How much exhaustion is normal?

[savannah11]

I began training for my first half in February. As my mileage increased I noticed that my level of exhaustion increased. I needed to go to bed earlier and some days I felt like I could just lie down on the street and sleep. I chalked it up to the increased mileage, made sure to take enough rest days, and muddled along.

I ran my half last month and have maintained 15 - 20 miles per week since recovering. I still have days where I feel like it's a struggle to function. Yesterday I ran 8 miles and today I feel like I was hit by a bus. Is this really normal? I'm starting to guess not.

[gnomesweetgnome]

That doesn't really sound normal to me, especially if you're resting approrpriately, etc. You may want to go to the dr. to rule out other common causes of fatigue - hypothyroidism, low Vitamin D (I think it is this one...), etc. Hope you feel better soon!

ETA: Another question - did you take cut back weeks during your training? i.e. running 10 miles one long run, 7 or 8, and then ramping up to 10+ again, etc. Continuously increasing your mileage without allowing your body to recover adequately could cause extra fatigue as well.

[savannah11]

May 30, 2012 17:43:59 GMT -5 gnomesweetgnome said:

That doesn't really sound normal to me, especially if you're resting approrpriately, etc. You may want to go to the dr. to rule out other common causes of fatigue - hypothyroidism, low Vitamin D (I think it is this one...), etc. Hope you feel better soon!

ETA: Another question - did you take cut back weeks during your training? i.e. running 10 miles one long run, 7 or 8, and then ramping up to 10+ again, etc. Continuously increasing your mileage without allowing your body to recover adequately could cause extra fatigue as well.

I followed hal higdon's plan almost exactly. It has two cut back weeks and then I ran an extra 10 miler and another cut back week before the half.

My total weekly mileage since February has looked something like:

12
13
14
16
13
18
17
18
21
22
20
3 - the week after the half
17
18
8 so far this week

[savannah11]

May 30, 2012 18:05:02 GMT -5 Mrs.flang said:

I found myself exhausted during training for the full similar to what you are describing. I found that eating more protein right after my long runs really helped.

But I also felt more normal after a short break and maintaining at 20 ish miles/week.

I wondered if it was food related. I tried increasing my calorie intake but started gaining weight (!) so I backed off again.

[Deleted]

What are you eating? Are you taking vitamins?

ETA: I was tired at the beginning of training but once I started fueling my long runs with gels, drinking gatorade to replenish electrolytes, and adjusting my food for the higher calorie burn (and carbs and protein), I felt so much better.

[scorpio72]

Unfortunately I have days like these frequently. There is nothing medically wrong with me that we can find. All of my tests have come back normal.

There are many days that I could fall asleep if I closed my eyes. Usually it's on days I've done a more intense workout. On rest days or days I've had a lighter workout I'm generally more awake. Days I do speed work I am totally dragging by the end of the day.

I average between 15-20 miles a week. I'm not training for anything right now so I just run what I feel like doing.

Since we can't find anything wrong with me I'm chalking it up to age (I'm almost 40) and having 3 young kids. That and doing 5-6 days of fairly intense workouts a week.

[sadlebred]

You could be overtrained or overreached. There is a lot of information out there about both. I'd start by taking a week COMPLETELY off from ANY exercise and see if you feel better.

[SuziSaysDa]

I had similar fatigue when I first started training, my problem was refueling. I now have a recovery drink after my longer runs (I bought Endurox at my LRS, but I know there are others) it has made such a difference for me.

[katietornado]

I don't think that's quite normal. I do more than double your weekly mileage, plus CrossFit, and I'm never that tired.

If I were you, I'd see a doc and maybe look into some bloodwork.

[finallykrisb]

May 31, 2012 8:23:41 GMT -5 katietornado said:

I don't think that's quite normal. I do more than double your weekly mileage, plus CrossFit, and I'm never that tired.

If I were you, I'd see a doc and maybe look into some bloodwork.

Definitely this. Your activity level does not sound like it warrants the type of exhaustion you are describing.

[Deleted]

I over-trained for my half last year and it took me about 6 months to recover. I had to take a severe break from running - I think I ran maybe once a week and switched my routine to gym classes the other days. I ran my half in April 2011 and didn't feel great about running on a regular basis until this past January or so. Obviously this is just my experience.

[savannah11]

Thanks everyone. I think I'll make an appointment with my doctor just to be safe. I should also pay more attention to my eating. DH thinks I don't eat enough but I also don't want to gain any weight. I could probably make better choices.

[Deleted]

I would definitely get a blood panel done. Hypothyroidism and anemia have both made me feel like junk at various points, and both have been easily managed once I knew what was going on.

[aurora]

Doesn't sound quite normal to me, though if you're still relatively new to exercising it can be tough to know what is normal. I am glad to see you'll make an appointment with your doctor to rule out any health problems. I definitely also agree about making sure you're eating the right kinds of food, and remember that muscle weighs more than fat so if you're transitioning to a more muscular build you might indeed put on a few pounds.

Also, I know there are a million different opinions out there about training but I think your recovery weeks could probably be cut back a bit. I learned to train in 4-week cycles with three weeks of increasing mileage then a 4th that was significantly cut back, so starting with your numbers you could try something like

12
14
16
10
14
16
18
12
16
18
20
14

Finally, don't be afraid to substitute something like a bike ride for a run one day if you're getting tired - cross training really can help you feel better.

[SallyJ]

It might be that you aren't eating enough. If you have been eating fairly low calories with high activity level for some time, you will gain weight when you first increase calories. Give it 6-10 weeks of eating more to let your body level out. Read up on BMR and TDEE to estimate the number of calories you are eating.