overtraining and results

Lindsay, I have discovered over this last decade that my taper HAS to be longer than I think it should be. I found this out accidentally. I was starting a taper for the 1995 LC Nationals. I had previously been doing doubles several times a week for about 8 weeks. I knew I was tired; my race pace was off; my times were horrible, but I knew it was because of the effort I had been training with. I was looking forward to the taper. One morning I woke up and had double ear infections and it was 10-12 days before my flight to Oregon. Rushed to the doctor and antibiotics were given. I had a fever and my jaws looked like I had the mumps. I was down; I could not even taper, I had to totally stop swimming for that 10 day period. I was crushed over this, as well as worried :help:that I would lose so much power and my normal "feel" for the water. Well, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Had it not been for those ear infections, I would have kept swimming but tapering. I had no idea how much REST my body truly needed. I believe I was in my mid-40s about this time. When the gun went off for the 800m free, I was explosive and I felt like a stick of dynmite. I kept negative splitting every 50 and the farther I swam, the better I felt. My time was improved by over several minutes. I had a 3rd place finish that year at LC Nationals. My point is this: I did not know I needed more rest and if I had probably tapered down, according to those "charts", I may not have swam very well. I needed more rest/recovery than I ever realized. And I can thank those double ear infections for making certain I did not enter the water. Donna

Could be a bug Lindsay. There are some bugs that win their fight and are causing us to caugh, but there are others that don't win. Yet we still have to struggle against them. I'm not a doctor, but I think these fights can last for more than a week. Add this to accute fatigue and you may have your explanation for counter performances.

Lindsay, I think everyone is different in this area! I know I have to taper a long time at the end of the season to swim my best. I tend to get overtrained very easily. You may have to experiment to find what works best for you. I would go with subjective feeling and not look at the clock too much this time of the year.

Lindsay, That is the million dollar question! It is very hard to know the fine difference in training hard and overtraining. Common warning signs of overtraining include: Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy Mild leg soreness, general achiness Pain in muscles & joints Sudden drop in performance Insomnia Headaches Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats) decrease in training capacity / intensity moodiness and irritability depression loss of enthusiasm for the sport decreased appetite increased incidence of injuries. I remember having a lot of these symptoms when I was a teenager. Back in the late 70's and early 80's high yardage and overtraining was the norm! I think that is why I burned out in college. I remember having A LOT of the symptoms above. I STAYED sick and felt terrible. Now I don't train more than 4 days a week. My body needs recovery days! If I feel especially tired, I try to take a day or two off and try to really take care of myself......in fact, I feel the need to take tomorrow off now that I look at this list! ;)

Not having been there, I suspect what you experienced was simply detraining. That while you needed the rest to lower your fatigue level, the time off also lowered your fitness level. Then once you got back in, within a couple of weeks your fitness came back and you were good to go. Every workout induces both fatigue and fitness. These effects fade over the course of a few days. Luckily for us, the fatigure fades more quickly than the fitness. So with a few days off, your fatigue fades quickly and most of your fitness stays. But you DO lose SOME fitness during the break. I stay on top of these things using the same sort of performance modeling that a Dr. Bannister set forth years ago. A bit complicated but successful in tracking fatigue and fitness on an ongoing basis and nailing tapers also. Without it, you go by feel. Go until you start to feel al little ov erdone and back off for a few days then hit it again. Lots of people plan these weeks in. One out of every 4 weeks is a recovery week where you drop the volume and intensityof the training you are doing.

Common warning signs of overtraining include: Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy Mild leg soreness, general achiness Pain in muscles & joints Sudden drop in performance Insomnia Headaches Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats) decrease in training capacity / intensity moodiness and irritability depression loss of enthusiasm for the sport decreased appetite increased incidence of injuries. I experienced just about all of the above when I was a runner. It led to my giving up running and doing essentially nothing for 15 years until taking up swimming 7 years ago. Probably the best thing that ever happened to me. Now I know the signs and when to back off and rest. Even when training hard, I use hard/easy concept in my workouts. I alternate both daily and weekly. And if I feel tired and drained when I start a workout, I will abandon the planned workout and just do short drills and easy swimming.

Solar: You have just made me not feel bad about fessing up to things on this forum. Such honesty is refreshing!! :groovy: What were you doing to overtrain? Doubles in swimming? Multi-sporting? Poolraat: Were you running 150 miles a week or something? I haven't yet overcome my running addiction fully, although the swimming addiction is at the forefront.

I stay on top of these things using the same sort of performance modeling that a Dr. Bannister set forth years ago. A bit complicated but successful in tracking fatigue and fitness on an ongoing basis and nailing tapers also. Is there a book that has this information in it? Please share more info! This would be very relevant and helpful to all of us!:agree:

Hi My question is to Islandsox and swimr4life: From what I read in your messages I infer (but I am not sure if I am right) that you normally overtrain during the season and then taper to get back to form before competition. I do not know if I understood you well, of course. Is it an ordinary course of affairs, a regular scheme of the training cycle, that one overtrains and than tapers? I thought that overtraining is something undesirable and that you must be careful to avoid it. It's not "overtraining" it's just training. As my coach used to say, "You have to go slower before you can go faster!" You want to put enough strain on your body and your energy systems to get a benefit. Your body adapts to it and is able to better perform later in the season when you taper. That's what works for me personally. I'm a sprinter and do very high quality workouts. These type workouts will make you feel like this :dedhorse: at times! If you are a distance swimmer, you usually don't need to back off as much for a big meet. Like I said in my earlier post...everyone is different and you have to find what works for you personally.

Were you running 150 miles a week or something? I haven't yet overcome my running addiction fully, although the swimming addiction is at the forefront. It wasn't quite that much, closer to 80-100. I did 2 a days and took every other Sunday off. Looking back, it wasn't very smart.