Evaluating Daily Fatigue

During this easy week spend some time evaluating how you feel each day. If you do not keep a training diary that allows you to subjectively rate how you feel each day, now is a great time to start. Most smart watches allow you to rate workouts with subjective feeling and the TrainingPeaks platform has a daily rating system as well. Our NTS training log also allows athletes to rate their fatigue on a daily basis. 

While xc skiers must endure some fatigue during periods of high training it's important for skiers to listen to their bodies on easy weeks. Fatigue from a single session should not linger for more than a day or two.  As athletes mature and develop we want them to learn to distinguish between acute fatigue, which often manifests itself is sore muscles or sleepiness, and residual fatigue which can feel different. A common feeling is heaviness in the legs or even trouble sleeping and suppressed appetite.  If athletes feel like they are carrying residual fatigue we recommend reducing training volume on easy weeks. 

Athletes can learn a lot by wearing a heart rate monitors during all types of training, including time trials like our uphill run test and summer rollerski, running, or bike races. Reviewing race heart rate data can help identify fatigue. Suppressed heart rates during intensity sessions can be an early sign of fatigue, under fueling, or overreaching. 

While there are many advanced ways to monitory recovery, there is no replacement for honestly evaluating how you feel each day. The best skiers in the world become their own best coaches if they can honestly evaluate how they feel and what they might need to change TODAY to make sure they continue to absorb training throughout the summer.