Howdy!

How was your weekend? Mine was pretty fun but way to quick. On Saturday, I taught a step class, went to breakfast with a friend, ran some errands, and then tried out a new place for dinner. Fun, Fun, Fun! On Sunday, I went for a not so great run, made some delicious pancakes, went grocery shopping, and cleaned the house. If you missed this gluten free pancake recipe, you must go check it out!

Speaking of my run on Sunday, I hinted in my post yesterday that it was just OK. I have been feeling pretty run down over the past couple of days, and I think my crazy teaching and running schedule probably have something to do with it. It's a different kind of feeling then I'm used to because it feels like my mind is completely awake and focused buy my body wants to move in slow motion. I've also been super duper sore. I love feeling sore, but running with sore hamstrings isn't the best feeling in the world. When I woke up yesterday to go for my run, my legs were feeling a little tight, but I thought they would work themselves out after a few miles. However, after 3 miles they still felt like they were made of led. After 4 miles, I decided not to push it any further and throw in the towel.

This was me this morning. Hahaha source

The last thing I want is to get injured. Injuring myself by over training is definitely something I have been guilty of in the past, and I am determined not to let it happen again. I promised myself that while training for this race I would listen to my body for signs of over training since my teaching schedule is pretty heavy right now (around 10+ a week plus running and practicing Pilates for my certification). This could mean up to 15 hours of exercise a week before I even think about running. So this morning, when my body was yelling at me as I ran, I decided it was time to pay attention to the signals it was giving me.

A couple of the memos my body has been sending me that indicate I may be over training included:

• The led feeling in my legs I keep feeling while running; even after I warm up.
• Excessive soreness that lingers longer than normal.
• Not feeling as excited as I normally do about my runs. I usually really look forward to running, but that has not been the case over the last 2 weeks.
• Runs feeling harder than they should. Even my heart rate monitor has reflected this. My heart rate has been higher than normal when I'm running at my normal long run pace.

I know all of these things will go away with a little time and rest (well as much as possible while still teaching), and I'm not going to give up on training for the Cow Town just yet. I know that if I want to make it through without injury, I need to listen to my body even if that means going for the half instead of the full. The most important thing for me is to stay healthy so I can keep up with all of my classes and still enjoy running, because when it comes down to it, I love running and I don't want to do anything to change that!

Alright that's enough blabbing for now! I hope you all have a great Monday and a fantastic week!

Have you ever experienced over training?

How did you recover and get out of your funk?

In health,

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