Happy Weekend guys! Any big plans? We are relaxing over here at the Montgomery house, maybe doing some fence painting in a bit and then some serious football watching. #GeauxTigers.
If you read yesterday’s post, you saw that I talked about Bobby and I going on a yucky three mile run the other night. I was really confused, because it was Thursday, and I had not run since my half marathon on Sunday. The only thing I had done was lift weights (mainly upper body) with Bobby on Tuesday. I thought 3.5 days was plenty of time to have “off” before running again, but I was wrong.
Could I complete the distance? Sure. But it was SO hard. It felt like it was the first time I had ever run three miles. I couldn’t believe I just ran 13.1 miles on Sunday with a LOT more ease than this. It wasn’t hot out, and I wasn’t tired from a particularly exhausting day, so I took it slow, and did some thinking when I got back. Yes, it had been 3.5 days since my race, BUT, if you think about all the things I had been doing the past two weeks, it’s no wonder my body was so resistant.
Working back to back expo weekends and running back to back half marathons, flying, dealing with some emotional stress of some family issues, it all came out in that run. I have been running long enough to know when that is NOT a good sign for my health. I am glad that I realized that I needed to listen to my body and take it slow. I am NOT fully rested or recovered from the past two weeks, and I may be able to “fool” myself mentally, but this body knows better.
I guess my point is don’t go by logically how you “should” feel, because mentally you could feel great or think you “should’ be recovered by now, but your body knows best! Just because it takes a certain person X days to recover doesn’t mean it will take you the same amount of time! We are all uniquely and wonderfully different, and we should individually pay attention to the signals our body gives, such as: unusually sore muscles, a really bad heavy leg feeling run, exhaustion, pain/injury. Look for the signs and know when enough is enough for you. I took a cue from my body and put my feet up last night, slept in this morning (till 7, ha) and went for an EASY 2 miler this morning. I “should” have done 5 or 6 miles, but, I know better, and I am listening to my body. I would rather listen now and be able to run another day then injure myself or get sick and be out for weeks or months!
QOTD: Does your body give you signals when enough is enough? Name some of them, or tell of a time when you knew enough was enough!
I learned this the hard way. I did a marathon and the next weekend a half marathon. I ended up having a seizure due to over exhaustion. I should have listened to my body and taken a longer break. I then wasn’t able to do a post half run and ended up with minor shin splints. I am doing my first 5k back this morning.
Oh my goodness how scary!
So glad you listened to your body and took it slow, Heather! An injury would be terrible for sure!
I find that when my body is really tired, I see it in my times and I get a lot slower! I didn’t train enough for an ultra once and I had to listen to every ache in my body to stop at 55 miles. Knowing the difference between discomfort and injury is crucial!
Wow you are a beast!
I also learned the hard way, although it wasn’t a seizure (thank goodness). Last May, I hadn’t been running too long and I started training for a 10K, ran the 10K, and did pretty well (1:04). Well, I got sick, and even after coming back I noticed my legs felt heavy. Eventually, a little over a month after my 10K, I could not even run a mile without my legs feeling like they couldn’t move and huffing and puffing.
Turns out I was severely anemic and basically had to build myself back up to being able to run again… 5 weeks after the anemia diagnosis (I mean my hemoglobin was like 7, I was close to being hospitalized).
A lady I work with just started running, she’s 60. She’s already ran 3 5Ks. Her times have all been around 34-38 minutes- but I know I want to be running when I’m 60… sometimes it’s better to think about things in the long run, better to take some rest now and be able to run into our golden years than get hurt young, burn out, etc.
Wow! Glad you got it figured out!