Early on in my long run this afternoon, I made a decision to cut it short.  I didn’t finish my long run, because I chose to listen to my body.  I chose to look at the big picture.

My run today, was supposed to be 90 minutes long.  It was an easy paced endurance run, and would normally be no issue at all, for me to complete.  I had waited all day for the rain to stop, and was looking forward to my time at the park.

After about ten minutes of running however, I started to think that it was not a good idea to run today.  You will recall from my blog, that I became very fatigued during my bike ride yesterday.  I attributed this fatigue to being a side effect from my 2nd Covid vaccination. This morning, I felt much better, which why I decided I was OK to run.  Ten minutes into my run, I was already thinking that I was not OK.  

About a month ago, I wrote a blog about how, sometimes your legs get better as you get into a run. Based on this kind of experience, I chose to keep running.  Maybe my legs would come around in a mile or two.  Well, they never did come around.  In fact, they started to feel even more fatigued.  Going up slight inclines, became a real struggle.

Of course, by now I was half way around the lake and just over two miles from my car.  I had no choice but to either run or walk back to my car.  I ended up running, but as soon as I got back to my car, I stopped.  My total run time was only 45 minutes.

Many triathletes would feel quite down about not finishing a workout.  In my case, I felt good about it.  I think I could have run for another 45 minutes. That however, would have just dug a hole in my fitness, that would be tough to escape from.  Instead, because I didn’t finish my long run, I now have a chance to recover.  I have a big week of training ahead and I didn’t jeopardize the week ahead, by pushing too far today.

It’s important to listen to your body and make smart choices.  Your results will be better in the long run, if you do.