[DenverRunner93]

Hi Evoke Team,

I’m a 3o-year-old male living in Denver. I have used the Uphill/Evoke training principles for the past four years. Over that time I have built a strong endurance base that has served me well in everything from high altitude climbing in South America to Rim2Rim2Rim to alpine rock climbing adventures.

Unequivocally, around September and October this year my aerobic running pace was ~8:20/min per mile while keeping my HR steady in the low 150’s.  However, over the past two months I have seen a rapid decline in my running performance. Now, I’m running ~9:00/min per mile with my HR at 160. My quads feel heavy, my hips are tighter than normal and my HR feels elevated just going up the stairs.

My first thought is overtraining but if anything my mileage has declined from 40-45 miles per week this summer to now ~30 miles per week. 1.5 years ago I was easily handling 60+ miles per week with lots of vert while training for RRR. I still feel strong in the gym and while rock climbing. I had a good amount of travel this fall but am still sleeping and eating normally. I haven’t been sick.

My strategy of hoping it naturally goes away doesn’t seem to be working. Any suggestions on how to handle this?

Thanks!

[Andy Reed]

Hi there

Hard to know exactly why things have gone awry without a deep dive into your training, but certainly over-training would be on the list. As far as the body goes, stress is stress, whether that be from training loads or psychological stress; the stress from travel is also probably more than we realize, and could potentially be at play. As you say, sleep, nutrition and illness can also be factors, so definitely worth evaluating these. Regardless of the exact cause, my suggestion would be to redo your aerobic threshold test, reset your HR training zones, and commit to a couple of months of aerobic base building, which may have to involve slowing down significantly. Lots of zone 1 and 2 work would be my training prescription at this point. Lastly, if things are way off, a blood panel might be necessary. I have seen iron deficiency etc present in a similar way. Hope that’s helpful. Andy

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