Overtraining?

Let's figure this out. Last weekend, in three days, Jan swam 2+ miles in open water (IM is 2.4m), ran 21 miles (IM is 26.2m) and biked 130 miles (IM is 112m).

The last few days she has been sluggish, easily frustrated and sleepy. Hmmm.

Here are a few signs of overtraining and what to do about it:

One of the first symptoms of overtraining is fatigue. While fatigue is a normal part of hard training, when it persists for days after a hard workout despite sufficient recovery, it's an indication that adaptation to the higher workload is not occurring. Instead, the body is experiencing catabolism, or breakdown. Some other symptoms that often accompany fatigue are a decrease in performance, muscle soreness, difficulty sleeping, elevated resting heart rate, and emotional instability.

Physical
• Frequent injuries
• Trouble sleeping
• Anxiety, irritability, moodiness
• Loss of appetite
• Unintended weight loss
• Elevated resting pulse rate and body temperature
• Persistent muscle soreness
• Increased or reduced blood pressure
• Excessive sweating

Behavioral
• Forcing yourself to exercise even if you don't feel well
• Never exercising just for fun
• Training as hard as you can almost every time
• Feeling severe stress and anxiety if you miss a workout
• Missing family obligations in order to exercise
• Calculating how much to exercise based on how much you eat
• Preferring to workout rather than spend time with friends
• Unable to relax because you think you're not burning calories or advancing your fitness
Hersports

Here are a few tips: If you begin a workout, and just know its going to be a struggle--you just have no energy--stop the work-out and go home. You obviously need more rest. When it gets really bad, take an entire week-end and do "nothing" associated with Ironman training. Go away for a few days. You won't lose a thing and will resume your training rested and refreshed.
http://www.triathlon-ironman-myfirstironman-ironstruck.com/Ironman-mistakes.html

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