PROactive versus Reactive
I may be younger and *only* ran 5 marathons, but here is a little story for you –
A few weeks ago, I started experiencing a discomforting, lingering tightness and aching in my left Achilles. So instead of being hard headed, I decided to take wisdom (that we all know and have heard) and take a break from running and spend that time keeping my cardio fitness up on an elliptical trainer.
It’s enough to drive anyone mad just using the treadmill, but the elliptical? Oh my.
My update: today did 1 hour of my work out on the treadmill with no tightness and no discomfort.
My lesson: I’d rather CHOOSE to use the elliptical than be FORCED to. I’d rather use the elliptical when it’s cold outside versus spring or summertime. AND the time I have spent on the elliptical trainer has been SO productive – I have just about finished reading a second book and have gotten so much work done.
My choice: I’m still not going to jump back into road running (although with the weather warming up I know I will want to!) but I will ease my way back in with miles here and there. Being PROactive versus REactive.
Who wants to NOT run? Probably none of us, since we all really enjoy it. Right? But who wants to run with pain? None of us, either, I would suppose, right? So why WOULDN’T we do anything and everything we can to keep our bodies whole and healthy? We are not compulsive creatures – we are intelligent beings! We have the incredible gift of choice that can be used for our absolute benefit, especially in cases like these.
There is no shame in sitting out and taking care of ourselves. In fact, it takes more self-control to do that than to continue running even when our body is giving us warning signs to stop.
It’s important to have the adequate proper nutrition to take care of our bodies during any type of training, but also for marathon and endurance training. Stretching is key, also. We are notorious for not stretching, and then not stretching enough. (Who wants to have NO range of motion, anyway?? Flexibility is fun.) ☺
I am not here to toot my own horn, I just want to help save everyone’s bodies from temporary or permanent injury and save everyone’s sanity by prolonging our running careers 😉
I’ll make cookies again next Saturday for our 20 miler! Happy, whole, and healthy running, everyone!
Coach Aubrey
aubreyeicher 