I fell asleep early last night which made me wake up early this morning... Ya, I should have seen that coming, but it was all for the better.
I ended up running 7.56 miles this morning and it felt good... until about 7.25-ish. That's when my legs died and my motivation plummeted. The way I was feeling, I knew it was better to stop and finish the last .5 mile home walking than pushing it, completely dying, and possibly getting injured.
I think that's one of the most important things. We're always pushing ourselves to go faster and farther, but we also need to know when it's time to stop. If you go too hard or fall the chances of hurting do become a reality. I believe that the constant self evaluation is key to knowing if you're good to continue or if you need to stop.
I had that issue during my first few half marathons where I ended up getting shin splints and I think it's a reason an ankle injury bothered me for so long. Luckily, I had some amazing coaches and trainers who helped me get back on track. Now I'm always monitoring how I'm feeling and if I can keep going. Usually, I know it's just a wall or my body not wanting to work and I keep pushing. Today was just a whole new feeling and I put on the brakes...
There are definitely times I wish I had listened to my body in the past, but we learn by making mistakes, right?
I am getting better about listening to my body but sometimes I do push a little harder than I should and run when I should rest.
ReplyDeleteGreat job listening to your body!
Do you think the shin splints were from over training? Or did you get rid of them another way?
ReplyDeletehttp://slowandsteadywin.blogspot.com
I talked it over with my coach at the time and he put me on a progressive plan where we started walking and then added running in slowly, almost step by step. It took me a good 3 months at least to get up to running 20 min at a time. That seemed to help my shin splints the most. The only other time that I've had an issue with them is when my shoes died and I needed to get new ones...
DeleteGreat job! I've had to learn not to push myself and listen when my body needs to stop, too. It's not easy but necessary to avoid injury.
ReplyDelete