Skirting That Edge

I'm on the edge of being over trained. I just put it together this past Sunday. There's always a hint of shame and embarrassment when I realize I'm at this point. I think it's because I'm always comparing myself with individuals who are stronger than I am. People who can train harder, race more and not break down. Eventually however I acquiesce and accept the fact that I have my own limitations. I can't get faster and stronger if I break myself right? So here is a list of my current symptoms that's got me convinced:

• Fatigue that lingers. Last week, Monday and Tuesday I woke up exhausted despite 8 hours of sleep.
• Nagging soreness and tightness, in this case my calves/achilles on both legs but especially the left side. They go away and come back, go away and come back. Left ITB is sore now too.
• Moodiness
• Sudden drop in weight. In the past I've seen the reverse.
• Momentary loss of appetite related to the above. I've actually skipped meals. This past Sunday I ate half a sandwich for breakfast and ate nothing until 7PM that night. I didn't starve myself, just wasn't hungry.
• Lingering sluggishness. Recovery run yesterday was slow and sluggish. Track tonight was a little better but it felt difficult and slow and I was only running at 80-85%!

One more hard weekend and I'm off to my taper, although I've already started to cut back already. Last Saturday's long run was replaced by a long hilly bike ride. Friday morning I had a good 3 hour run with Stephen but by the afternoon I was getting that "clicking" noise in both calves/achilles again, along with soreness and tightness. Crap. Nothing painful but your tendons shouldn't be making that noise right, thus the bike ride on Saturday. I'm confident they'll heal during the taper. I just have to get to taper in one piece.

Actually I get a kick out of playing mechanic with my body. 3 more weeks!