A Good Lesson

After Sunday’s run, one thing that I noticed is that I didn’t really feel too tired. I expected that my legs would feel beat up for a couple of days. However, I felt pleasantly fresh. I enjoyed my usual Monday rest day and was prepared to run 10 miles on Tuesday. When it was time for Tuesday’s run, I bailed on it. I was cold (even though it was probably close to 50 degrees at the time) and just didn’t feel like running. In the past when I’ve skipped runs, I’ve felt weak. This time I didn’t feel that way at all. I don’t know why. I thought about it a bit and started thinking I was just getting lazy and had convinced myself that it was okay.

When I ran on Wednesday, I had two days off and expected to feel great. I didn’t. I felt sluggish and my legs felt 20 pounds heavier than normal. I think that it was a residual effect from running long and hard on Sunday. I started thinking that instead of being weak on Tuesday, I was probably just listening to my body. Even though I had been conditioned to follow a schedule, my body knew that it was tired, and I was finally smart enough to listen to it.

Now comes the hard part. This is a cutback week, so the missed run is not a big deal. What I need to do is not give in to the temptation to make up the mileage. I need to ensure I feel refreshed when I start next week. The other challenge will be to convince myself that I’m not listening to my body every time it's tough to get out the door.

I ran ten miles on Wednesday and am scheduled for nine today, including six, 600-meter repeats. It’s hard to run hard in the dark, but I shall do my best.