As I woke up this morning, I had a feeling that running wasn’t going to be happening as planned.
I’d intended to hop out of bed and bang out my weekly long run: 18 miles. I have the day off today and thought it would be lovely to get it out of the way and not have to worry about it over the weekend, when I’ll be working.
But my body had other plans.
And this is where you say: “But Shelby…listening to your body? Doesn’t that go against everything you stand for?”
Well…yes, and no. I think most people who were “around” when I wrote the post linked above are aware that it was a specific jab at a trend that seemed to be on the rise at the time on blogs, twitter, DailyMile, etc. Namely, an annoying pseudo-hyper-self-awareness that seemed to be masking laziness or carelessness in the name of listening to one’s body. Followed by fawning comment-praise for doing so.
(For any non-runners reading, it’s kind of similar to how the “intuitive eating” people can make you stabby when they go on and on about every last morsel that the wise fairies who apparently live in their digestive tracts demand they consume.)
Anyway. Listening to your body isn’t always a bad thing, especially when combined with a little analysis of the facts and circumstances at hand – and, of course, good old-fashioned common sense. In spite of my hatred for the phrase, of course I listen to my body sometimes.
But I try to be smart and rational about it.
Here are five questions I ask myself on those days when my body doesn’t want to comply with my plans – along with, for example, my answers and self-analysis as it went down this morning:
1. Is there a reason I feel like crap right now?
Have I been sleeping enough lately? Drinking enough water? Did I do an extra-hard workout in the last couple of days? Did I finish that entire bottle of wine last night?
Identifying the reason for the corps du garbage feeling, if there is one, is always a good first step.
This morning: Well, I did a hard tempo run last night. Five miles at 7:15 pace on a hilly course – holla!
However…HERPY DERPITY DERP! Of course I feel worked over this morning. In retrospect, it was pretty dumb to “plan” a long run on the morning after a hard workout.
2. Is my heart rate elevated?
Knowing your normal resting heart rate is a great tool for athletes. If you want to be in tune with your body, get in the habit of taking your pulse every few days, first thing in the morning, before you budge from bed. It takes about ten seconds and will give you extremely valuable feedback about what’s going on inside you.
Because an consistently elevated resting heart rate is a sign of over-training. And if you’re going to listen to your body, that’s exactly the sort of thing that you should be listening for. But that data is useless unless you’ve established a norm for yourself.
This morning: My heart rate was a tad high but definitely within my “normal” range. Which is good.
3. Am I sick?
This one’s pretty obvious. Is this couch pulling my butt toward it like an industrial-strength magnet because I’m coming down with something? Or am I just feeling tired/lazy/unmotivated?
Being a little sick isn’t always a deal-breaker for me when it comes to working out, but I might scale things back if I suspect I might be coming down with a crud of some sort.
This morning: Nope, no signs of illness, although my husband was sick last week so I’m on the lookout for it. So far, though, so good.
4. Am I injured?
Distinguishing between soreness and injury is arguably one of the most nuanced and difficult things about running. It gets easier with experience, but even longtime runners struggle with this.
Obviously I am not a medical professional of any sort, but personally, I look for: dull pain versus sharp pain; pain in one leg versus both legs (although that’s not to say that one can’t injure both legs – looking at you, shin splints); pain that fades away once I get moving versus pain that becomes significantly worse with range of movement and/or when I walk on it.
Also, refer back to question #1: is there a reason for this pain?
Did I do a bunch of squats or sprints yesterday? Well then, yeah…that’s why my legs are sore. Did I run in a different pair of shoes? Or do I maybe need new ones? Could that be why my feet/knees/hips/whatever hurt?
The crappy part about this one is that sometimes you just have to take your best guess. If you’re a runner who is looking to get stronger and faster, you will invariably have to run through soreness and fatigue sometimes. That’s just how it works. But you have to be careful about running through something that might be a legit injury. So…yeah. Good luck.
This morning: No signs of injury. My calves and Achilles were a little tight and sore but that’s not unusual for me, especially first thing in the morning, and after a hard workout.
5. What will happen if I miss this workout?
I know that’s kind of a stupid question, because at the end of the day, nothing will happen if you turn off your alarm clock and go back to sleep. The earth won’t stop turning. Hell won’t freeze over. Pigs won’t fly. Etc, etc.
But…if you’re following a training plan or working toward a specific race or goal, what will happen is that you will either forego this workout or be forced to reschedule it.
So. Is it a key workout – a long run, perhaps, or a speed session? If so, can you move things around and do it on a different day (hopefully when you are feeling better)? Or is it just base mileage, the sort of thing that can be scrapped once in a while with no ill effects?
This morning: I really try not to skip my key workouts, but I knew I could reschedule this 18-miler pretty easily. It won’t be quite as convenient for me, as I’ll have to get up at the asscrack of dawn on Saturday morning in order to finish before work. Sucks, but that’s okay.
(Also, as I previously mentioned, my “plan” was pretty poorly conceived to begin with, with a long run hot on the heels of a tempo run. I probably should have planned to do the long run on Saturday anyway.)
So, conclusion: I’m probably not over-trained, injured, sick, or (for once) hung over. There’s nothing wrong with me; I’m just feeling beat up from a hard workout. While I probably could have done the long run (very slowly) if I had to, it made more sense to just move it to another day.
And that’s how I made the decision that skipping my long run in favor of making chocolate-chip banana pancakes was a reasonable course of action.
SEE? I LISTENED TO MY BODY. NOW WHERE’S MY MEDAL?
