“You’ve got to listen to your heart.  It’s going to tell you what to do.  It might need a lot of runnin‘ but it don’t need you.” -Tom Petty (lyrics re-written by Chris Barber, 2009)

I’m not listening.  I’m concentrating on playing guitar while singing.  That’s called talent.  However, sometimes you’ve got to stop what you are doing and just listen; to your body and heart.  My knee is hurt.  I was pushing myself too hard.  After a half-marathon goal of running under 1:25, (I ran 1:24 in case you care) I decided I would take about a month and start training for a difficult 50K trail race, the SweetH20 50K Trail Race.  My next goal would be about a month after that to run the Peachtree Road Race, the World’s largest 10K, in under 36 minutes.  I like to race different distances to keep myself interested and challenged.   I also run smaller races during my training to keep myself competitive; maintaining one universal race goal, to finish in the top 1% in any race.  I’m an outlier.

At any rate, I over trained and didn’t listen to my body; and I’m paying for it now.  I starting putting too many miles on too quickly after running a moderate amount of mileage in my Half-Marathon training.  Both of my knees started hurting directly after the race for some reason.  I took some mileage off for about 5 days after the half marathon before starting a training plan again.  I may have started running too much, too soon.  The last two weeks the pain got worse so I starting trail running 4 or 5 days a week and running on roads instead of the sidewalk as much as possible.  This past weekend my left knee buckled on me.  It was a sharp pain that shot quickly from my knee up my thigh.  I began to hop on one foot.  I hopped a bit and then kept running; slowly.  It happened again about a mile later.  I stopped and walked about half a mile, I was on my way to meet some other runners for a morning jog.  I hate walking.  So I started to jog again.  About five strides into it and; sharp pain!  I stopped and walked the rest of the way.  I told my friends I would try to run with them if we could do it on the grass.  As soon as we started I said, “I can’t do it.”  I don’t say those words very often.

The point is, you have listen to your body.  I probably should have started listening to my body two weeks ago and stopped piling on the 50+ mile weeks when my knees first started hurting.  I’ve learned.  I’m listening to my body now.  I used to know I could do anything.  Now I know I don’t have to do everything.  I’m mature.

This is my first encounter with a knee injury.  I know my knees have deteriorated from jumping out of airplanes in the 82nd Airborne Division and the countless times of getting “on a knee” on concrete surfaces while in the Army.  I’ve had trouble with my right knee from one jump in particular but this buckling was my left knee which leads me to believe I’ve just put too much stress on my knees.  I’m on day two of no running.  I did an Army work out today and am going to get to the weight room soon.  Maybe I’ll jump in a pool.  Maybe I’ll ride a bike.  Maybe I’ll just use the extra time to to write award winning blogs.  You deserve only the best.

Sincerely,

The Most Interesting Man in the World (I have a website)

You’ve been running a lot lately.  You are training for a big race and more importantly, you are a runner, that’s just what you do.  You run; everyday.  Even if you are feeling a little sick or maybe tired, you still go for a run.  Running cures everything.  “I have a fever and the only cure is…more Running.”  Sorry Christopher Walken, but that’s just not the case.

Many runners hate taking a day off from running; conversely, skipping rest is the most common over-training injury.  Weird.  Your muscles need rest.  Running puts strain on your muscles which causes microtrauma and small tears.  Your muscles gain strength when your body is able to rest and repair them.  Without recovery, these tears become more susceptible to injury and over-training.  We as Americans never over-eat, over-analyze, or over-heat (I’m a blog artist, interpret “over-heat” however it strikes you) so why do we over-train?

It is because we live in a go fast, work-hard society which I am all for, but we need to have some perspective on this.  For instance, if you are sick, it isn’t a good idea to exercise heavily.  A good rule of thumb to keep you from overextending yourself is if the symptoms are from the neck up, like a head cold, you are fine to run.  If the symptoms are below the neck, like a chest cold or diarrhea, it’s better to not exercise and stay inside…perhaps close to a toilet.  If you are sick, you need to rest and get the sleep you need.  One common mistake is to give up sleep to exercise when you are feeling ill.  It has been proven for centuries, the best thing for any illness is sleep and rest.  I mean, we all know that “Doctors” were created by Universities who just wanted to charge students tuition for 12 years rather than the standard 4.  It increased college tuition revenue by 200% but it didn’t change the fact that the universal cure for any illness is rest.  So rest.

Believe it or not, you don’t have to run everyday.  I read a runner’s blog today who had been running for 6 years and a month straight, without one day off.  His 1-mile PR was just under 7:00 min and his other PRs were about at that same level of accomplishment.  According to these PRs, I think he would have benefited from a day off.   Give your body a rest and take the day off.  A good alternative is to stretch or do some light exercise.  You can go for a walk with your significant other or children, play a friendly tennis game, or play some B-ball down at your local YMCA.  You can still exercise without straining the same muscles you do everyday when running.

I know you are a Serious Runner.  You’re on this website aren’t you?  It’s fine though.  Swallow your pride, put on your comfy pants, sit on the couch, make a bowl of peanut butter and take a rest day.  It’s really not that hard.

If it makes you feel better, do like this guy did.  Put on your running shoes and clothes and fall asleep on a palm tree patterned couch.  Then, wake up and tell yourself you just came back from a 6 mile run!  Repeat as necessary.