Listening to your Body and not your Mind

I struggle with this one...a lot.

In training, I need to listen to what my body is telling me. Lately it's been telling me that even the little bit of running that I've been doing is causing my body to hurt. More specifically, it's causing me to have shin splints. In my mind, I get easily disappointed by this, knowing that if I don't want to cause my body further injury, I need to take it easy. In my mind, I think "What the f? I just started running. I AM taking it slowly. How am I ever going to be able to run a marathon if running seven minutes (and not all in a row either) is causing pain?"

I think about this and then the rational and healthy side of me says, "Molly, you need to have patience with yourself and your body. In order to train for this marathon, you have to listen to what your body is telling you. In the long run, the better you treat your body now, the stronger you and it will be when you begin to build miles. You haven't worked out consistently in a long time. And you're just now getting into it again on a more regular basis. You need to be fair to your body and give it the time and patience it needs to readjust to the increase in activity. Love your body and be thankful for all the things that it can do- yoga, biking, walking and yes, even the occassional running. Take. It. Easy."

I understand all of that, the nasty side of me and the healthy side of me and I know that the only way I am going to get through this is if I continue to have these conversations with myself. I need to talk it out, even if it is only to myself :)

As a result of said conversations, I have been icing on a regular basis and took a few days off from running. I have been biking and doing yoga. I have been taking it easy and giving my body a break from running. But, today, I am going to try running and see how I do. If I feel any pain in my shins, I will stop.

I'll let you know how I do!