Base training

Base training, where are the limits, what is the best way to stay healthy?

Sandra here: My theory for December's training is that if you need time off you should take it!! When doing high volume training a feeling of over reaching often occurs, this is a sensation of tiredness after extensive training, which can lead to productive adaptation i.e. getting faster or stronger when necessary rest follows, but is also the first step to over training if necessary rest does not follow. It makes no sense to go too far into over reaching until you have achieved a certain base in your training, making you capable of withstanding these high training loads which cause over reaching. In order to achieve a necessary base, you need to train in high volume, which makes it this an intertwined cycle. It is always hard to judge when an athlete needs some rest, and when it's okay to keep pushing. This is why I allow myself rest days in November and December with less restriction than say January through March.

I have trained well for the last 21 days, completing 36 hours of training. This includes one day off, and three recovery days where I only trained one hour in the day. You can look under Sandra's training if you're curious. Last week and the beginning of this week I felt great, I even had the thought, which I often do when I'm training a lot: "I feel better the more I train!", but this can only last so long. Yesterday and today I have noticed that I am tired. My weight training yesterday was more difficult than usual, and I feel spent. I also haven't slept enough the last two nights. With these factors together I have decided to take another recovery day, this means either nothing at all, or some biking at home. If this was January or February, and I knew I had a good base behind me I would push through until the end of the week, because next week is a recovery week, but I believe that right now is a critical period, yes to do a lot of training, but also not to force anything. The risk for sickness and injury are too high at this time of year, both of which can set you back longer than taking one day off.

Any thoughts?