Wet track, tired legs. Some days just don’t feel right. Not bad or painful, rather, a bit off, or tired, or a struggle. That’s ok. There are many options, push through, or distract yourself with something else, or slow down (maybe pause) and listen, to your body, your mind, yourself, and understand a bit more. Each has uses and situations where it works better than the others. Made it outside by 7 this morning to run to track. A little colder than usual, it felt like a bit of a struggle to get moving, and warm-up on the way to the track. Saw (and high-fived) #NPSF running pal Nat as she was leaving. Missed the usual track crew. Did a few warm-up exercises to loosen my legs and then an easy warm-up lap. Legs felt cold, sluggish, and still tired from the weekend. Joints were ok, though it took more effort than usual to balance & align knees and ankles. Decided to keep it slow to focus on form and steady rhythm. Rested and stretched a bit. Ran one more lap, slightly faster, which felt good, though I could feel my form slipping as I sped up, despite being much slower than my usual track laps. Today was not the day for speedwork, and that’s ok. Ran/walked it to 3ish miles on a roundabout way home. Considered hurrying to make it to a yoga class and decided instead to quiet my mind, and practice some slower yoga by myself to get a better sense of how my joints would respond to different movements. I think the key is to keep moving, keep showing up, and keep being mindful. Decide in the moment, what feels best for that moment, for you, your body, your mind, your heart. Be honest with yourself without shame, and if others are involved communicate that too, assuming they want to know how you actually are, instead of, certainly much more than, any expectation(s) of how you should be. #run #runner #runners #running #track #trackTuesday #KezarStadium #KezarTrack #slowDown #listen #easyRun #nofilter

Light blue dawn sky above backlit trees just above the entrance to Kezar Track, as viewed from behind the starting area on the track, looking forward, and the somewhat wet track curving to the left.

Light blue sky with clouds on the distant horizon above trees and a building on the upper edge of Kezar Stadium, as viewed from the side of the track near the starting area with track lane numbers 1 through 9 visible on the wet track, which curves toward the left, just passed a soccer goal on the field in the middle.

Wet track, tired legs. Some days just don’t feel right. Not bad or painful, rather, a bit off, or tired, or a struggle. That’s ok. There are many options, push through, or distract yourself with something else, or slow down (maybe pause) and listen, to your body, your mind, yourself, and understand a bit more. Each has uses and situations where it works better than the others.

Made it outside by 7 this morning to run to track. A little colder than usual, it felt like a bit of a struggle to get moving, and warm-up on the way to the track. Saw (and high-fived) #NPSF running pal Nat as she was leaving. Missed the usual track crew.

Did a few warm-up exercises to loosen my legs and then an easy warm-up lap. Legs felt cold, sluggish, and still tired from the weekend. Joints were ok, though it took more effort than usual to balance & align knees and ankles. Decided to keep it slow to focus on form and steady rhythm. Rested and stretched a bit. Ran one more lap, slightly faster, which felt good, though I could feel my form slipping as I sped up, despite being much slower than my usual track laps.

Today was not the day for speedwork, and that’s ok. Ran/walked it to 3ish miles on a roundabout way home. Considered hurrying to make it to a yoga class and decided instead to quiet my mind, and practice some slower yoga by myself to get a better sense of how my joints would respond to different movements.

I think the key is to keep moving, keep showing up, and keep being mindful. Decide in the moment, what feels best for that moment, for you, your body, your mind, your heart. Be honest with yourself without shame, and if others are involved communicate that too, assuming they want to know how you actually are, instead of, certainly much more than, any expectation(s) of how you should be.

#run #runner #runners #running #track #trackTuesday #KezarStadium #KezarTrack #slowDown #listen #easyRun #nofilter