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Friday, May 9, 2014

Mind vs. body

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Some workouts are easy.  I'm excited to get moving, and I feel great from start to finish.

Other workouts are a little tougher.  Either I have a hard time getting going or I struggle to keep going. This is when the workouts then become a battle between my mind and my body.

Sometimes my legs feel like dead weight or I get a slight pain in my side or back.  I actually get pain between my shoulders a lot when I'm running.  I think I must tense up or something.  In those cases, I try to relax or figure out if there's something in my form that can help ease the ache.  That's when my brain takes over and starts reasoning with my body about how much further I can go.  Usually there's some negotiation too -- "If you can make it back to 515 Brewing or the dog park, you can walk from there."  (It's always tempting to go in for a beer at 515 too ... even though I know I'd be gross and sweaty, heh.)

Other times it's my mind that wants to give up. At some point, I just hit this mental wall where I don't think I can do more.  That's when I have to make a conscious effort to listen to the rest of my body --- How are my legs feeling? Am I too hot/cold? Does my back ache?  With all of these check points,  I can usuaill convince my mind that I'm just fine and I can actually go much further.   I think this happens mostly when I get bored.  That's when I know it's time to change up my music playlist or even just take a detour on my running route.

How do you handle the mind vs. body battle?

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Last week's workouts
Friday: Off.
Saturday: Off.
Sunday: 3.5-mile run (40 mins.) + 0.75-mile walk (15 mins.)
Monday: Rangers Workout Game (45 mins.)
Tuesday: 4-mile jog/walk (45 mins.) + core/arms at home (15 mins.)
Wednesday: Walking on breaks at work (30 mins.) + core/legs at home (15 mins.)
Thursday:  Off.


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[source]
 Total as of 5/8
1215 minutes

I only have about 600 minutes to go.  
That's 10 one-hour workouts or 20 half-hour workouts. 
I can totally do that by May 31.

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5 comments:

  1. I get in the same mode as you actually. It's tough to convince your mind sometimes but I think for me I just make those agreements with myself to make it to the next driveway or whatever and it makes it easier! I also get shoulder pain too, and I try to straighten up and breathe through my nose and out through my mouth. Helps to regulate the breathing and I think that's why it hurts.

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  2. Impressive! I've been taking the week off from running since last weekend, my knee hurt a little (not enough to stop running then, but enough that I'd rather make sure it chills out before running again), and I gotta say, I'm shocked that I miss it!

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  3. I just jumped back into the running thing this week, and it was SO HARD. I wanted to give up after the first minute. But I just pushed myself and kept reminding myself that this is going to get easier.

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  4. I have bad knees so running is not something I can really do. I can jog though. I'm doing all of this on a treadmill so I usually have music or Netflix going. I'll be like, okay, after this episode I will take a quick break. Or, three more songs and I'll stop. It's something to take my mind off of the pain. Lol.

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  5. This was/is always my problem with working out. I do the same thing usually to push myself a little-- "If I can get to x, then you can rest." But the motivation is probably my favorite thing about crossfit-- there's someone there to cheer me on and push me just that little bit further than I'd do by myself.

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