"Listen to your body," a common expression that makes some sense. I say jokingly, listen to your body, except when you are in a race! The realty is that when you push to your limits, you and your body become enemies, one fighting to keep the hammer down and one fighting to get you to stop. The trick is to discern what is truly dangerous behavior and what is just the pain of fatigue that you can push through; hence, time to ignore the body.
When the balance of pain and effort get us to the finish line with a new personal record and a great sense of fulfillment it is important to savor the moment, to reflect on all you did to arrive at this point. Think about days you got in the miles when the last thing you wanted to do was get up and run. This run was your best, don't allow negative thoughts to spoil the moment, thoughts like what you could have done better in training, or runs that you missed. Today, you are perfect, the numbers prove this out.
A good effort can brighten our lives and carry us forward for a while. There are times I think back to a great run, reliving the feeling years later and finding I can still take pride and pleasure from them. Life will throw darks days our way, some that will be overwhelming, but by savoring the good days, the memories will be a part of our arsenal of thoughts that can pull us through.
Savor every healthy run,
Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner, who is enjoying a nice stretch of wonderful healthy runs, that I am stashing away in memory.
PS. Make Running Fit an official Black Friday stop! Buy any combination of jacket and pant, and receive the item of lesser value for 50% off! Select shoes 25% off. Happy Thanksgiving!
PS. Join us at Running Fit Novi in the Novi Town Center on Saturday 12/7 for a Group Run followed by Breakfast presented by Gore-Tex! Routes of 3, 6, and 10 miles will be marked. You will have the option to test wear the Brooks Ghost GTX, Brooks Adrenaline GTX, and Saucony Ride GTX. There will also be Polar heart rate monitors availalbe for demo. Doors open at 7:30am, run starts at 8am. RSVP here; let us know you'll be there
PS. Later in the same day (Saturday 12/7,) join us at the Holiday Hustle 5K in Dexter. Run - or Volunteer - and enjoy the December night air, BURN A FEW HOLIDAY CALORIES and give back to others. Get there between 3 & 4pm and visit Santa at the Gazebo in Monument Park; you can ask him for a nice PR for Christmas.
