Overtraining: It exists.
Let me tell you about the first time I overtrained. (Yes, first does imply that it’s happened more than once)
In High School I ran Cross Country as well as Indoor and Outdoor Track. I had some fairly respectable times for my area. 4:30 1600, 9:52 3200, 16:30 5k - just for a reference point. It was the summer between my 11th and 12th grade and I was thinking about some summer training. I had been running competitively since the 8th grade so I figured it was time to bump it up a notch. I mean, more is better right?
I was spending the summer at a nearby college participating in a summer enrichment program (something on genetics and ethics…fun) when I happened to meet the captain of their Cross Country team. I figured that he was fast and I was aspiring to be fast so I fell into training with him. His weekly mileage was way over mine but I figured if I bumped mine up a little there would be no problem catching up. I was young and so thought I was resilient enough. I mean, more is better right?
I trained with him for 2 months. I started noticing that my legs were pretty sore and sometimes it wouldn’t go away for days. I thought it was from the increased mileage and that it would go away. Well, it WAS from the increased mileage, but it DIDN’T go away - I just got used to it. I hit up a few running camps and due to my enhanced training I caught the attention of a few college coaches. I figured it was going to be a great Cross Country season.
Then I started limping. I didn’t notice it, bu
