Today was another beautiful day in the city of Knoxville. I great sunny day, perfect in every way for a run. I chose not to run today. Why? Because I listened to what my body told me. I've been running for quite a long time, enough that I know when my body has had more than it could handle... or before it gets to that point. As I mentioned before, the run with Garrett was pretty nice, but at a pace that I wasn't prepared for in my training. Also, I have been running mainly on the road, which can behard on the joints and since I haven't properly developed my muscles due to the 'break' from running, my knee decided to talk to me and say that it's been through a couple rough spots.
A couple years back, I had the same feeling with my knee, and when it told me that it was slightly uncomfortable, I didn't listen to it and decided to continue my training. In the end, I ended up pulling my muscles/tendons around the knee which forced me to stop running. Simply put, I was straining my body beyond what it could handle, and when I felt the warning signs, I ignored it and continued, ending up with me having a lot of free time. It's important to be able to listen to your body, especially when it is warning you that you are going too far. There's a difference than your body being sore and your body on the verge of breaking down, and the expert at differentiating the two is YOU! An important factor in training is to know your limit. If your body is only capable of running a mile, don't run two miles because you'll hurt (not help) your body.
The same can be said with life. Know what you can handle, and don't go beyond what you can handle. It's important to strive to achieve certain goals. However, if an individual were to attempt to achieve all the goals they could possibly put their hands on... they'll be over-committed and would have a stress-filled life. An easy way to stop from over-committing is to prioritize and know what you can handle.
So did I just lay around and do nothing? Absolutely not!! I went down to the gym, cycled for an hour and rode 21.6 miles, 210 single-calf raises (per calf), as well as other leg exercises and an ab workout. Because I knew I wouldn't be able to do one thing doesn't mean that I couldn't do anything. I needed to somehow work out my legs without running, and there's many things that I could do. Although I didn't get to go running outside on such a gorgeous day, I was able to use that time of running to focus on working on my lower body. In training, just because I know I shouldn't run doesn't mean I can't train some other way for the marathon. I remember a quote given to me in 3rd grade, "Where there's a will, there's a way." I like to live that way.
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