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What Does It Mean to “Listen To Your Body”?
Coaches (myself included) say “listen to your body” a lot. Feeling tired? Debating whether your weird sore spot is OK or not? Trying to figure out the right intensity level? Listen to your body! Cool. . .but what if you don’t know how?
Listening to your body is, basically, paying attention to how the things you do make you feel. Sounds easy– it’s not. But it is important.
Break Your Bad Running Habits
Establish good habits around your running, and you’ll stay healthy, make progress, and feel great. Sounds good, right?
. . . but nobody’s perfect.
We’ve all got a few bad habits that probably aren’t serving us (yes, even your friendly neighborhood coach). You can pile on healthy habits, but if you don’t let go of the bad ones, you’re making it harder on yourself. Figuring out what’s holding you back is the first step to getting better!
In my coaching practice (and, ahem, my own running), I’ve run across a lot of bad habits. Here are some of the most common bad running habits– and what to do about them.
Act Like An Athlete All Day Long
You're sticking to your training plan. You're hitting your workouts hard. You're checking the boxes. So why do you keep getting little niggles? Why are you sick again? Why did you miss that PR by a hair, again?
Training matters. But you spend more time not running than you spend running. And that can work to your advantage, if you’re smart– adaptation doesn't happen while you're actually training, it happens in between.
Athletes don’t stop being athletes when they step off the track, or the trail, or the court, or the field. They make decisions to support their performance all day long. You can, too.
How to Eat Breakfast:
Healthy running meals for "not a morning person" people
Your alarm goes off at 5. You pull on your running clothes in the dark, press go on your Garmin, and make it back in time for a shower, coffee, and your first meeting. Suddenly it's lunchtime and you're ready to eat anything that isn't nailed down. You're also probably edgy, frazzled, and missing the peace you found mid-run. What happened?
Who needs breakfast? You do.
If you want to feel good, perform well, and get enough calories in during the day to support a super active life, breakfast is your friend.
How to stay energized for a 12-hour shift
Lots of nurses and other healthcare folks work a tough 12-hour schedule. Even if you like the freedom of fewer days on, the demands of 12-hour shifts are a lot to take on consistently. These long, stressful shifts are draining even on good days. After the second or third day (or night, yikes), you likely feel a little bit like a zombie. Are you making your best decisions then? Being your best self? You don't have to answer that, but when you have a quiet moment, think about it, and be honest.
How to get energized— and stay energized
Are you exhausted from anxiety? Exhausted when waking up? Exhausted from work? Exhausted from working out? Exhausted constantly for no reason at all? You're not alone. I hear this refrain from people every day. We. Are. Tired. Nurses are tired. Teachers are tired. And of course we are: we work hard, we care for others, we try to do everything and please everyone, and we're expected to show up and be productive with a smile no matter what's going on in our lives and in the world. It can be so hard to keep this in perspective and respond with kindness to ourselves. Looking for answers, lots of folks are willing to try anything they can find.
Tips for the everyday athlete
The more you move, the more you may start to be aware of what your body can do. You can and should treat your body like an athlete would, even if your “sport” is biking to work, zumba, taking yoga classes, or hitting up Orange Theory once a week. Physiotherapist and all-around wizard Kelly Starrett likes to say that humans should be able to perform basic maintenance on themselves. That’s the task of the everyday athlete: take care of the instrument you use to go through your daily life (that’s your body). A little bit of attention goes a long way. It’s easy to ignore this advice until you’re injured, fatigued, or fighting illness, but surprise! It’s also easy to do it. It just takes awareness and intention. What does that look like? I’ll go through some basic good practices for everyday athletes below.