Stress (in very large doses) Can Kill

Did you know that too much stress can kill you? Of course, too much of anything can kill you. Mind you, it has to be a lot of stress for a very long time. And stress is cumulative. So, if you are stressed about your job and whatever relationship you are in and finances and then you physically stress you body, your body can react badly. This falls into the category of overtraining.

Overtraining is when you do not give your stressed body time to return to its normal baseline between sessions of stress. This is why when you are training hard you should check your heart rate and your weight every morning. An increase in heart rate of 10% above normal means your body has not recovered from the previous day's workout. Furthermore, a decrease in body weight of 10% or more means you failed to adequately hydrate yourself the previous day. Another thing to check for during heavy training is how long and how well you slept. If you slept 10% less than normal, that is also a bad sign, but not in and of itself indicative of overtraining.

I mention all of this merely because this last week I worked out at the gym hard Thursday night then I rode hard on Friday and Saturday my HR was up by more than 10% and my weight was down from the previous day a few pounds. So I skipped riding, but I did go do an outdoor labor service project and helped clean a camp ground. I was quite tired and very, very thirsty for the rest of the day. Abnormally thirsty, I would get up in the middle of the night to chug 20 oz of water. That night, I woke up around 3 AM and was just awake. For an hour or so. Insomnia is another sign of overtraining. Sunday morning my HR was still extra high and I was still very tired and thirsty. So I spent most of the day laying down and reading or sleeping. By that evening my HR was back to normal, for which I was very glad.

This morning I spent some time adjusting my training schedule to give me more days off but longer rides on the days I do ride. I believe this will help my body better be able to accommodate the stresses I will be inflicting upon it.