Feeling Fatigued ……….

“Whenever you find yourself doubting how far you can go, just remember how far you have come. Remember everything you have faced, all the battles you have won, and all the fear you have overcome”.  – Unknown.

I have been feeling really fatigued over the last few days. Have had a ton of sleep, as in almost 12 hours for 2 nights running. My mind set is normally one of ‘push through’, ‘everything will be OK in the end’, ‘just get it done’, but this feeling has stopped me in my tracks. I didn’t do a moment of exercise yesterday, and didn’t get up for a run this morning.

This morning I have been doing some research about likely causes. I don’t want to feel like this, and the sooner it’s gone the better.

I’m a “all in or out” kind of girl. My exercise regime has been ramping up since I decided I wanted to be a runner. Together with the running training, I have been doing strength and conditioning with my PT (a no – brainer, you don’t start running at my age for the first time without building up core and strength) and also doing High intensity workouts to help build up my fitness.

Together with some girlfriends, we walk 3 mornings a week, long high intensity walks, either fast on the flats, or up small mountains in the bush with big elevations of heart rate. The walks are glorious and I love them. You always feel so great afterwards and full of the joys of life.
Often we also do a bike ride one morning a week for an hour or two.

I walk the dogs an hour a day.  This is in itself great exercise.  They pelt along at a rapid rate and stop for nothing.  So, every day I do at least 2 sets of exercise per day, some days I do 3 sets and some days 4 sets. On Sundays I just walk the dogs, nothing else.

Maybe I am just doing too much so have decided that today I will make myself an exercise planner for the weeks ahead, and try and get some space and recovery between sessions.

The other big issue which I have been alerted to following my research this morning is food and water intake both before and after training. Water is not an issue, I drink at least 2 Litres per day, but nutrition is definitely a problem for me.  I just haven’t taken enough care about eating right before or after training sessions.  The Livestrong foundation wrote the following  “When blood sugar levels drop too low, exhaustion may occur. Pre-workout meals prevent this by stabilizing blood sugar levels. Eat a high-carbohydrate, moderate-protein and low-fat snack between one and three hours before working out. This can be a banana, oatmeal, juice or low-fat yogurt. After-workout meals eaten within 20 minutes also help. A snack with a 3-to-1 ratio of carbohydrates and protein will restore glycogen and replenish tired muscles, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Good post-workout snacks include trail mix, yogurt with granola and chocolate milk”  This same advice was recommended in other places I looked, so from now on, I am going to take nutrition more seriously.

Have a great week everyone.  Until soon.