20th Anniversary Walt Disney World Marathon Training Week 7: Listening to Your Body

So here we are week 7, and last week I had a great week of running until the weekend.  I was just not able to get myself motivated to run the 9 miles.  Normally, I can just wake up and go.  That was the problem this weekend, I could not just wake up.  Sure the alarm got me up but just could not get going.  Went back to sleep, and feel great today.  When I miss runs I try not to beat myself up too much, because sometimes there days when you get the bear and others when the bear gets you.  Just live with it and move on.  It also reminded me that our bodies will know better what we need than sometimes we do.  So take for example this week, I was on the road traveling quite a bit.  In fact I was driving, I was getting into my hotel late (usually after 10:30pm.), which usually meant I missed a meal or a snack most of the week.  Most importantly I did not get a lot of sleep all week, so when the alarm went off at 4:30 am, I knew I was not going to make it. 

Which brings me to the post, sometimes you have to listen to your body to avoid injury.  I believe training is made up of two parts: race prep and injury avoidance.  I knew I could run on Sat., but I also know running as a tired runner has greater risk of getting hurt.  I also knew I could have tried to push through the 9 miles but then I would be in recovery mode for the rest of this week and the 14 miles I have this Saturday.  So made the decision to get ready for the run on Saturday.  The main point being is that there will be days you know you have to run, but maybe a bit dinged up or a little sore and you can push through those days.  There may be other days when you are truly at risk at getting hurt, those are the days you need to listen to the body.  I think the biggest concern we have as runners is not being able to make it to race day, and trust me this concern goes up the closer the race day gets here.  So it is okay to miss a run here and there, but remember the second part of training race prep.

When you signed up for the race and paid all the money, booked the flights, family etc...  You also signed up for a damage bill.  In my case I know I have 26.2 miles to run in January, and I have to make sure the body is ready to run.  So I do not suspect I will miss any more runs during the training.  So enjoy the week.

This is the week of training (novice2):

Have a great and blessed week!