Humility, part 2

I like to think that I'm completely in control of this "exercise" thing. I go when I want, I work as hard as I want, and I come home when I decide I'm good and ready. This is how I get fit.

But sometimes, I forget that there are other pieces to this puzzle. Pieces I should have known about, and probably did, once upon a time.

First point: When you feed yourself crap, you perform like crap.

Second point: When you overtrain, you cannot train yourself out of it.

I'm feeling both of these today.

Yesterday, being my birthday, I allowed myself a no-counting day. I don't usually do this, but I was out and about for my meals, so I didn't have the means to record and calculate what I was eating. I had an ice cream cone and way too much Mountain Dew - my biggest weakness. I knew I'd be back on track today, and back to the gym, so I allowed myself the transgression.

I didn't realize what a bad choice this was until I was on the treadmill today. Many runners will tell you that the first few minutes are the hardest, and you need to buckle down and concentrate on breaking through the wall holding back those wonderful, beautiful endorphins. That's when it gets easier. Only that part never kicked in.

Making it worse was the fatigue I was feeling. Having been a legs day on Monday, I spent most of my week with sore quads, which makes me limp, and when I limp, my left hip flexors get sore. Then my right shin starts to ache. None of this is the end of the world, but if I push too hard, it all starts to come apart.

So instead of the triumphant return to the gym after a birthday overindulgence, today's session was a limping, sweating, panting, achy mess. As I hobbled to my car, "ow"ing with every step, all I could think of was climbing onto the couch and icing my entire body.

My diet is back on track today, a small comfort. My legs are being iced, I'm drinking water like it's my job, and I'm hitting the supplements and anti-inflammatories hard. I may need to take a few days off from the treadmill, to let my legs finally recover.

The lesson here is that I'm still in control of this journey, but I need to remember every part of it. I can't reach my potential today if I abused myself yesterday. That includes eating garbage and overworking myself.

It's all connected. Lesson learned, again. Until I forget, again.