The Harmful Effects of Overtraining in Running: Understanding, Recognising and Preventing Burnout.
Every runner reaches a point where fatigue feels normal — where soreness is mistaken for progress, and rest feels like lost ground. It’s a fine line between dedication and overtraining, and I’ve crossed it myself.
As a coach, I see the same pattern in countless athletes: the determination to do more, train harder, and outwork yesterday. But sometimes, that hunger becomes the very thing that holds us back. Overtraining isn’t just physical exhaustion — it’s a full-system breakdown of performance, motivation, and recovery.
If training is where adaptation begins, recovery is where performance is built. And learning to manage that balance is what separates the consistent from the burnt out.
Understanding Overtraining: When Effort Turns Against You
Overtraining happens when the stress of training outweighs the body’s ability to recover. It’s not one bad week or a hard session too many — it’s the accumulation of too much intensity, too little recovery, and often, too much ego.
Physiologically, your nervous system becomes overstimulated. Hormone levels like cortisol rise, while anabolic hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone drop. Glycogen stores deplete faster than they can be restored. Sleep quality declines. Small niggles turn into injuries. And what once felt like progress begins to feel like a grind.
“You don’t get faster from training. You get faster from recovering well.”
That’s the paradox of running performance — the harder you push without rest, the slower you eventually become.
Recognising the Early Signs
Overtraining rarely announces itself. It creeps in gradually — one tired morning, one missed split, one flat session after another. But there are clear signs if you know where to look.
Constant Fatigue: Feeling tired after training is normal; feeling tired all the time isn’t. When recovery can’t keep pace with your workload, you start waking up heavy, sluggish, and flat, even after rest days.
Declining Performance: Workouts that once felt comfortable start to feel impossible. Paces drop. Heart rate climbs. You’re working harder for less reward — and it’s not from lack of effort.
Recurring Illness or Injury: An overtrained body becomes a compromised one. A suppressed immune system leads to frequent colds or slow-healing niggles. If you’re constantly “almost ill,” your body is trying to tell you something.
Mood and Motivation Shifts: Irritability, low mood, and loss of enjoyment are classic psychological symptoms. When training starts to feel like an obligation instead of an outlet, fatigue has gone deeper than the muscles.
“The earliest sign of overtraining isn’t pain — it’s the absence of progress.”
Breaking the Cycle: How to Recover from Overtraining
If you recognise these signs, the solution isn’t to double down — it’s to pull back. True recovery from overtraining takes patience, self-awareness, and trust that rest is still work.
1. Rest and Reset
The first step is simple but uncomfortable: stop chasing performance. Cut volume and intensity drastically. Prioritise full rest days. Let your body — and nervous system — catch up.
2. Fuel Intelligently
Recovery is impossible without proper fuelling. Under-eating is one of the most common drivers of fatigue I see in athletes. Focus on consistent carbohydrates for energy, protein for repair, and micronutrients for resilience. If you’re unsure where to start, explore our free guide Everyday Fuelling — it’s built exactly for this.
3. Sleep with Intention
Quality sleep is the best performance enhancer you’ll ever have. Create a consistent pre-sleep routine, avoid screens before bed, and aim for 7–9 hours nightly. Without it, no amount of stretching or ice baths will fix fatigue.
4. Rebuild Strength and Stability
Once the body begins to reset, strength work is your foundation for staying healthy. Integrating progressive S&C prevents the same patterns of overload from recurring. Resilient by Design breaks down exactly how to do this in a structured, sustainable way.
5. Reset the Mindset
Overtraining often stems from psychological overload — perfectionism, fear of missing out, or comparison. Reconnecting with purpose is crucial. In Mastering Your Greatest Asset, I unpack how mindset shapes adaptation and recovery.
Recovery isn’t weakness. It’s strategy. And it’s the only way to sustain improvement long enough to see what you’re capable of.
Prevention: Building a Smarter Training System
Once balance returns, prevention becomes the goal.
The best runners aren’t the ones who train hardest — they’re the ones who stay healthy longest. Structured periodisation, consistent monitoring, and objective feedback form the backbone of sustainable training.
- Plan Deliberate Recovery: Include deload weeks every 3–5 weeks of training. These aren’t wasted time; they’re where progress consolidates.
- Track Your Metrics: Keep an eye on resting heart rate, sleep quality, and subjective energy levels. Subtle trends matter more than single data points.
- Vary Stressors: Mix sessions. Alternate high and low-impact days. Use cross-training as a tool, not a backup plan.
- Work with a Coach: Sometimes, you need an external eye to hold you accountable — not for working harder, but for knowing when not to.
If you want a deeper dive into recovery strategies, Where Champions Are Made explores how elite athletes build longevity through structured recovery cycles and balance.
“High performance isn’t built in weeks. It’s built in seasons — the ones you survive, not the ones you burn out in.”
Coach’s Insight
I’ve seen athletes turn potential into fatigue more times than I can count. And every time, it starts with good intentions — chasing goals, chasing data, chasing that feeling of progress.
The truth is, running rewards patience. Every step forward comes from respecting the process, not rushing it. When you give your body what it needs — rest, fuel, strength, perspective — it always gives back. The athletes who thrive year after year aren’t the ones who train hardest. They’re the ones who listen.
Final Takeaway
Overtraining doesn’t make you stronger — it teaches you where the limits are. The lesson is learning to back off before your body forces you to.
Running is meant to be a lifelong pursuit, not a fleeting phase of burnout. Protect the joy of it by balancing your effort with recovery, and you’ll find that the best performances often come from the quietest weeks.
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