Yes, we need to train hard, but we also need to perceive .... feeling like you need a recovery day should be a good thing ....

------------------------------------------
Date:    Thu, 14 Jun 2007 10:17:20 -0400
From:    "Christian Griffith, phatz.com" <surftrip@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: It's all in the perception

Good morning.

Having had an awesome childhood growing up with my grandfather, I have
always been a cheerleader for the wisdom and story-telling of the old
school.

So, I walk into the YMCA, sweaty from a brisk tempo because it's so hot and
humid in Atlanta right now that you run for an hour and sweat for two - but
I digress - I settle into some pull-ups and immediately after my first set,
this race-technical-shirt-wearin', bike-short sportin' old schooler comes up
to me and strikes up a conversation. Why? I dunno - and typically, I don't
really like that - but it's the YMCA. People come there and do back
extensions between cups of coffee and conversation.

But, I enjoyed talking to this guy. He's done a gazillion tris and marathons
and apparently ultra runs - just not ultra races. He had some very G-like
(as in Ultra List Gordon) commentary that had me rolling on the floor and
rethinking why i spend all that time reading Runners World which just
slices, dices, and rotisseries the same old concepts and repackages them as
new running gospel.

But anyway, getting the point of why I'm wasting your time, He said
something very interesting to me during a conversation of getting older and
"feeling it more" during training and exercise. While I was relaying
thoughts and beliefs that earlier-onset pain and soreness were signs of a
declining physical body, he was relaying something completely opposite.

Instead of viewing these by-products of training and exercise as a negative
thing, he choose to believe that, {and I paraphrase} "...as I age, I believe
I become more in tune with my body. I have learned over the years to put my
mind in the muscle and understand my limits better than when I was younger."
He continued, "...when I was younger I would get hurt more often because I
pushed the limits beyond the point of a safer and faster recovery. A sort of
'no pain, no gain' mentality that just equated to later days of more long
term injury." "...As long as I listen to body and react to the multitudes of
feedback it provides me, I'll stay in the game longer and do so healthier."

Sure sounds good to me.

Is that valid, I dunno, people can decide for themselves - but what I took
away from the conversation with the guy was the power of positivity. He had
to be 70+ years old and still in the gym, training for a 100-mile bike ride
in Colorado. I find it hard to believe he would still be there if he
believed that the reason he got a lot more sore, more easily, was due to the
fact that he was merely getting older and accepting that "that's just way it
is".

I learned something at the YMCA today.

--
Christian Griffith
--------------------------------------------------
Date:    Thu, 14 Jun 2007 10:48:01 -0500
From:    Mittelstadt Justin D A1C AFIWC/IOAZ
        <Justin.Mittelstadt@LACKLAND.AF.MIL>
Subject: Re: It's all in the perception

This was a great read. It made me reflect on my training. I am only 20
and like most people my age I feel my body is invincible so I push it
fast and hard. I never listened to my body when I was in wrestling in
high school so I was constantly wrestling injured. At the peak of my
wrestling career as a senior I went to the state tournament with a
dislocated right shoulder, separated left shoulder, dislocated right
elbow, 2 broken right ribs, 2 separated left ribs, 3 fractured
vertebrae, bursitis in my left elbow and a broken toe, and I suffered a
severe concussion earlier in the season. Man I thought I was tough as
nails being able to endure that kind of pain and still dominate on the
mat but as I look back to 2 years ago and see how it effects me right
now it was nothing short than sheer stupidity. There was nothing
impressive about that other than my love of the sport kept me going when
I should have rested. Bottom line not resting cost me a state
championship.

I still push my body hard but I have learned that the proper amount of
rest at the first sign of pain leading up to an injury does in fact not
only improve your quality of life but keeps you in the running longer
and stronger.

Justin

Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the disclipline
of the Almighty

Job 5:17