such dedication pays dividends. If you don't have it, you
won't succeed in reaching your goals. But you must also realize the
opposite: Too much dedication can sometimes interfere with your plans. The
key is to find the right balance.
To balance your training with your life, you must observe a number of
physiological and commonsense principles. First, when your body is
rebelling, listen to it and take it easy. Leg soreness means something. So
do other aches, pains, and fever. Listen to them.
Strangely enough, there's a thin line between peak condition and burnout.
Many runners fall into the burnout trap just when things are starting to go
particularly well. You feel great, you're running fast, and every workout
seems easy. No wonder you're tempted to run a little farther and harder
every day. You sense that you're on the verge of a breakthrough.
This is often when the breakdown occurs instead. One morning, you wake up
feeling sluggish and feverish. That day's run is a disaster. So are the next
day's and the one after that. Concerned that you've had three or four bad
days in a row, an alarm goes off in your head: You're getting out of shape!
So you push yourself really hard for the next several days, eager to have
rewarding workouts. You succeed, to a point, but it takes tremendous effort.
In fact, it increases your overall burnout, and soon the downward spiral
continues.
When this happens, the only way out is to take several weeks, sometimes
more, of rest and very easy running. You will bounce back because your body
is programmed to repair itself and recover, but it won't happen as fast as
you'd like.
It's far better to avoid burnout in the first place. Use common sense in
your training; do less when you're facing unusual, outside stresses. And
make sure that you have regular recovery days and recovery weeks built into
your training program. The only way to maintain optimal fitness and energy
is to give yourself appropriate breaks when you need them.
5 Principles for Avoiding Burnout:
- Listen to your body. When it's unusually tired, achy,
sore, feverish, or fatigued, give yourself several rest days.
Don't "push through" to make yourself tougher and stronger. It
won't work.
- Use a training program in which a hard training day is
generally followed by two easy ones. Elite runners try to
follow a hard-day/easy-day schedule, but most recreational
athletes need an additional day of rest or recovery running.
- At three or four key points during the year, allow
yourself several weeks of easy training, perhaps after a
marathon, during the hottest days of summer, or while you're
on vacation. No one should train hard 52 weeks a year.
- Don't substitute a cross-training workout for a running
workout and think that you're giving yourself a rest day. It's
a good idea in principle, but if you're training hard with
your cross-training, it's still a hard day.
- Never be afraid to take a complete rest day or just take a
brisk 30- to 40-minute walk. It may be the best thing for your
training.
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