The Power of Zzzz

It has been a while -OK, a LONG while - since I last posted. I get busy with work, life and training and tend to "forget" about keeping up with this thing. I promise I'll try to be better at it because I know you are all just DYING to know every detail about my life. ;) Sarcasm aside, I have had a lot going on since we last spoke.

Qualifying for the Olympic Trials is something that has somewhat taken over my life. I am not saying this is a bad thing, it has just stirred a lot of change in my training and every day life. While training for CIM I tried a new training program, added weight training, tried a new diet and was forced  to look at a lot of other recurrent issues in the way I recover. On top of all that, I started a new job that really made for a rocky ride -since I decided to still keep my old job, too. I wanted to try running higher mileage this training cycle in which I topped out at 90 miles per week. We also included more true speed work to the plan to try to keep my relative speed up. It made for one tiring - physically and mentally - training cycle. I say 'mentally' with a invisible asterisk next to it. What do I mean by that? Well, the mental fatigue was really due to immense physical fatigue and the hormonal imbalance it was creating. With the new job I was getting up at 5:00 am most mornings to get in a run before work so that I could make it to the gym that evening or do a 2nd run. A typical week looked like this:

MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY
5:00 am Run	5:00 am Run	5:00 am Run	5:00 am Run	5:00 am Run	Long run	REST!!!!!
Work 8 hrs	Work 8 hrs	Work 8 hrs	Work 8 hrs	Work 8 hrs	Work 8 hrs
5:00 PM WEIGHTS	5:00 pm Intervals	5:00 pm 2nd run or rest	5:00 pm Intervals	5:00 pm Weights

Now, it may not look like a lot in a simple table, but what's not included is the time eating, showering, sitting in traffic and trying to maintain a somewhat "normal" life. I made it a point to be in bed at 9:00 pm every night, eat as much as I could and stay hydrated. It all sounds perfect but the reality was that I couldn't always get to bed by 9:00...which meant I didn't always get out of bed on time.... which caused me to have to rush to work...which meant I usually missed my post-run meal in that critical recovery window (if I got to eat at all.before lunch). This wasn't the case every day but I can definitely say it wasn't rare. I felt like I was high strung ALL the time and the more I stressed the more fatigued I got. I wasn't sleeping through the night - usually waking up around 2-3:00 am- and I was waking up with really achy/painful legs (OK, I know I was training for a marathon but this was a different kind of pain), my emotions were on the wildest roller coaster ever,  my period decided to just come and go as it pleased, I was irritable and craved just being alone. We made adjustments to my training as we went but the problem didn't seem to be going away.. A few weeks out from race day Coach Dad finally put a stop to the morning runs and I backed off the gym a bit so I could get some extra rest. This seemed to help a but I was still not sleeping through the nights and still waking up tired and achy. Race day came and went in which I walked away with a HUGE PR and I can say I ran the best race of my marathon career so far. I ran smarter, pushed harder and fought for every second of that five and a half minutes that put my PR at 2:52.

Clearly, the training worked and the fatigue was all worth it. However, I couldn't just let it go. What could I have run if I hadn't felt so run down? Is this going to happen every time I train for a marathon? I had questions, and I wanted answers. So, I started researching some of my symptoms. It took a while because I had to sift through all the WebMD bullshit that told me rest and take Ibuprofin. I tried searching some of my less common symptoms and was able to nail down what I am 99% sure (hey, I'm no doctor!) was causing my problems. I found a list of symptoms for Adrenal Fatigue that included all of my symptoms - including things I didn't think had anything to do with my fatigue. Again, I am no doctor but at least I had a good starting point to get myself back on track!

Adrenal fatigue is caused by high levels of stress, whether it be physical stress (like marathon training) or mental stress or a combination of the two. Your adrenal glands are stimulated by stress which causes them to release cortisol into your body. Cortisol regulates your "wake cycle" and regulates blood sugar. Hence, the reason I couldn't stay asleep. You can find out more HERE. The lack of deep sleep doesn't allow your body to fully recover from every day life, let alone the extra physical demands of marathon training.

I followed what the article recommended for natural remedies and hit up my local natural food store to create my daily vitamin cocktail. I have also started paying closer attention to my diet, we cut back on the weekly miles but are keeping the intensity up and I quit one job. I have since felt a HUGE turn around in my symptom and I now feel the normal amount of marathon training fatigue as I prepare to run Boston this April.

What did I learn?? Don't overload yourself. I had WAY too much going on and asked for a training program that was not feasible for my work schedule. I need to find ways to better balance life and to take time for myself when I feel I need it.  I am excited to be going back to Boston and I will need all the rest I can get to tackle that beast of a course!