Friday, March 5, 2010

Run or no run?

Here's a question for the board. We're all obsessive-compulsive about our running to varying degrees. This is a classic example of that, so I thought it would make good discussion:

I have a 5:30 AM flight tomorrow. That means to get in a run at all tomorrow, I have to wake up at 3:00. There isn't another chance in the day to run since I'll be on a plane or on field trips. If I don't run, it'll be my second "0" day in two weeks. I hate zeros, plus there's just that icky feeling of not running when you don't have a reason not to other than just being busy.

I can sleep on the plane afterward from NC to Philly and then from Philly to San Francisco. Do I suck it up and get in a 30-minute jog at 3AM? Or take another day off? The prospect of running seems perfectly reasonable to me at this point as there isn't much of a difference between waking up at 3:00 versus 3:30. I'm also admittedly hurting for sleep right now coming off of a week of midterms and projects at school.

Thoughts?

at

6 comments:

  1. KLIM3/5/10, 3:04 PM

    I went through this while traveling overseas last autumn.

    I COULD have forced myself to wake up well before dawn in a foreign land (ie - circa 1am our time) to run but the run wouldn't have been that great and I would have been zonked all day. Instead, I decided not to worry about running at all on the trip and simply run when I could. It took the pressure off knowing I had "given up" on trying (forcing) to get it in.

    Sometimes, and these examples seem like "those times", it's best to forget about it, and not compromise a half-ass run for rest. Without proper rest/recovery, your body can revolt...especially when traveling.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Matt Ernst3/5/10, 3:18 PM

    Nice said, Mr. Klim...clearly, I agree.

    ReplyDelete
  3. dirkdeheer3/5/10, 4:54 PM

    PR, when I travelled a few weeks ago, I ran 4 times in 9 days. The most important thing is to stay relaxed and try and enjoy the time off. You'll be excited to run when you have time again, don't force things. Think about it: how much does that 30min jog at 3 a.m. contribute to your fitness, seriously. Practice is the only way to become good, but a good balance is just as important.

    ReplyDelete
  4. KLIM3/5/10, 5:01 PM

    Yes, great point. The time off makes you enjoy and love the run once you get back out there.

    I hope no sane people visit this blog and read about how ridiculous we are...

    ReplyDelete
  5. PR3/5/10, 5:49 PM

    These comments echo the less neurotic half of my brain. I was mostly curious to see what you guys thought about it.

    I just finished up 20, so I think I'm going to happily bag tomorrow with that behind, catch up on the sleep I lacked this week, and start anew Sunday. Thanks for the input.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Peter3/5/10, 8:36 PM

    Let me echo the more neurotic half of your brain...
    Do it!

    ReplyDelete