Overtrained
The weekend of my first marathon I saw another runner wearing a sweet bomber jacket with a unicorn on the back. It looked badass. I wanted one. That is when I learned about the Boston Marathon. I was yet to put down my first step into my first marathon and I wanted into the prestigious Boston Marathon… bad.
One of the Abbotts, the Boston Marathon bid for entry is either get a qualifying time or run for a charity. The marathon itself is small and steeped in tradition. I chose the former because nothing gets my gears going like a promise of a gold star next to my name. I wanted to earn my entry. In my second Boston qualifying attempt I got in with a 3:24 at the Hudson Mohawk Marathon, my old stomping grounds outside Albany, NY. (Go Danes!)
Training for my qualifying race was my first time working with the amazing Coach Medina. To prepare for Boston I chose to work with the same coach. Boston requires training hard through the winter and I was glad to be back with familiar faces on those cold days.
This is where the story takes a turn. As an educator I have summers off meaning my regular marathon training plans are often done at my leisure during summer months. I do work part-time in the summer however it is easy to accommodate early runs to avoid the sweltering heat. For this race I was training with a full school schedule, including after-school, and a second job at a rock climbing gym which requires late nights and weekends. I planned accordingly. Runs before school. After-school and second job rescheduled for track workouts and long runs with my training team.
What this looked like in practice was
Monday: School, After-school
Tuesday: Run, School, After-school
Wednesday: School, Track workout
Thursday: School
Friday: Run, School, Gym
Saturday: Run, Gym*
Sunday: Long run, Gym* (*Saturday or Sunday)
You may see where this is heading. This also happened to be the time period that I was selling my apartment to downsize after my divorce. All my pots were on that proverbial fire.
Two months out from the Boston Marathon I had a great track workout. We were only up to 18 miles on our long runs. Track are my favorite days. I understand the workouts after years of competition. Nothing stood out about the 600 I was running at pace except my gait was off. Then it started to feel uncomfortable, followed by searing pain of electricity starting in my hamstring running through my hip.
The prognosis was overtraining. I had aggravated an old hamstring injury. I had to switch to cross-training to take the load off. Then I got sick the week I was moving. For two weeks all I could do was sleep. This is where, in my rare moment, I disagree with my doctor. I was not overtraining. My body and I can push pretty far. I was under-rested. I pushed my tired body too far leaving it vulnerable to injury and illness.
My recovery was slow. My Boston Marathon performance was very far from my goal time. However lessons were learned. During one of my long elliptical machine workouts I was distracting myself by listening to interviews with inspiring runners. A conversation with champion ultra-runner Courtney Dauwalter was insightful. In this interview she was sharing her recent intentions were to prioritize recovery.
“Prioritizing recovery.” Never had I considered that. This has shaped how I train going forward and how I guide my athletes. By looking just at my training schedule there was no pause for concern. However looking at my work schedule… giant red flags of concern. How much was I resting? What was the quality of my rest? What did my rest look like? Was I vegging on the couch or working at a gym? How was I feeling before, during, after runs? Was I tired? How much coffee was I honestly consuming?
With this insight I would have trained differently and managed my schedule differently. Maybe a four day training schedule. Maybe less closing shifts at the gym. Maybe choose one day a weekend as a “do nothing” day. I would like another change to do Boston right. Hindsight is 20/20 but it can help you see a future path with more clarity.