In medical terms, stress is a physiological response to a stressor, which is any kind of challenge or threat to the body. This response is fundamentally the same regardless of the specific stressor, whether it's a hard run, a hard day at work, or a viral infection, although the details of the stress response vary considerably in each case. The cumulative physiological effect of all of the stressors affecting your body at any given time is known as the total stress load, or allostatic load.
I was reminded of this fact within the past 10 days, when I was pulled onto jury duty. The timing was terrible, as I was also just days away from a book manuscript deadline. I felt the effects of these burdens on my running almost immediately. A few weeks ago I ran a half marathon in 1:14:55. Two days ago I struggled to run three miles at 8:30/mile pace.
Happily, though, I understood my situation well enough not to even try to run more than three miles at 8:30 pace two days ago. I cut my overall training way back as soon as I recognized that I had entered a tailspin. It's been a little scary, with my goal marathon just over a month away, but I think I'll be OK thanks to the crisis management tactics I employed.
My trial ends today, and my book manuscript is due today. Yesterday I had my best workout in a while. Things are looking up!
Matt:
I had a similar problem about two weeks ago. On December 5th I ran a challenging, hilly 10 mile race and won pretty easily feeling great and at the top of my game, averaging 5:52 a mile. I am training for Boston and used this race to help prepare for Boston. My training went great from there up until my girlfriend of 3 years broke up with me a little bit before Christmas. I was heart broken and on top of that I have some big desicions to make as far as my career/life goes. On a Sunday morning, a little before new years eve, I went to a trail planning to run 15 miles around 7 min pace and depending on how I was feeling, I was going to pick it up the last 2-3 miles. Well I started out slow and after 5 miles of struggling to run sub 8 min pace I knew I wouldnt make it to 15miles. I ended up running 10 miles right at 8 min pace and had to stop over 5 times to regroup. It was probably my worst run ever, but i realized at a lot was going on in my life and needed to recover. I took two full days off (News eve and new years) and then started back up. My legs felt fresh and revived. Even though I still have my mental breakdowns, they don't affect my runs as much. I am back into the groove of things and my fitness is even better than it was before. It is good to recognize your total stress level and a good way to determine that is on your runs. If your typical easy day is 7min pace and you are struggling to hit 8min pace there is something wrong.
Tripp