Overtraining part II

Looking for answers (is this normal? have I blown something?) I went to see Carmel Goodman at her rooms at Challenge. I got the best answer I could have expected, yes it is normal, and no you haven't.  My bloodwork results were very good. This is straight overtraining. I will get back to where I was, I just have to be patient and be very conservative in what I'm doing.

I need to write this down, so when, in 6 months time I'm tempted to take on a whole season of racing HM's and 10k's, someone can say "go read that, and don't be so bloody stupid".

Right now, running is something I dread. Went out this morning, attempting to keep the effort as low as possible. HR 148. Pace 4:47. Felt really hard and at times like I was barely even moving forward. I feel like a novice. I can no longer run with the guys I used to run with. I used to run my easy Wednesdays with someone who was doing their tempo run. Don't think I could keep up now. 4 months ago I raced Gold Coast HM in 1:14:03. Now I can barely run 10k at any pace. This is worse than post-NY.

Yes I'm feeling sorry for myself. Break out the violins. What was my passion and joy is now strangling me. Wow, the turnaround is staggering...

On the plus side, I'm starting to really enjoy my cycling. There's no pressure, I don't really have any benchmarks as I have never cycled competitively, so I can go out and enjoy the freedom that gives me. Maybe I need to apply this to my running. No watch, no measurement, no pressure. I will still be struggling, but I don't have the stats slapping me in the face for the rest of the day.