[Scott Johnston]

Adam:

Thanks for writing in and wow! A broken neck!  You’re one lucky guy.  Understandably, you are struggling to figure out the best path forward.  What follows is my best guess. It is not medical advice.

You do not sound like an OverTraining victim however I can’t say this for sure.  Continue to track your morning RHR.  That is as good as, maybe better than HRV for monitoring recovery state and OTS.

Is your lifestyle contributing to the frequent illnesses?  Getting enough sleep, eating well, taking Vitamins D and K2 and cutting all alcohol will all help give your immune system support.  I don’t normally see folks with OTS getting sick more often.

Given your self-confessed personality type, it is quite possible that during your illnesses you get rested and well-recovered.  This might cause you to come out of the gates too hard when you feel well enough to train.  This might in turn cause you to overdo things and drive your immune system into the tank.   Your brain remembers what it ‘should’ feel like to train at a normal load, but your body has lost that work capacity during this on-again, off-again thing you’ve had going on.  Doing that a few times will keep lowering your base fitness and work capacity.

Whatever the cause, what you are doing is too much for your body right now. You need to be very gentle with yourself and very gradually add training load.  Even if this means missing the mountaineering trip in November. You can’t bludgeon yourself into fitness.

I hope this helps a bit and good luck.
Scott