Why runners burn out!!

Burning out is the downfall of many runners, over the years they may struggle to improve at all and even become worse then they originally were. It can be a mental thing just as much as a physical. It is a big struggle for runners so we have compiled a few reasons why runners might burn out!!

1: Over training:

Probably the most obvious and likely reason somebody burns out. By training too hard you don't give your body enough time to recover between workouts and instead of improving your body breaks down as it can't deal with the stress applied.

To much over-training will completely wreck you and you will injure yourself. It is important in training to rest correctly and structure your training plans so your body recovers and adapts!

2: Incorrect training:

You may be getting enough recovery from workouts but if you are training incorrect you will struggle to see improvements. Many young runners new too running will insist on hitting the track as often as possible without any easy running to supplement it. By jumping straight into track training without building an aerobic base (plenty of easy to moderately hard runs) you will see dramatic improvements in a short space of time.

However these improvements will become limited after 4-8 weeks and sooner or later if you continue just to do track sessions you will blow up completely and actually get worse at middle-long distance events. By doing track sessions often you will destroy your aerobic enzymes with the lactic acid educed in these training sessions. And by destroying your aerobic enzymes you won't be able to perform will in an aerobic race (1500-marathon).

3: Loosing motivation

Loosing motivation for the sport is often a sign of over training but other factors can also cause this. Training alone can be boring especially when doing high mileage. It can sometimes be hard to motivate yourself to go for the run.

However by finding somebody to run with it will motivate you to get out the door and run with them. You could also loose that drive by getting injured or having a few bad races. When things are going bad you need to stay positive and remember why you started running. Victory could be right around the corner you just don't know it yet!!

Summary:

Burning out sucks!! One way you could avoid this is by getting a coach! They could structure your training to keep you injury free, training well and help fire up that motivation. When training it is important to listen to your body and if you feel like an injury is coming it is important to back off and get some rest!!