“Training for an Ironman is like fighting a gorilla, you don’t quit when you are tired, you quit when the gorilla is tired” – Greg Henderson
Truer words have never been spoken. When in the midst of a training program you will be tired and this will affect your pace, your attitude, your desire. There is a difference between being tired and fatigue or overtraining syndrome. Over at the TrainingPeaks blog they have a great article titled “All About Overtraining” It is a great read. I blogged a while back about how I use TrainingPeaks to monitor for overtraining.
Basically if the purple line is low and the yellow line is high while the blue line is trending down you are overtraining. For example….
Training – Blue line trending up shows fitness gains
Overtraining – Low yellow and high purple equals high fatigue. Blue line trending down shows fitness decline.
See the difference? So yeah you will be tired, yeah you will have to suck it up and get out the door but I love the analysis from TrainingPeaks letting me know when I am nearing a state of overtraining allowing me to take some time to rest and recover before blowing up.
can’t wait til TP tells me I am near overtrained. That is a 2012 goal! That and a pukie.
I need to learn to use TP in a more effective manner so I know what to look for and what I’m looking at.
Thanks for this information.