Taking it and Run Thursday: Common Mistakes

Today's theme is .... Common mistakes and cardinal sins of running. What are some of the most common mistakes you make with your running? Why? What did you learn from them? And of all your mistakes, which ones have you vowed to never to again and would urge other runners to avoid this most evil pitfall.

There's a thin line between pushing it hard enough to PR and pushing it too far in running, and I've erred on both sides of that line. I think the biggest mistake in running is pushing it too far/too hard - I've done this a few times and the downside is much more massive than the up. Our bodies are pretty good about telling us when enough is enough (i.e. a stress fracture rearing its ugly bum is a great sign to stop for a while, ice, stretch, and hit the pool or bike instead of track or trail).

A long time ago when I "ran in uniform (aka high-school track) - I really pushed it and wound up pushing my knee right out of place. I ran off and on after that but it wasn't really fun and I kept hurting myself - the end result, I didn't' really run for 10-years.

On the flip side, and it's a bit funny lumping these two together, it's important to remember the mind tires before the body. In a marathon that little voice at mile 20 always seems to whisper "don't worry, it's ok to stop." This is the thin line paradigm - it is indeed OK to stop if your body is breaking down BUT often times runners (like me) fall into the mind-game pitfall and stop because of the little voice.

What a balancing act!

I guess the moral of my TiART entry this week is to find the balance in running and not fall to the body breaking side or mind melting side - just listen to your body and have fun.