The Importance of Listening to Your Body On the Run
How cutting a “conversational pace” run short reminded me the plan isn’t everything
Quick note: I’m not a running coach or a medical professional. The guidance here is based on personal experience. Always defer to your lived experience in your body and consult a medical professional when needed.
As a runner, I am slightly obsessed with training plans. I love having boxes to tick off and goals to pursue to give structure to my running life. With a million decisions on my plate every single day, it’s nice to have someone tell me what to do when it comes to my workout.
Yet there is risk in following a training plan too closely, something that can be easy to fall into, particularly if you have perfectionist tendencies like I do. A training plan doesn’t know how you slept, what you ate, or what else is happening in your life. A training plan doesn’t know how hard the last run was, or whether you’re nursing an injury, or woke up with a migraine.
A training plan, much like the pirate’s code, is merely a guideline. It is up to you to listen to your body and adjust the training accordingly.
I was once again reminded of this during my Monday morning run. I’d already made some adjustments to the original plan…
