Marathon training and sleep

pzarnosky

Just looking for some input from those who have trained for a marathon.
Sleep seems to be an overlooked part of training in any sports but I'm hoping to stick to sleep and marathons on this thread.
So; what are your experiences with generally feeling fatigued during training, tired legs, amount of sleep.. etc.
I'm about a month in to my training. I ran a 25K in May and am currently set on getting 30 miles in this week; I've steadily added 10 miles to my weekly mileage since June 1st. I feel like I'm tired all the time! Someone tell me I'm not alone lol

spiriteagle99

Training for a marathon is hard and takes a lot of time. That's one reason experienced runners recommend waiting to do a marathon until you have a couple of years of running and racing experience. It's also why a lot of people only do one. The training is much harder than the race.

Going from 20 to 30 mpw in a month is a big jump. Had you done that much mileage before? I assume you'll be going up to at least 40 for peak? When is your marathon? Which plan are you following? Are you doing a lot of speedwork? If the program you picked is too ambitious for your current fitness, you may need to scale back. Getting to the starting line healthy is the important part and sometimes the hardest.

I followed Higdon's Intermediate 2, which alternated hard and easy weeks when the long runs became really long. I found that easier than a continuous buildup. Oddly, the easy weeks were usually harder than the high mileage ones. The high mileage ones were harder mentally though. I didn't usually have too much trouble with tired legs, but I went in to training with a base of 35-40 mpw. I didn't do much speed work because I have had to deal with long term injuries in the past and fast running caused some of them.

My sleep wasn't affected much by MRT. I took Advil when my legs were really sore after a long run and did a lot of epsom salt baths. Since I run afternoons, I wasn't having to get up before dawn to get in my miles. My biggest sleep issue was stressing out before my long runs, especially the first time I ran a distance during a cycle. I have a very hard time with long runs (I go too fast) so finding good routes was important to me. I would worry about it the night before a lot more than the problem deserved.

Being tired may also have to do with summer heat, which is very draining. Look at your diet too. Are you eating enough calories and carbs?

MeanderingMammal

I'd be a bit concerned that you're experiencing deep tiredness on such low mileage, which suggests another cause. Starting from 20mpw is a low base, so it may be a bit of adaptation as well.

Marathon training is draining, and you do have to balance the training with life and getting enough sleep. Personally I'm finding that the tiredness normalises, particularly as you get into the realms of multiple distance races.

Other things to contemplate are your training and racing paces. If you're over tired that may be an indication of needing to moderate both of those. Personally if I'm doing races in quick succession the places need to be lower. As an example I had a full trail marathon two weeks ago, a trail half this weekend and another full in the weeks. The HM will probably take me 2:30 or so, whereas I can run one in 2hrs, similarly add 2 hrs to my marathon time.

Also, as above, consider whether you're appropriately fueling your training.

TavistockToad

I know you want to stick to sleep, but are you eating in a deficit whilst training?

Jthanmyfitnesspal

I have the same issue. I'm training for a tri and one of the main considerations is being otherwise alert (e.g., not asleep at work). I get home at night and my wife teases me for crashing on the couch after dinner. There's no question that long workouts make you tired, but I never considered that a main limiting factor of working out is how much rest you can afford.

rybo

It's difficult to separate one factor (sleep). Your nutrition, training plan (especially pace), and other stresses all have to be factored in. How much sleep are you getting? Has it increased, decreased or stayed the same since you've ramped up mileage? Also as your body adapts to the stresses of training, it can lag a bit until you get accustomed to it. (Feeling extra tired from an increase in work)

MobyCarp

Progress is not made by working hard. Progress is made by recovering well after working hard. Sleep is an important part of that recovery.

That having been said, I'm retired and have the luxury of getting as much sleep as I want most nights. I've noticed that when my body soaks up more sleep than usual, that's a clue. It might mean I'm sick. It might mean I'm injured and need the time to heal. And it might mean I've trained hard and need the time to recover.

What is training hard? Whatever your body needs extra recovery time from. Your 30 miles a week might be training hard for you. 40 miles per week might be a taper week for me. How strenuous the workouts are, how many races we run, and how hard we run those races are also factors.

What is hard training is such a fuzzy question that I am frequently surprised by how much sleep my body wants. It may want 9 hours when I didn't think I was training all that hard. This morning I woke up naturally with a little more than 7 hours of sleep, and I hadn't thought I'd backed off all that much. But it's a clue. It's just a clue in the opposite direction from what I usually think about.

_nikkiwolf_

I ran my first marathon last October, and trained for it following Hal Higdon's "Intermediate 2" training plan. I didn't pay any particular attention to sleep; but in some weeks I was more tired than usual. Not during the day, but I actually fell asleep on the couch in the evening while watching TV a few times, which had never happened to me before.

Training for my second marathon this May I followed the same plan with a bit added speedwork. But this time around I started using a fitness tracker to track how much sleep I got, and made sure it was never less than 7.5h/night on average over the week (I aimed for 8+, but that didn't always work out..). Some days I actually set an alarm for the evening to remind me to go to bed on time
It helped me for sure - I'm not saying I never had "tired legs" on the second day of back-to-back runs (especially on the weekends, but the training plan I followed was actually designed that way on purpose), but no more falling asleep on the couch this time!

Without knowing how much you sleep now, how much sleep you usually need and all the other details the previous posters asked about there's no way to tell if your feeling tired all the time comes from lack of sleep, overtraining or something else. But I would definitely suggest to track your sleeping times during your marathon training. There's plenty of tools and apps you can use, and it can't hurt.

BrianSharpe

How long have you been running for? Jumping from 20MPW to 30 is a 50% increase week over week which may also account for your fatigue. The general rule of thumb is that you try not increase your training volume much more than 10% week over week.....

How far away is your marathon?

AmyOutOfControl

pzarnosky wrote: »

Just looking for some input from those who have trained for a marathon.
Sleep seems to be an overlooked part of training in any sports but I'm hoping to stick to sleep and marathons on this thread.
So; what are your experiences with generally feeling fatigued during training, tired legs, amount of sleep.. etc.
I'm about a month in to my training. I ran a 25K in May and am currently set on getting 30 miles in this week; I've steadily added 10 miles to my weekly mileage since June 1st. I feel like I'm tired all the time! Someone tell me I'm not alone lol

I was exhausted during my 6am running speed drills this morning. However, I also went to a concert and didn't get home until midnight. You say your exhausted - What time are you going to bed? My husband thinks I am crazy but I am in bed by 8am if I have a 5am morning run scheduled. Social life, family, work, and training is a tricky tightrope to walk.