TRAINING MORE GETTING WORSE? THE HIDDEN REASON WHY YOU'RE ALWAYS TIRED AND NOT IMPROVING

Overtraining: When the signs are subtle, the effects are insidious.

There’s a strange badge of honour in running culture, and perhaps the greater fitness culture also.

Being tired.

Running on empty.

Grinding through another session with dead legs and pretending that’s what dedication looks like.

For a lot of runners, fatigue becomes proof that they’re doing enough.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth:

A lot of runners aren’t undertrained. They’re just chronically too tired to train well.

And nowhere is that more obvious than in the way many runners structure their week.

Because if you’re honest, plenty of runners will happily slog through another steady 10km but suddenly feel very unsure about:

• sprinting

• lifting weights

• hills

• plyometrics

• or any short, sharp session that actually requires freshness and quality

And that’s often where the problem starts.

Overtraining is real, but it’s not always what people think.

When people hear the word overtraining, they often imagine something extreme, but the truth can be more subtle and insidious.

An elite athlete deep into a training block, completely burnt out, hormonally wrecked, unable to recover for months.

That does exist.

But it’s relatively rare.

What’s far more common, especially in recreational runners, is something less dramatic but still highly relevant:

chronic under-recovery

In other words, you’re not necessarily in full-blown clinical overtraining syndrome, but you are training in a way that keeps you carrying too much fatigue, too often, for too long. That’s the version most runners actually live in.

Not broken.

Not collapsed.

Just constantly a bit too flat.

And that’s more than enough to stall progress, dull performance, and gradually increase injury risk.

The uncomfortable truth: some runners hide inside mileage.

This is where people get touchy. Because yes, running volume matters.

But some runners use longer, lower-quality runs as a way of avoiding the types of training that reveal what’s missing.

Why?

Because a long steady run can still feel “productive” even when you’re half-cooked.

You can survive it.

You can tick it off.

You can upload it.

But try doing:

• fast strides

• hill sprints

• proper intervals

• heavy split squats

• or a well-executed strength session

…when you’re under-recovered, and suddenly it becomes obvious very quickly that something’s off.

That’s why a lot of runners unconsciously drift toward longer, flatter, moderate efforts.

Not because it’s always best.

But because it’s easier to keep doing when you’re already tired.

And that’s the trap.

Mileage can sometimes become a disguise for poor recovery and a lack of real quality.

Signs you may be overtraining, or at least under-recovering

1. You’re tired all the time

Not just after hard sessions.

You wake up tired.

Your legs feel dull.

Easy runs feel strangely hard.

That’s not always a sign you need to “push through”.

Sometimes it’s a sign you’re already carrying too much fatigue.

2. You avoid short, sharp work

This one is underrated.

If you constantly find yourself thinking:

• “I just don’t feel up to sprints”

• “I’ll skip strength again this week”

• “I’ll just do another easy run instead”

…that can be a red flag.

Because often, it’s not that those sessions are unnecessary.

It’s that you’re too drained to perform them properly.

And that matters.

Because those are often the sessions that improve:

• power

• mechanics

• tissue resilience

• running economy

• athleticism

If you’re always too tired to do them, your training week may be built around fatigue rather than progression.

3. You’re doing a lot, but not improving

This is the classic one.

You’re running often.

You’re “staying consistent.”

You’re putting in effort.

But:

• your pace isn’t improving

• your legs never feel springy

• your sessions feel flat

• and your race results stay the same

That’s usually not a sign that you need even more volume.

It’s often a sign that your body isn’t absorbing what you’re already doing.

4. You’ve lost your edge

When runners are fresh, they often move better.

There’s more bounce.

More rhythm.

More snap in the stride.

When they’re overcooked, everything gets a bit dull.

You can still train.

But you’re no longer really expressing fitness.

5. Niggles keep hanging around

Not always a major injury. Just the low-level stuff that never quite leaves:

• tight calves

• sore Achilles

• grumbly knees

• heavy hamstrings

• random aches that move around

These are often early signs that your body is struggling to tolerate the load you’re asking of it.

Why this happens so often in distance runners

Distance runners are especially prone to this because running is easy to overdo without noticing.

It doesn’t feel dramatic.

You just keep adding:

• another easy run

• another medium-long run

• another “aerobic” session

• another long weekend run

And suddenly your whole week is just moderate fatigue, all the time.

Add in:

• work stress

• poor sleep

• parenting

• being over 35

• life outside training

…and now your recovery budget is even smaller.

Yet many runners still try to train as if they’re full-time athletes with unlimited energy.

That’s where things go sideways.

Less can be more if it gives you quality back. This is the part runners struggle with.

Because reducing training can feel like failure. Often, what they really need isn’t to stop training.

It’s to stop wasting energy on sessions that don’t move the needle.

Sometimes, the better week is not:

• 5–6 tired runs

It’s:

• 3–4 purposeful runs

• 1 strength session

• 1 sharper quality element

• and enough recovery to actually benefit from it all

That’s not laziness.

That’s better programming.

The goal isn’t to do the most training. It’s to do the most useful training you can actually recover from.

And if reducing a bit of volume gives you back:

• sharper legs

• better sessions

• better mechanics

• and fewer niggles

…then that’s a very good trade.

Final word

A lot of runners think they need more.

More mileage.

More volume.

More “hard work”.

But often, what they actually need is to stop hiding in fatigue.

Because if you’re always too exhausted to sprint, lift, or produce quality there’s a good chance your training isn’t building you up anymore.

It’s just keeping you busy.

And busy is not the same as better.

-Craig.