I might do a few easy miles this afternoon, or I might take the day off entirely. (Either today or tomorrow will be a total rest day.)
Now if you’ll excuse me, my hair wants some shampoo and my legs are demanding a razor. In the name of personal hygiene, I should probably listen.
I can always tell when I need to calm down or take a rest day because I get fainty. Yep. That’s a new word. I had this condition when I was younger that I would faint really easily from different factors (Standing a stuffy room, over-exertion, not eating enough) so as soon as I get that off-kilter feeling I know.
Hear, hear. “Listening to your body” gets a bad rap because of all the idiots using it as an excuse not to do their workouts. If I’m going to skip to drink or to watch sports from the sofa, I gotta own that.
But it’s a sane way to approach training and I believe in it entirely, particularly as a *coughMastersrunnercough*. What good am I going to do myself if I’m truly tired from the previous day’s workout or if I’m really sick, or if work has been kicking my ass?
i like this post. and i remember the other one, too, but i think there’s also the psychological piece. if you are truly not into the idea of 18 miles, it’ll be way more exciting to do those 18 miles when you want to. as much as we all have goals (well… i don’t really have running goals anymore, but whatevs) is nice to cut yourself some slack and eat pancakes instead. life is short. make it sweet with extra syrup. yum.
omg those pancakes look delicious. perhaps post recipe (yeah I know it’s just pancakes and those are simple but holy crap they look good).
Great post!
I always use this MS recipe for pancakes: http://www.marthastewart.com/318689/best-buttermilk-pancakes
I usually halve it if it’s just me and my husband. Today I quartered it (a bit awkwardly) for just me.
And added bananas and choc chips, of course!
Nice timing with this post; you’ve been mentioned a few times on GOMI (SOMI!) recently for your awesome original body post. Of course, you may have already been aware of this, but if not – check it out.
Meanwhile, my alarm went off at 5am this morning and I thought to myself, “I’m awake and not totally hating it. I should get up and run a few miles like I intended,” and I STILL let the 5:45 shower wakeup call win the debate. Then snoozed til 6:15. So lame. And lazy.
5 AM is insane. I don’t blame you!
<3 GOMI <3
Those are good questions to ask. I can usually tell when I am getting burned out with working out. Mentally I’m not into it and half ass many workouts. Or my body starts to hurt. Rest day!
Pancakes and/or chocolate always trump long runs. Duh.
In all seriousness though, I remember your first post well and I can see how this “listening to your body” is different from the kind that you wrote about the first time. Hopefully your Saturday morning wake-up call isn’t too brutal!
As always, great post – My main struggle is whether pain is from injury or if it’s from something else. .. for example, my quads have been ridiculoulsy sore since the half I ran on Sunday. My time was 2:22 – (i ran w/ a friend) I ran a 13 mile training run about 4wks ago and my time was 1:52 ..uhm 30 minutes faster – my legs weren’t sore at all after the 13 mile training, but damnit if even stairs are kicking my ass right now. I’ve spent all week wondering whether or not I’m just sore or if I actually somehow managed to mess something up. I think it’s just sore. but its weird.
I actually think that running at a slower-than-normal pace can kinda screw with your legs sometimes. I did a lot of long training runs this summer that were substantially slower than I’m used to going and they killed me, too.
Hope you recover ASAP!
I agree with this. I know for a fact that my form is worse when I’m running slowly vs pushing myself a bit faster. My hips get wonky and I can just feel myself being sloppier.
That, and you’re running for a longer period of time than if you’re running faster…so that probably plays a role in the case, too.
I struggle with being able to tell the difference between soreness and injury as well. When I’m sore, it’s all I can think about. It messes with my head. Oh and “HERPIDITY DERPIDITY DERP” is my favorite line of this post.
Hmm, I didn’t realize that about that resting heart rate. Good to know. Pancakes > 18 mile runs on sore legs. Good choice.
I definitely like the list. And I mostly fall to the “worked out last night kicked my ass” rule. It’s rough when your legs feel like a ton of bricks.
Great post. This morning I rolled over for “5 more minutes” @ 5:30 when I knew I had a 6 am class at the gym I wanted to make. I did end up making it in by 6:02, but I truly have a hard time getting out of bed. If I didn’t run when I felt sore or tired, I would likely never do it.
I like your philosophy and agree that you need to balance things and sometimes just have the banana chocolate chip pancakes. Yum!
I guess being a Physical Therapist qualifies me as a “medical professional” in this case. So, in my professional medical opinion, I’d like to wholly endorse your list of ways to differentiate between soreness and injury. You’re definately right on track, especially the part about getting worse versus better with more movement. I’m also a big fan of the “HERPY DERPITY DERP” part, but I think I had to read it a few times to get just the right pitch in my head…
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One thing that I hated when I started running, and I still hate now, is your point #4.
Seemingly the only way to know if I’m injured, besides stopping my training every couple of weeks if anything is out of whack, is to run until I’m injured and try to remember what it felt like immediately beforehand.
I know that the old saw in running is that we’re all an experiment of one, but I would kill for some trial and error that didn’t have my sometimes-quite-literal ass on the line.
I love everything about this post. Nailed another one!
It helps to have some balance in the training so as to not burn out.
Here are some good stamina, threshold, strength, and speed workouts. Readers who do not know their specific training paces, this tool will help you.
Personalized Workout Calculator >>>> http://www.freerunningcalculator.com
Courtesy of Running Coach
Ken at 5 Speed Running
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