Overtraining Insomnia

4 watchers

Akie Jul 2015 6:25pm, 15 Jul 2015 13 posts	0 Akie Basically I've trained pretty hard over the last 2-3months, looking at many articles online I believe I've burnt myself out and overtrained. My performances have really plateaued recently, my heart rate is elevated but it mainly came to a head because over the last 3 nights since a race on Sunday I've really not slept. Been getting an hour at a time before waking up again and getting frustrated. My last run was yesterday and I've since decided to stop all running for at least week or so then start to build up again slowly once I feel right. My main question for people who may have had insomnia from overtraining before, how long after you stopped training did you start sleeping properly again?
Autumnleaves Jul 2015 6:50pm, 15 Jul 2015 6,435 posts	0 Autumnleaves I gave myself a full week off and then cut my weekly long run mileage back for the next 3 weeks. I seem to remember that I felt much better within a couple of weeks, though the week off was hard!
ChrisHB Jul 2015 10:26pm, 15 Jul 2015 11,460 posts	0 ChrisHB Do you run mid-evening or later? I cannot usually sleep properly for 2-4 hours after a run. But with me there is no question of overtraining.
Akie Jul 2015 11:03pm, 15 Jul 2015 14 posts	0 Akie I usually run at 5.30 after work so I'm usually home and showered by 7 at the latest. It's not that quiet where I live which probably isn't helping but I'm looking at a fourth night of not sleeping and it seems to be linked to overtraining with other symptoms. How long should it take before my sleep pattern returns to normal?
Kieren Jul 2015 12:01am, 16 Jul 2015 3,774 posts	0 Kieren Try eating some carbs before bed- like a bowl of porridge. Carbs relax you and help you sleep. If you are not averse to supplements, 'zinc & magnesium' can also help but gives some people crazy dreams
Akie Jul 2015 10:01am, 16 Jul 2015 15 posts	0 Akie Cheers Kieren, will try that tonight. When I do fall asleep I'm having crazy dreams as it is!
Akie Jul 2015 3:35pm, 17 Jul 2015 16 posts	0 Akie Still not sleeping very well at all, just don't ever seem to fall into a deep enough sleep to stay asleep for more than an hour or two. My last run was Tuesday so surely I should see some improvement soon?
notpete Jul 2015 6:27pm, 17 Jul 2015 322 posts	0 notpete Recovery from chronic overtraining is measured in weeks and months, not days .. but looking at your log, I'd be surprised if overtraining is the issue - lots of rest days and not that much mileage in there. Self diagnosis via internet articles isn't foolproof You might just have common-or-garden insomnia and then a few other minor symptoms related to not sleeping enough? Stressing about lack of sleep causes lack of sleep, too. I'd just treat it as a sleep issue rather than overtraining, and try and remedy what you can - try Googling 'sleep hygiene', and follow whatever it recommends.
Akie Jul 2015 11:07am, 18 Jul 2015 17 posts	0 Akie Cheers notpete. I'm getting a blood test on Monday so hoping that might help clear things up.
hellen Jul 2015 6:09pm, 21 Jul 2015 14,864 posts	0 hellen Just had a look at your log and whilst your miles are not massive you do have a high proportion of hard stuff in there. Eg one day you had a 10km race and 2 days later you have two lots of intervals. If I do a short race I won't be doing intervals or anything hard for several days normally. I remember a few years ago I got really tired because I did several short races close together - think it was a couple of 10km and a 5 mile in a 2 week period. I felt really run down so ended up binning a race. My total miles were no different to normal but there was the extra intensity in there which I think did it as I don't do many short races