Athlete burnout is fairly topical for me at the moment. I've called it "taking a break from racing" but burn out gives a more accurate idea as to why.
Why do athletes burn out? Its very simple - by doing to much.
How do they reach that point? Usually by a series of decisions over a period of time that lead to them managing excessive "total workloads" (work + life + training). Although many will beg to differ, I see myself as a semi intelligent type of guy capable of making well informed decisions yet when I look back over the last few years there are several key decisions I've duffed all resulting in a decrease in performance. The reason for this is that I managed to seal off the "No" pathway in my brain. Decisions in general are heavily weighted by emotions and athletes are easy prey for the repetitive cycle of saying yes. After all we enjoy the suffering, we enjoy defeating others and above all we enjoy the satisfaction that comes with improvement. How can you say no to that? I can always fit another race into my schedule....Right??
The best case study I can use for burn out and how it graduates is my own experiences from the last few years. What follows is a simple look at my significant scheduled races from the last 7 years and how my performances went (less emphasis of placings, more on perceived strength). In Italics are a few significant lifestyle factors that impacted sleep and recovery patterns.
2009-
Feb: Coast to Coast, 2nd. Trained well, felt strong.
2010-
Feb: Coast to Coast, 6th. Felt over trained, lacked strength.
April: Baise Outdoor Quest China 3 day stage race. 7th. Last minute decision. Not conditioned but felt strong.
June: Started Business.
Nov: Lake to Lighthouse. Trained well, finished 2nd, Felt strong.
Dec: Abu Dhabi 5 day stage race. 4th. Last minute call up, felt strong.
2011-
March: Kaiteriteri multisport race (KBAR) 2nd. Trained well, felt strong.
April: Baise Outdoor Quest China 3 day stage race. 1st. Last minute call up. Not conditioned but felt fresh and strong.
Sept: Wulong Quest China 3 day stage race. 1st. Planned. Well trained and felt strong.
Nov: Anaconda Augusta multisport race. 4th. Trained well, felt strong.- 2 week gap -
Lake to lighthouse. 2nd. No specific training due to Anaconda race. Felt strong.
2012 -
Feb: Coast to Coast team, 2nd. Late call up, felt strong.
Feb: Patagonia Expedition race, 1st, Limited prep, felt pretty good considering 1st expedition length race.
Mar: KBAR, 1st. Felt pretty good considering 2weeks after Patagonia.
April: Godzone Adventure race, 1st. Felt strong for most of race.
June: 3D Rotorua, 4th. Lacked speed but generally felt strong.
July: 1st baby born. Expanded business, signed for twice the lease cf startup. Building works July-Nov.
August: Ordos adventure challenge 5 day stage race, 1st. Trained well. Felt strong for most of race.
Sept: Adventure racing world champs France 5.5days, 1st. Well prepared, felt strong for much of race with 36hrs of suffering/ melt down.
Oct: Wulong Quest China 3 day stage race, 6th. Definitely not recovered after France. Still harboring stomach bug, felt weak and slow.
Nov: Lake to Lighthouse. 3rd. Poorly prepared, felt weak and slow. Very happy to finish and move on.
2013 -
Feb: Coast to Coast longest day. 5th. Felt strong and well prepared.
Mar: Godzone adventure race. 1st. Felt under prepared and carrying fatigue. Strong enough but not 100% by any stretch.
Apr: Wenzhou 2 man, 4day stage race. 2nd. Intense race. Carrying fatigue and not fully recovered but generally felt strong.
June: 3D Rotorua, 3rd. Felt strong and recovered but not fast.
August: Ecomotion Brazil expedition race. 2nd. Felt fatigued and lacking in strength for much of race.
November: Queen Charlotte Classic, 1st. First time in months feeling strong and in control.
December: ARWC Costa Rica, DNF. Felt strong initially but broke down after 48 hours for 48hrs. Eventually succumbed to foot rot. Worst racing period ever.
2014 -
Feb: Coast to Coast longest day. Not well prepared due to Costa Rica, Weak start but finished strong.
Apr: Wenzhou 4 day stage race China, 2nd. Felt strong for most of race.
June: Rotorua 3D, 2nd. Felt strong and well prepared.
July: 2nd baby born.
August: Wulong Quest China 3 day stage race, 3rd. Well prepared. Felt strong for most of race.
2015 -
Feb: Coast to Coast longest day, 3rd. Well prepared but didn't feel strong for most of day. Happy to beat Nathan Fa'avae as he really wanted 3rd - probably more important to him than fastest paddle split.
May: Hutt City Crazyman, 1st. Well prepared and felt strong despite mechanical issues.
June: 3D Rotorua. 1st. Well prepared. Felt strong.
Sept: Wulong Quest China. 3rd. Generally strong but only 80% on stage 2. Hard to pinpoint why.
Oct 2015-March 2016 - No races planned or completed.
Making Sense of it all:
So looking back at a glance a typical bell curve springs to mind. Easy beginnings with passion for more racing, An overly stacked 2012-13, followed by a lighter 2014-15 craving for less. 2012 and 2013 were both excessively packed with intense racing. Both these years had expedition races in the mix and in both of them I added shorter intense races inside the sensible recovery period. Couple this with lifestyle factors such as running a business, family etc and recovery becomes significantly compromised. These lifestyle factors are often overlooked or played down as to their impact on abilities to train and race. My downfall as seen above was a rigid approach to exercise, taking on more lifestyle challenges with no corresponding decrease in training load. Something has to give. Any elite athlete will testify that recovery is key. The challenge for those with work and family commitments is all down to balance. Less is more.
NB - Following advice from Nathan Fa'avae late in 2013 I cut 30% off my training load in 2014-15. 2015 to date was the strongest I've felt racing as an individual averaging 12-15hrs/wk vs 18-22 in the 2 years prior.
The nuts and bolts
Its easy to think you aren't in this category or your schedule is already realistic. Its easy to fall into the trap of making life (including training) a little bit busier each year. Its only one extra race. Its only one extra weekend away. Its only one extra training schedule. Before long schedules escalate and it becomes a game of ticks and crosses. Tick one off, move on to the next challenge. If I had looked at my completed schedule in 2012-13 back in 2009 I would never have let it happen....yet it did.
If I had my time again these are the points I'd consider:
1. Write down a planned yearly schedule and look at it with critical eyes. If you think its too much it probably is.
2. Always factor lifestyle factors (work hours, family commitments etc) into training and racing schedules. Any drain on energy/ recovery will affect performance.
3. Be wary mixing codes. Mixing expedition races, stage races and multi-sport is tough to do well.
4. If someone questions your schedule - they most likely have a point.
5. Plan an off season and place more importance on using it wisely than any pre-race build up. If you plan 2 months off racing, take 2 months off racing. Don't fill it with every activity you can find. Being able to do nothing is a skill - practice makes perfect.
6. If none of the above make sense then think back to when you only did one race per year. You most likely raced it like you wanted to tear it to pieces cherishing every moment, finishing wanting more. One annual race isn't ideal either but it provides a good yard stick to how we want to mentally approach every race.
Most good athletes are great at saying yes. Its natural to take on more workload, to suffer like a dog and come up smiling, to live life at full speed all the time. The clever athlete knows when to suffer, when to live life at full speed and when to pull back. Its all about balance.
