COACH’S CORNER – TOO MUCH, TOO FAST, TOO SOON

Kate Dzienis • February 28, 2019

Coach’s Corner is a feature for AURA members, where qualified trained professionals provide you with advice and tips on improving and enhancing your ultra running performance.

Contributed by Brendan Davies, UP Coaching Head Coach & 2018 Captain of the Australian 100k World Team.

UP Coaching specialises in coaching ultra runners across road and trail. Davies’ team of coaches include Australian ultra running representatives Kellie Emmerson, Kelly-ann Varey, Mick Keyte, David Kennedy, Jonathan Worswick and Jodie Oborne. UP Coaching has provided coaching to many prominent Australian ultra runners including Kellie Emmerson, Larissa Tichon, Lou Clifton, Robyn Bruins, Andrew Hough, Steph Auston, Tia Jones and Corrina Black.

What is overtraining?
Overtraining happens when the intensity and/or the frequency of your training exceeds your body’s ability to recover from the training load.

It can seriously affect you mentally, physically and emotionally.

When it comes to overtraining, there are different levels:

Acute overtraining – this is a result of trying to run too intensely, too many days in a row without proper recovery. Acute, or short term, overtraining will typically manifest itself as soreness or worse yet injury, but this type of fatigue can usually be addressed with a brief rest period.
Chronic overtraining – this definitely tends to come on much more gradually over weeks and months. Chronic fatigue, attributed to overtraining for a long period of time because of its gradual and systematic nature, can really take you down and put you out for a significant period of time.

First signs of chronic overtraining:

Generalised fatigue
Weight loss and loss of appetite
Diarrhoea
Restless sleep and early morning awakenings
Sexual disinterest
Acute exhaustion marked by breathlessness
Colds or flus
Higher perceived effort for the same sessions
Increased resting heart rate
Underperforming in ‘sweetspot’ racing
Recurrent headaches
Loss of desire and motivation to train

Preventing overtraining:

Don’t race too frequently.Running races puts a lot of stress on your body. Without taking time to recover from frequent racing, and devoting time to train in a periodised fashion towards them, your performances will plateau. Since racing should be 100% maximum effort, you’ll quickly peak your current fitness and have trouble running significantly faster. I recommend no more than 1-2 races per month, depending on race goals and distances.
Sleep as much as you need.This is a no-brainer. Getting fitter and fresher happens when you sleep and recover because that’s when your body adapts and super-compensates from your training. Do yourself an easy favour and make sure you get at least 7-8 hours of sleep every night.
Eat real food in the right quantities.Your diet provides the fuel and nutrients you need to train and it helps your body recover from the workouts and long runs that you’re doing on a weekly basis.
When training, don’t focus too much on one thing.Some runners get convinced they need to do long runs every other day or run interval workouts three times every week. You’re going to get over-trained if you put too much emphasis on any one type of training. Training should be varied: there are staples, like easy distance runs, and then runs like long runs, interval workouts, or hill sprints where you only need a bit. Variety is important, so don’t get stuck doing too much of one thing for too long.
Recovery runs should enhance recovery (freshness), not fitness.Don’t fall into the trap of trying to “get a workout” from a recovery run. That’s not the point of these easy runs and if you try to run too far or too fast, you’re potentially negating the positive training affects from the harder workouts. Easy runs allow the quality sessions to shine!

Know the purpose of every run and stick to your plan. Most runners run too fast on their easy days and too slow on their hard days. Strike a balance and know when to push the pace and when to take it easy.

Breaking the habits of overtraining

For some readers, particularly the case with many ultrarunners who tend to be on the slightly obsessive and compulsive side naturally, prevention is no longer an option and years of overtraining have ingrained unhealthy training patterns that have led to bouts of chronic overtraining. So how do you break the habits and form new ones which will help you avoid doing the same unhealthy patterns over and over?

Try halving your usual routine for a month.Half your usual volume and frequency of training and see if energy levels and motivation improves. Focus on other aspects of your training instead like flexibility, strength, etc.
Find some other ways to deal with life.Unfortunately far too many runners, particularly ultrarunners, use running as (and often the only) coping mechanism for the myriad of issues life naturally presents. While running can be a great therapeutic tool, it can’t be the only tool you have. Commitment to a healthy habit is one thing, dependence is another thing altogether.
Utilise a coach.Even if you feel you don’t need a coach for any other purpose than to keep you accountable to a safer, sounder training program, then that is as good a reason to have a coach as any! Personally, I can vouch from my own athletes who I coach, there is a large percentage of them who know the nuts and bolts of running training pretty much as well as I do, but one of the major reasons for utilising me is for that level of both expertise and accountability when it comes to training load, recovery and periodising towards the races that matter and to avoid the overtraining traps!

