Learning To Slow Down {Guest Post}
By admin
I am really excited to share today’s post with you! I have been running around like crazy lately due to some large projects and knew I needed some help. Normally, I am not one to ask for help but for my sanity I reached out to my friend Christine to see if she would like to take the reigns today at LR.
Christine blogs over at Love Life Surf, and is simply amazing. I always tease her that I read her surfing posts so that I can impress Dan (who loves surfing) by my up-to-date knowledge of what’s going on.
Really, I have no clue… I just recap what I learn from Christine!
She has a great message today to share and I for one know that I can relate 100%, so I am sure you can too!
When It’s Okay To Jump Off A Treadmill:
Learning To Slow Down
A few weeks ago, I was running on the treadmill at the gym. I was only supposed to run an easy four miles but I wasn’t feeling it. My legs felt heavy and arms dragged. I felt like I was moving through molasses. After about a mile, I put my hands on the side of the treadmill, jumped my feet to the side and pressed the “End” button.
My head and heart just wasn’t into it. So I stopped. I gave myself permission to just stop.
Normally, I would have gritted my teeth and pounded through those four miles. I would have ignored twinges of aches and pains. Normally, I would have been frustrated with the negative self-talk in my head. I would have ignored those voices and convinced myself that I could do it.
And normally? That’s OK and I usually feel better after getting through a workout.
But sometimes? I need to remember to cut myself some slack.
I can be super competitive with myself, always trying to beat the time of my last run or to run further. I can be a slave to a training schedule or workout plan, diligent about checking off my training runs and not allowing for adjustments. Because if I check off all the boxes, that will get me to my goal, right?
As athletes, we’re often told to push to the edge and then past our limits, to continually test ourselves if we want to get better / faster / stronger. But, as athletes, we also need to be in tune with our bodies. It’s a fine line but only we know our bodies and we have to learn to listen to our bodies when they are trying to tell us something.
Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough – Josh Billings
While I stopped my run because I felt unmotivated and blah, it turned out to be for the best. I have developed some overuse injuries, which forced me to take more than a week of rest following that treadmill run.
In that week off, I realized that I had been pushing my body too hard. I crave movement and sometimes it’s hard for me to give myself a break, even when I have a rest day scheduled.
I’m glad that I stopped that day on the treadmill. If I had pushed through, I might have ended up with a bigger injury. Better to take a little time off now than months later.
Do you know when to give yourself a break?
Christine is a mom of two boys, a runner, yogi and fitness lover who is a little bit obsessed with surfing. She lives in New York City with her two sons and husband. She blogs at Love, Life, Surf where she shares her love of fitness and stories about her experiences as a mom trying to balance, work, family, fitness and healthy living.