I ran with my ol’ running buddy this morning. His name? Fatigue. I tried to outrun it — but it birddogged me. It matched me, step for step, mile for mile. But I kept running and muttering my new manta: Your body achieves what your mind believes. Fatigue plodded along behind me quietly.
I ran a new route today. It’s easy to get into a rut when you exercise. And when you get into a rut, the chances you’ll get injured (or worse quit) rise like the tide. I’m going to start adding my exercise bike into the mix, too. This week, I’ll start back up my pushup/sit up routine, too. About every three months, I tweak what I’m doing. Hopefully soon I’ll be able do another class with Paul Lacoste. Changing up your routing helps fight fatigue.
I ran down to one of the local lakes near my house. Last night’s heavy rain had caused the water to pour over the spillway. I pulled the headphones out of my hears and listened to the rushing water. The sound, drowning out the sound of the bugs and birds in the predawn hours, relaxed me. I stopped for a moment, looked at the lights reflecting off the inky black water and took a deep breath. My rapidly beating heart slowed temporarily. And then I started running again. My fatigue soon caught up with me once again.
I looked back at it and said, “Have you heard the saying, ‘your body achieves what the mind believes’?” Fatigue nodded and then ran the other way.