Most runners try to do anything they can to prevent injuries. But what about burnout from running? This is also something that we need to avoid and should work to prevent! When we constantly push ourselves and train hard, there is risk of burnout or even overtraining. Here is more about what leads to burnout from running and how to prevent it.
What is Burnout from Running?
Before we move on, it’s probably a good idea to define running burnout! How do you know when this is a problem for you? Some signs may be feeling sluggish on your runs or overly tired in general, your motivation is low, you just can’t recover from a workout like you usually can, or you just feel “off” and there is no other explanation. Try to rule out any other issues like a health problem or nutritional deficiency before assuming that you are experiencing burnout.
What Leads to Burnout from Running?
Burnout is one of those things that you may not realize is happening until you’re already experiencing it. Sometimes you may not even know you have experienced burnout until you are past it and can reflect on what you went through. Burnout can happen from running too much, not giving yourself a break, high overall stress, and many other factors.
Since it is hard to know exactly what leads to burnout it is important to always follow a good training plan, periodize your training, and pay attention to how you are feeling. If you are always running hard you may be at a higher risk for burnout.
When it comes to overall stress, our bodies don’t know the difference between running stress and other forms of stress. So if another area of your life is stressful it can be helpful to back off of running to give yourself a break. Not recovering enough can be another factor that leads to burnout. It’s important to note that these factors can also make runners more prone to injuries, so they are worth paying attention to!
How to Prevent Burnout from Running
Focus on recovery
It’s important for many reasons to have enough recovery after a hard workout. This will help you perform better and make progress in your running, but is also important for your overall health and to prevent burnout. Make sure you are taking rest days and including easy runs in your training.
Fuel properly
Our bodies need fuel to run and perform well, and if we don’t give it the energy it needs we will suffer and will notice the effects in our running. If fueling is a challenge for you, or you aren’t sure if your diet is impacting your running, consider working with a registered dietician who can provide you with individual guidance.
Take an off-season
Just like we need recovery throughout the week, we also need periods of recovery throughout the year. Plan for a week or two after a goal race to really take some down time. This will help you mentally and physically to recover and prepare for the next cycle of training.
Follow a good training plan
A good training plan will include runs that are appropriate for your fitness. Your training should build over time without huge jumps in mileage or hard efforts. By following a training plan it will also ensure that you include rest days, easy runs, and other important pieces of recovery.
Run most of your runs easy
To avoid burnout or overtraining you don’t want to be running hard every day. This will prevent you from making progress and can also put you at higher risk for injuries. Many runners do well with 1-2 harder runs a week and 2-4 easy runs. And taking some time to ONLY run easy for awhile is ok too! This will help you build a base and prepare for your next period of training.
Pay attention to how you are feeling
Burnout from running can really creep up on us. Try to notice any changes in your energy, how you’re feeling on your runs, if you’re needing more sleep, etc. If you are sluggish for more than a few days try to back off your workouts for a bit. The sooner you take a break, quicker you may be able to bounce back!
You may also like: 9 Ways to Increase Energy as a Marathon Runner
Balance your stress
I’m not going to try to tell you to eliminate life stress or even try to reduce it. Life is stressful and sometimes there is no way around that! But we need to find some balance with how we stress our bodies. If work is stressful, you may need to back off running a bit. If your home life is causing you stress, maybe running will help but you will need to run less and keep your runs easy. Try to find a balance that make you feel the best.
You may also like: 5 Simple Self-Care Tips for Runners
Summary
When we train hard, we are at risk of pushing ourselves past our limits. By following a good training plan and listening to your body burnout can be prevented. And once you experience burnout, it’s important to learn from the experience to prevent it from happening again!
You may also like:
Tips for Overcoming a Running Slump
How To Stay Motivated When You Just Don’t Want To Run
Prehab Over Rehab: 5 Ways to Prevent Injuries Before They Happen
On Seeking Balance
Have you ever experienced burnout?
What has helped you to prevent or overcome burnout?
Great topic, Lisa! It’s so hard to diagnose (and admit!) burnout from running.
To us, running may be a mental relief, but our bodies still have to cope physically with all the running stress.
What do you think about Garmin’s suggestions for rest days? I often think its recommendations are a bit exaggerated, but maybe I’m wrong and the watch is right!
So I don’t use a Garmin right now, I have a Coros. I had a Garmin until June but it was older and didn’t recommend rest days. My Coros gives me a recovery status and sometimes tells me to rest or if I’m ready for an easy run or a hard workout. It doesn’t seem too far off, but when I was training I felt like if I always listened I would never get my planned runs in!
Thanks for the tips.
I don’t ever feel burned out from running.
I do all of what you suggest except for an off season. I like to race all year. But I don’t train hard and my runs are all easy.
It sounds like what you are doing is working well for you!
In all honesty, I don’t think I’ve ever felt the burnout. I do think I was over-trained for a marathon (several years ago), but didn’t realize it until after the fact. So much of my training is done “by feel,” that I don’t think twice about switching around runs/workouts or taking an extra recovery day now and then.
That sounds like a great strategy!
I’ve felt this while training for marathons. I’m not even a high mileage runner! But it can be a slog, especially in the summer. The past couple of years, I’ve cut my days to 3 per week during the winter and upped the cross-training, which really helped me in so many ways!
The summer heat can make it so tough! I’ve gotten the closest to burnout when I was doing alot of races and running multiple marathons a year.
These are really good points. As you mentioned, many of the symptoms of burnout can occur when we slack on nutrition or sleep, or recovery. It pays to keep in check with your body and head it off early
Definitely! If we’re doing all those things it pays off in so many ways!
I don’t really have a problem with burnout, but that’s probably because I’ve had so many injuries lately (grr.) I’m trying to think back to the days where I was training hard for marathons and didn’t have this built-in cycle of injuries… I don’t remember feeling burned out, but maybe that’s because I was naturally taking time off after hard races. I do know that it’s a problem for a lot of people, and your tips are good!
I don’t think I’ve come close to burnout since back when I was racing more. Taking time off in between races is so helpful!
Burnout is very real! I have definitely experienced it, and I think it’s usually due to having various forms of stress going on in my life. Sometimes training for a race can feel like a burden and it can take effort just to get out of the door. Currently, I’m not going through that, but I think it’s important to be flexible and sometimes you need to skip a run when there’s too much going on.
All the stress can definitely lead to burnout! Its so important to be aware of how we are feeling to prevent it from happening.
This is great. Not having a race to train for, taper and recover from actually led to my burnout, as I just kept running a bit more a bit more a bit more week by week until I was running way more than most people of my “standard” would you say, or “profile” then I was putting on weight, tired as anything, struggling round runs I normally nailed … I’ve cured it by taking it right back, sleeping more – and I actually think the two weeks off after my injury has helped, too. I know to take down weeks and not just think about miles, now. Even though most of those miles were easy ones!
I’m glad yo were able to get past it and are feeling better! I agree that sometimes not having a race can be riskier because you might keep running more and more without a plan to follow or taper period or recovery.