The Tired Ath

I have been sooo tired this week. You could have pushed me off the bed and I would not have known.  When my alarm started going off at 6:00am on Monday, scared-I didn't know what the noise was...until I realized that it was my phone. Oh yeah, I was going to get up and go on my Monday morning run.  Nope. I had to go back to sleep. In fact, I didn't get up until 8:00am. And I still had to drag myself out of my slumber to get into the shower. I did manage to text my coworkers that I won't be in until 9ish.  My plan was ruined. What should I do? I got home from work and decided I had to run in the evening. Tuesday, I did great-I got up with the alarm and 4.20 miles later I was home around 7:30am. How about that for a training schedule?  Over the past few months, I've been trying to get up early and run in the nice "cool" hours of the mornings. It is just plain too hot to go out in this heat and sweat to death mid-day or even in the early evening hours. I will admit that I am THE worst morning person in the world. Please do not bother me or talk to me until I've had time to absorb the daylight (usually about 2 hours). I don't know how some people get up to watch the sunrise--wouldn't they rather see the sunset and enjoy the peace of the evening settling in as the sun moves behind the mountains? I want to put the kids to sleep and enjoy the peace and quite of the stillness and nothing. This is when I do my best work. This is when my energy level is at its peak. I'm telling you I can think about my day and run like the wind (again, in my mind).  So I guess it comes back to this: should I force myself to get up and have a horrible run or should I wait and go later even though I know the heat will be beating down. I choose the latter. Why? I don't think it's good to force your body into doing something it is not prepared for when it is obvious you need rest. I think rest is a HUGE part of training. I don't need to strain or pull a muscle. It's too late in my game. More importantly, if I don't take the time rest or recuperate when my body is telling me, I won't get faster or stronger. This goes for life in general. If I am too tired and can't focus, what good am I? Like the old saying goes: If you don't get your rest, you won't be at your best! I don't want to stress my body. This will aggravate my joints and muscles, eventually leading to a weaker body. I do tend to over-do everything in life, but when it comes to my training, I know my limits and I know that sleeping will give me energy. I will definitely have a better run in the evening even though I will be sweating balls.  There are many benefits to resting. 1st and foremost, you have energy! 2nd, your body will actually become stronger. A quick article that highlights the benefits of getting enough R&R:http://www.livestrong.com/article/417699-does-your-body-need-to-rest-aft... Overtraining is a syndrome that any athlete or recreational runner can easily fall into. If you feel guilty because you didn't get that 1 exercise in and it didn't fit in your schedule, you may be overtraining. I have learned that for me (and all of our bodies need different amounts of rest and exercise), my personal training schedule looks something like this: Monday: 4 mile run Tuesday: 4 mile run Wednesday: Cross-training (usually an aerobic workout highlighting target muscles and yoga) Thursday: REST Friday: 4 mile run Saturday: REST Sunday: Long run (depending on where I am at in the training process. Usually this starts at 6 miles and each week I increase this by 1 mile until reaching 12 miles).  So my personal training schedule only includes 4 actual days of running.  On my Monday run, I take it slow. This is what I call my "recovery run." I want to recover from Sunday's long run and make sure that I don't lose momentum. Sometimes I do change this schedule to fit into my life as well. I might need to take a break on Tuesday and do a 4 mile run on Thursday. I try to do 1 fast run each week. This is my speed training. My average is about 8:45 per mile, but on my fast run day I try to speed up to get down to 8:00 in the first mile and 8:30 for the remainder of the miles.  With my personal schedule in place, I always try to stick as close as possible to this as I can. Of course, when life calls and you get sick or cannot schedule that workout due to work responsibilities or your kid's schedule, my personal opinion is just skip it! Your body will thank you in the end!