Hello! It's your body SCREAMING at you!

You know, I like to think I'm pretty in tune with my body and the signals it sends me. But, like many busy people, I've had to learn to ignore some of the signs.

Monday I had a terrible day. I just didn't feel right. My run was awful. I was an emotional wreck. I was exhausted from a rough night with the kids.

I gave myself permission to take a short running break and not worry about training or miles for a few days. Tuesday morning I got up and did a Turbofire workout (low impact). I felt pretty good after that, but then still had a really hard day. I just didn't feel right. I started to cough and my throat was getting a little sore. I ignored it.

I went to the grocery store after work. I walked away from my cart, and when I went back, took what I thought was my cart all the way to the other side of the store. This poor man had to chase me to get his cart back. I knew then I was a little out of it...

I explained to my children how terribly important it was that I get a good night's sleep. If you have ever tried to reason with a 3 year old and/or 6 month old, you probably know how well that went...

When I woke up Wednesday, my body just wouldn't work. It was done. It's like it had been screaming at me for days, and when I didn't listen, it just hit me over the head and knocked me out. I decided to take a sick day.

After some Nyquil and a LOT of sleep, I felt better.

I seem to need these reminders every now and then.

Do you have to be completely knocked out before you'll let yourself rest? Or, do you listen to and heed the warning signs before it gets to that point?

I hope you have a healthy day and LISTEN when your body screams at you!

Sarah

P.S. Woohoo! We are at 100 followers! Yay! Thanks everyone!

Burn Out..

Rest is awesome. Rest is when the muscles regroup, repair themselves, and get stronger. I had a little bit of a "forced" rest this weekend, but I feel better for it.

Many of the half marathon training programs I've seen online (including Hal Higdon's here) suggest building the miles on the long run for a few weeks, then backing off for a week. Well, I was going to ignore that this Saturday and do another 8 mile run. That was the plan all week.

I ran 4.7 miles on Tuesday, ran 4 miles on Thursday (both longer than my normal weekday runs), and then went out to run 2 miles on Friday. On Friday's run, I could tell, I had pushed a little too far. Normally 2 miles is a piece of cake, but it was rough the WHOLE TIME.

I still planned on running my 8 on Saturday though.

Then, the weather says it's going to rain on Saturday. Pshaw... rain doesn't scare me! Wait, the local running store cancelled all the Saturday morning training runs in fear of flooding? Okay, I'm just going to ignore that...

Oh wow, my knees hurt. Oh and my calves. Okay, I'm just going to ignore that.

Hey it's not raining yet, I'm going to try and go out for as long as I can....

So, I dug out a water belt because I thought it would make things easier. It's like a fanny pack that has a place for water. Well, when I went out on my "8 mile run that has already turned into a whatever I can get before the downpour run"... the bag bugged me. It felt like I had a 5 pound weight hanging from my waist.

Here's what I had going against me;

- Possible overtraining- sore, heavy legs, hip flexors, knees.

- Rain and the possibility of flooding.

- Feeling generally uncomfortable because of stupid water belt.

- Emotional burnout.

So, after running .14 mile, I turned around and went home. I cried a little out of the disappointment, but I just couldn't do it. 

I did Bob Harper's Yoga for the Warrior instead, which I needed.

I then took a really long nap with my daughter, ignoring my giant to-do list I had written for the day.

Looking back, I think I was just too tired. A lot of working out, a lot of not-sleeping enough, and just the general weariness from being supermom all week.

I'm okay with skipping the run. I will pick back up this week. There is a fine line between blowing off workouts and pushing too far. It's hard to find that balance... but I'm all about balance!

Being a Hero

You know the phrase, “Don’t be a hero?” As I understand it, it means something like “Don’t take an extreme risk that could result in injury to yourself just to look cool..” (I’m sure there are lots of other interpretations as well…).Basically, it’s about self-preservation, right?

Well, today I decided not to be a hero.

I had planned to run today, after over a week away from it due to injury, snow, and sickness. But my cough still lingered. If it was just a little cough and runny nose, I think I would be fine, but this still feels, well, “chesty.”

Ar first, I thought I would skip the run and do cardio inside. But, as I thought about it, I realized my energy was still low, I was still achy (and not in a good way) and decided that just doing the housework and childcare I had planned today would take enough energy.

So, today I told myself: “Don’t be a hero.”

It was rough. I wonder if I’ll ever run again. I feel off, not having worked out since Wednesday. But, I realized it sounds a little ridiculous to use up all my energy on a workout and then be too weak to do anything else today.

However, I think, in a way, making those hard decisions is a little heroic. I’m proud of myself, and know that when I get the chance to run Monday, it will be GLORIOUS… because I will be healthy again.

To your health!

Sarah

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(Originally published 1/15/2011)