Flexible Training

No matter what kind of event or goal you're training for, it is important to remain flexible. Not every run or workout goes as planned. A number of things can have an impact on your plans: weather, work, unexpected conflicts or most importantly your own body's alarm! Sometimes you get out there and just feel like something is off. That's okay. We all have these days. Learning to accept them for what they are and moving on is important to our well-being.

Case in point, this evening I went trail running at West Branch (mountain bike trails) with my best friend Chrissy and her awesome dog Dash. We had a great night but our workout didn't go quite as we had planned. Both of us had some aches and pains, Dash was more wild than usual and we ended up cutting our run a little short because of it. I had already done 16 miles on my road bike this morning as well as 30 minutes of core so I figured a 5k trail run was enough. It was. We listened to our bodies, which is an important thing for endurance athletes. Not listening can lead to overtraining and ultimately injuries, which none of us wants to deal with.

So if you have an off day in your training, just accept it as that and you'll be back to good in a day or two or else soon. Listen to your body's inner alarm and don't push yourself to the point of injury. Being flexible in your training may help you to avoid injuries and burn-out.