I hope this article has helped you assess your training and given you some thoughts on overtraining. ‘Listening to your body’ is a key component of the success of runners both in performance, durability and longevity. Don’t ignore the early signs as prevention is of course the best treatment. Like all things though, some of us occasionally will push the envelop in search of our bodies limitations, and bad patterns may develop, some over many years. In this case, I highly recommend seeking the advice of experts.

Brendan Davies, Head Coach
Up Coaching

Get in touch with Brendan Davies and his team at UP Coaching by clicking on the logo above, emailing him at brendan@upcoaching.com.au or visiting Instagram or Facebook.

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AUTRA News Report 22-09-2025

By Kate Dzienis • September 22, 2025

Get the latest weekly results from AUTRA-listed events from the last fortnight.

AUTRA News Report 11-09-2025

By Kate Dzienis • September 11, 2025

Run The River Half, Qld Murphys Creek Challenge, Qld Lighthorse Ultra, WA Kunanyi Trail Series, Rialannah, Tas Upcoming Events WEEKLY NEWS REPORT FOR 12-09-2025 As always, we're continuously on the hunt for your stories and reports, so get those race reports and photographs in to ultramag@autra.asn.au with the following information: Word document, single spaced Include the name of the event, the date and the location anywhere in the report (just a bullet point at the top is great) Please attach photographs to the email – do not put images in the body of your Word doc. You’ll just get me emailing you back asking for the photos sent in the correct way! As many photos as possible. With our new website, it’s now easier than ever to include a nice gallery in each race report No PDFs please And remember, it doesn’t have to be about an AUTRA-listed event specifically! You just have to be an AUTRA member for the 2025 year. Also too, if you’ve run in a non-AUTRA listed event anywhere on home soil or internationally, we’d love to include your race results and experience in our Member Updates, so please do reach out to us via email to kate.dzienis@autra.asn.au If any corrections need to be made in any of the results listed below, please alert me via email.

Team Manager 2025 IAU Asian and Oceania 100K Championships

By Gary Mullins • September 8, 2025

Location : Bangkok, Thailand Dates : November 21 - 24 2025 Role Type : Volunteer Position Time Commitment : Pre event planning + Travel Application Deadline : 17th September 2025 Thank you for your interest in supporting the Australian team for the 2025 IAU Asian 100k Championships. This role goes far beyond logistics. It’s about leadership, inclusion, and creating a positive, empowering environment for athletes competing on the world stage. AUTRA is committed to opening doors for those outside traditional pathways. We strongly encourage applications from coaches, former athletes, club leaders, volunteers, and passionate community members. You don’t need to have served on a board or managed a team before as we’re looking for people who genuinely care, are highly organised, and can proudly represent our athletes and country. Role Overview As Team Manager, you’ll work closely with AUTRA President Gary Mullins and Vice President Geoff Russell to prepare and support the national team before and during the championship. Pre-Departure Australia Act as the main contact for selected athletes and crew Assist with final entry forms and travel planning Prepare a Championships Agenda in alliance with the Team Managers Agreement Document Coordinate flights, uniforms, and team communications Help identify and organise crew support Attend online team planning meetings On the Ground in Thailand Be present and ready as athletes arrive Ensure all athlete needs are met so they can focus fully on their race Attend all technical meetings and represent the team professionally Coordinate team attendance at the opening and closing ceremonies Ensure the team and crew are prepared, organised, and calm Address any issues that arise with efficiency and discretion Provide hands on leadership and moral support throughout the race Support Provided Accommodation in Bangkok for 3 - 4 nights will be provided by AUTRA An official team uniform will be supplied A volunteer allowance of $1500 will be provided to acknowledge your time and service during the championship period. What You’ll Need Excellent communication and interpersonal skills Strong organisational ability under pressure A calm, inclusive, and athlete first mindset Commitment to AUTRA’s Code of Conduct Member of AUTRA Applying To apply for the role of Team Manager please CLICK HERE and fill out the Application Form. Applications Close at 5pm 17th September 2025. Selection Process Following the application deadline, the AUTRA Committee will review all submissions and select the most suitable candidate. All applicants will be contacted by Gary Mullins within 7 days of applications closing. Gary Mullins AUTRA President