Are you listening?

Some days your body is trying to tell you something…the question is…are you listening?

Do you ever have those mornings where body parts are in revolt before you ever roll out of bed and touch one foot to floor? But you shake it off and think…wow I’m stiff this morning – (or, as was the case for me this morning….getting old sucks!)

Then as you move around going through whatever your routine is before heading out the door, those same body parts continue to voice their displeasure with what you’ve got planned – but you wave it off and think I’ll be fine once I get moving.

Now you’re out the door and moving…it’s not pretty at first, but at least your moving. By a mile in, you’ve found a rhythm and you feel like you’ve shown those body parts who’s the boss. But as you start mile 4, the revolt has returned in earnest and you can’t ignore the message that you might have gotten a little carried away with yesterday’s strength training, and that if you don’t want to be walking funny the rest of the day that it’s best to back off the pace…right now!

So you wrap-up your run, much slower than you want, but the rebels are for the moment pacified, content that they got their point across.

Yeah…well that’s pretty much how my run went this morning. Clearly my legs were still feeling the effects of yesterday’s workout and continuing to push today just might not have ended well, and I didn’t want to do anything to risk missing this weekend’s long run.

But it’s always an interesting question for runners – when do you push through and when do you back off?

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Comments

  1. Yup, I know that feeling all too well. Its hard to explain, but I know when I can suffer through and I know when its time to stop for the day. For me, they’re two different feelings.

    Hope you feel better soon!

    Winks & Smiles,
    Wifey

  2. Thanks for coming over and checking out my blog!

    Every morning as I wake up and trudge down my stairs I feel everybone in my feet and every muscle in my legs. They seems to be saying “What the heck are you doing to us! Go Back and lay down”. And I feel good about it with only a fleeting amount of worry.

    I hope that if there are seroius issues I will feel different and address them appropriately. I too think about the getting old part as most of the reason why I have my general aches and pains.

    Hurts so good right?

    I hope your next run is more upbeat!

  3. I think it’s really important to listen to your body. You gave it a shot and pushed pass the mental stuff and if you’re still not feeling it, I think it’s good to stop. Have a great long run this weekend!

  4. I push through too much, which is why I end up with over-use injuries. At first I said my ITB issue on my left side came out of the blue, but then I remembered feeling tenderness in the same place weeks ago (to the touch, not when running) and ignoring it!

  5. We fellow “sisterhood of runners” totally get it. For me, it’s a mental thing. I know I feel better after I run, but I may change my mileage for the day if my BODY is saying “please don’t push it today…no watch either.” If there’s ‘something left in the tank’, I like to save it for another day. BTW. I’m a new follower and from MA too!

  6. You are wise to stop after giving it a shot and still not feeling great. After Sundays 20? 2 running rest days for me. Yes, I’m old!

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