The alarm went off at 5:23 this morning to wake me for my 7 mile run. I stumbled out of bed to turn off the annoying sound that woke me up and I felt it right away. The "it" was a splitting headache. Actually, it was more like a shooting pain through my right eye. The thought of running with such a bad headache didn't sound too pleasant so I hit the snooze button to think about what my next steps should be and to get 7 more minutes of sleep.
When the alarm went off again I sat on the edge of the bed trying to decide if I should run or not. The headache was powerful and I knew it would be a rough run if I followed through. So I gave in and crawled back under the covers. I immediately feel into a coma like sleep and slept for another 1 1/2 hours.
My plan was to go for a run tonight about 8:30 after I got back from my son's swimming lessons. About 5 minutes before I left I realized my wife had plans tonight also. She told me several days ago, I just forgot. Rather than leave my kids alone while I run, which would be a bad parenting move, I decided maybe I needed a day off. No matter how important a dream is, my family is always more important and they take priority.
The reason I adopted a morning run schedule is so there would be less conflict with family activities. This is a prime example. But I haven't missed a scheduled run in months and I know 1 missed run will not keep me from my goal.
This brings up another thought I had. When I went to bed last night I was exhausted, very tired. My wife says I was grumpy, which I was, but we won't talk about that. I had a busy weekend without enough sleep and my normal weekly schedule had not allowed me to catch up. I'm sure I needed the sleep and hopefully my long run on Saturday will reflect my extra rest.
Running is very hard on your body. It is tiring, requires a lot of energy, and mentally draining. A runner, especially a long distance runner, requires a good amount of sleep. Since I've started running I've noticed a big difference in my sleep requirements. When I first started running I felt like I could never get enough sleep. My doctor, who competes in triathlons and also does sports medicine, said that is normal and my body would adjust in a few weeks. He was right. But I learned I can't "cheat" on my sleep anymore. I used to be able to get 5-6 hours of sleep once in a while, but I can't do that anymore. I try to get 7-8 hours every night and that makes a big difference in how well I run and my ability to deal with life. My good friend Ben Eggers wrote about this topic (Stress and Rest) recently in his blog Confessions of an Average Runner.
So if you run, make sure you get adequate rest. Don't worry about the occasional missed training run, you can still hit your goal. Keep your life in balance and keep running.
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