| Overdoing it | | | | your body time to recover and adapt to the |
| To become a faster and stronger runner, you will | | | | progress. |
| have to train harder. As you start to reap the | | | | Junk miles |
| rewards of that training there is a temptation to | | | | You may think that jogging for a few miles on a |
| train even harder still, but there is a fine line | | | | day that should be a 'rest' day is OK but even a |
| between training hard and overtraining. | | | | short run will prevent your body recovering fully. |
| The warning signs | | | | When it says rest day in your schedule, do just |
| One simple way to find out if you are overdoing it | | | | that. |
| is to get into the habit of taking your pulse as | | | | Take off |
| soon as you wake up in the morning. A spike in | | | | Don't wait until you are completely exhausted |
| your pulse rate at any point is an indication of a | | | | before you decide to take a day off running. You |
| problem and a sign that you need to give yourself | | | | don't even have to cut your mileage; just run a |
| more rest. | | | | little further on the days when you are scheduled |
| More aches and pains | | | | to run and don't run at all on your rest days. |
| A raised heart rate could also be an indication of | | | | Rest assured |
| imminent illness, which could be linked to a | | | | If you think that you might be overtraining, then |
| depressed immune system weakened by a | | | | take a few days off. Drink plenty of fluids, sleep |
| heavy training load. Injuries, particularly overuse | | | | a little longer and reassess your schedule and how |
| injuries like shin splints, are another natural | | | | realistic it might be. Think about adding more |
| mechanism your body has for telling you that you | | | | cross-training to your programme for variety. |
| are doing too much. Finally, think about your | | | | Run off-road |
| motivation - do you struggle to leave the house | | | | Clocking up miles on hard roads and paths can |
| or come up with more excuses for not running? | | | | contribute to overtraining injuries. Every time you |
| Cycle training | | | | strike the ground when you are running, oxygen- |
| Although a schedule is generally a positive element | | | | carrying red blood cells are destroyed. The higher |
| of goal setting and planning, you should not be a | | | | impact forces of hard roads or pavements |
| slave to it. A good schedule should offer a three | | | | increase the rate of destruction. Try to run as |
| to four week cycle of progression followed by a | | | | many of your miles on softer off-road trails and |
| one- to two-week period of relative rest to allow | | | | footpaths. |