I was talking to my wife the other day, and she was explaining how she wanted to run more and get back to her normal weekly training volume since her volume had been lower than usual over the last couple weeks. She had been running 60-70 miles per week for the last couple of months, but her volume had dropped a bit during the last couple of weeks. I had also noticed that my volume dropped, but I was not surprised.
I pointed out two very important things about running and life stress. 1) Of course her volume dropped! Why? Because our lives (hers a bit more than mine) had become way more stressful. It is normal for your running volume to drop as life stress goes up. In fact, it is not just normal, it is recommended. And, 2) You can use life stress to get faster!
Let's explain.
If you're a pro-runner who does not have a day job, then you're life consists of running a lot and sleeping a lot. You probably run 100-120 miles per week and sleep 9-11 hours per day. So basically, you're super rested. Which means you have to do a lot of work to stress your body enough to get an adaptation that makes you faster. Maybe you have to run 10 x 1-mile @ half-marathon pace in order for you to get faster because running 6 x 1-mile is just too easy for you. Why? Because you're super rested and your life isn't very stressful right now. You have a lot to give.
But if, instead of being a pro-runner, you had a stressful job where you're always on your feet and using your brain all the time, then you might not need as much running to get the same adaptation. Now, since you only slept 7.5 hours last night and you were on your feet for 8 hours today walking around, your body has already been stressed. Basically, you've been doing a workout all day. So its almost like you already did a couple intervals. You already started your workout. So now, when you show up to the track, 6 x 1-mile is all you need to do. And, if you did more, you risk over-stressing your body and getting sick or injured.
I have a friend like this. He used to be a good, consistent 2:43-2:45 marathoner, running 60-75 mile per week and doing 2-3 workouts per week. Now, he is a consistent 2:35-2:37 marathoner and his training has not really changed. And now he is older. So, how can an older runner with the same training get faster? Well, one thing did change in his life. Now he has 2 kids. So, instead of running more to get faster, he just kept running the same while his life got more stressful! So, in a way, he increased his training indirectly because his overall life stress went up, and he maintained his training.
One thing that probably improved was his mental fitness (aka his ability to keep going when his brain tells him to stop). An interesting study explored this phenomena. Here is an excerpt from Outside magazine explaining the study:
In the MOD study, thirty-five soldiers trained three times a week on stationary bikes for the experiment, riding each time for the same duration and intensity relative to their own baseline fitness. In addition to the physical effort, half of the soldiers were also asked to engage in a mentally demanding task—watching combinations of letters appear on a computer screen and clicking only when certain combinations appear—while they pedaled.
At the end of the 12-week study, both groups showed comparable increases in V02 max, a common indicator of physical fitness. This makes sense since the training regimens were physiologically identical. However, when the soldiers completed a “time to exhaustion test” in which they rode at a constant effort—80 percent of their respective VO2 maxes—for as long as possible, things changed.
The same training. The same physiological improvements. But big difference is performance. Why? Stress. The math group was more mentally stressed than the other group and that made them faster. They could keep going longer when their brains were telling them to stop.
So, adjust your training when life get's super stressful. But remember, that stress is good and you can use it to your advantage.