Alameda Runners – Get After It!

Life is full of choices.  Most people who visit this site are people who choose to go do things.  Sometimes, we need to slow down and think about the consequences of our actions.  Here are two recent examples of my choices.  One good and one bad.  Neither of them are too terribly bad because I am here to talk about it.

Good Decision:
Now that winter is in full force, a lot of runners have to decide if they should run or rest because of illness.  I prefer to rest when I am sick.  I always read about the serious runners who never miss a run no matter what.  They get out and run with a fever of 102 f.  I am not a fan of running when I am really sick.  I mention this because I was not feeling well yesterday and slept for over 12 hours last night.  I got up this morning feeling a bit off but good enough to go for a run.  I got out for a 6-7 mile run with the run club and felt great afterward.

Bad Decision:
I also went out to run a marathon when I was not feeling well.  I knew I was sick, the day before the run.  I trained hard for the marathon and finally showed up for a big race healthy.  I was not healthy but I was not injured either.  At mile 22, I ran out of gas.  When the paramedic tried to check my blood sugar by pricking my finger, he could not get any blood.  I asked him how many times that has happened to him.  He told me it was the first time.  He then proceeded to tell me that my body was shutting down from the extremities in, that was why I could not run or walk any more.  Perhaps, I should have stayed in bed on this day.

I tend to err on the side of “Just do it”.  I knew that I should have stayed in bed on marathon day.  I chose to run and had a predictable race result.  Having your body start its shutdown process is not a good idea.  At least there was a lot of support on the marathon course.

In both cases, I knew what I should do.  My body tells my subconscious what is right or wrong.  Unfortunately, my conscious does not always listen.  Pay attention to your subconscious and rest when you need it.  I want you to come back and read my blog again.  I also like it when you complain about me not writing enough.