Listen to your body. HA!

“listen to your body!” yeah, whatever! what the hell does that mean anyway? If i listened to my body, i would be sleeping more, training less and eating more. Careful and tricky listening skills are required when one must “listen to their body”. if you are not careful, your mind and your body will go round after round and beat each other to a bloody pulp. I feel like that is what had happened to me. For whatever reasons, my body just has not been “feelin it” lately. As I so eloquently whined and moaned about it in my last post, my body had been tired/fatigued and there are a combination of reasons why. AND, for some reason, i feel like the physical stuff has been bleeding over into my mental state and waring me down. Well, let me tell you, i got wore down!
I did 3 short runs during the week with plans to do more on weekend although I wasn’t sure how i would feel since I had to take an insurance class Thurs-Sun all day! Mid-week runs felt ok, not great. Saturday ran after class in some pretty good heat of 90 degrees + humidity. I felt ok. Pace was actually pretty good, but I knew I still had a long one waiting for me the next day. I decided to do the Sunday run after class again. Still hot, (but a bit less) + humidity. During the first mile, it felt good to be outside and moving…especially after 4 days of feeling pretty cooped up! That feeling quickly faded! 3 miles into it and i knew it just wasn’t gonna happen. Quads felt very heavy. Tight. Mentally, physically, I just felt worn out. I stopped at 4 miles and had about 4 miles left to get back to my car. I figured it was a good opportunity to just walk and maybe sort some things out in my head (as long as i would not beat myself up to much!) I REALLY DON’T LIKE WALKING! I managed to walk for 10 minutes and then i started running again at a faster pace. I basically ran and walked back the rest of the 4 miles, more running than walking. I just had to be ok with it all.
So, where is my head at? Well, while walking, i decided that i would take a whole 3 days off! (i don’t even know last time that happened) No running for 3 days. Give my legs some time to refresh and try to cut myself some slack. In the back of my mind, I feel worried about the marathon because my overall mileage is not where it should be….but I also know that I don’t want to keep running the way that I have been as of late. My body and my mind need some down time. I will still do some core work and a little weights, but that’s it. Oh, and take some dips in the pool too.
Even having said all the above, it’s not easy to take days off. Today, is ok because this is a normal “rest” day. But tomorrow, i know I will see others running and sweating along the roads with their iPods and I will be jealous. But, I am experienced enough to know that sometimes, you JUST CANNOT PUSH/CANNOT FORCE. Gotta leave it alone for a bit.

Here’s a quote that seems appropriate: ” during the hard training phase, never be afraid to take a day off. If your legs are feeling unduly stiff and sore, rest; if you are at all sluggish, rest; in fact, if in doubt, rest.” – bruce fordyce

Aug 16: 8 miles – (4 run, 4 run/walk) outside, hills
Aug 15: 4.6 miles outside, hills
Aug 13: 3.1 miles – treadmill,
Aug 12: 4 miles – outside, hills
Aug 11: 3.5 miles – treadmill