Does this sound like overtraining???

[Manwich5]

I took a week off from doing anything but maybe some weight lifting 2 days and a cross train day but no running.  Then I started base building again.  Coming back from a week off My legs felt REALLY good.  I was planning on trying to run 3 steady long aerobic days a week and having the other days short really easy jogging days like Lydiard mentions.  I am about 7 weeks into base building.  The first 3 weeks I felt great and felt like I was gaining fitness doing my steady aerobic runs .

BUT the weeks after I now feel like I can no longer run my longer 3 steady days at the pace I was once doing in the beginning.  I feel like I am no longer getting increase in fitness from my runs.  My legs always feel flat.   I haven't built up any mileage in literally weeks .  Been the same low 15 min jogging  30 min steady aerobic alteration since week 2 (sometimes a 40 minute here and there).  Never felt safe to build more mileage due to the constant heavy legs. 

Is this classic Over training??  Perhaps I misjudged what "steady state aerobic" meant and ran too hard? Or I just tried to run at the pace I felt good at last "steady state" day but didn't feel as smooth on another day but tried to run at the effort anyway so this slowly dragged me down to over train?

You think it wouldn't hurt to take 2 days off and then pop right back into base building??  This time being more aware when to back off on pace and when to appropriately maximize aerobic pace.   Ok next time I am going to get it right!

I already can't wait to take my days off and get back into it to fix it.

Thanks 

[Double]

I would just slow down and go with what comes.  If you are timing these
3 day a week runs it can be defeating because it is hard to feel good all the time.
I would say you need to continue to run easy and when the good days come run a
bit faster but don't time them.  Just move along at a decent tempo pace for 20 - 30
minutes, whatever, and call it a day. 
 
The primary goal in building aerobic fitness is running as much as you feel you can
and leave something for tomorrow.  Of course building to new levels requires adaption
and this is harder.  If your tired all the time, then back off and stay at that level a
couple extra weeks.  Honestly, everyone has a different definition of tired.  I am tired
all the time.  I just get out there and see how it goes.  Usually, I am hitting the workout
load I want.
 
I still time runs (specific workouts) occasionally, but more than likely it's like yesterday;
8.3 miles, 1:10, 15 x golf course hill.  If I know for certain I won't hit a timed workout
(insert any reason), I will substitute 25-30 minutes at a real good effort. 
 
I believe you have leveled off because your working a bit harder at this point than you
should.  It has an accumulative effect.  Instead of days off, I would be finding a way to get
running about everyday no matter how slow the miles.  As your fitness increases, so will your
ability to handle those miles at a bit faster pace.  You can't force fit.  This has never failed
me.  Unless there was some other under lying issue.
 
Hope this helps.

[Ed]

Good stuff Double -
 
I would say leave the watch at home for a couple of weeks if not longer and run purely by feel.  However, your body feels at the moment - go with that. 
 
Unless of course you are on a training schedule for an upcoming race - but you stated you are back at base training.
 
Go by feel.

[Andrew A.]

Good stuff Double -
 
I would say leave the watch at home for a couple of weeks if not longer and run purely by feel.  However, your body feels at the moment - go with that. 
 
Unless of course you are on a training schedule for an upcoming race - but you stated you are back at base training.
 
Go by feel.

+1

[Ryan]

Great advice already. To add just one thing, sometimes you are going to feel cumulative fatigue when training hard. It comes with the territory. The key is to know when to run through it, when to back off a bit, and when your body is demanding some rest.

It does sound to me like this is more than something to run through. Great advice was already given about not worrying about pace. If a couple weeks of that still leaves you dragging every day, maybe try a cutback week and then get a fresh start.