Listening

Over the years I have been able to shut my brain pain receptors off and be able to push through many physical barriers. I have come to the conclusion that if one has the desire to perform at a high level; one must be welcome to tolerate an unimaginable amount of pain. For example, in order to climb "hard" it requires an extremely high pain thresh hold. Mt. biking, if you ride hard you are going to crash hard (and break things, body or bike). Running is the only time in which I could push through any amount of pain (apparently I pushed through a major knee injury and a few other major issues). The last 50k I ran through crippling stomach cramps. I wouldn't have thought twice about it, I run because I love it, I run to be in the woods, on trail and moving, not to mention the addictive endorphin high that one experiences while running. Running was the only sport that I actually did good and felt competitive.



I have learned, inch by inch, day by day, and injury by injury that sometimes it is more productive to listen to my body than simply push through it. As I get older (yeah I know a whooping 26) my body is not recovering as fast from injuries, I am noticing more injuries that happened several years ago. So this is what happens to your body when one doesn't listen......


When I first me J I was not nearly this active, no where close. He used to get up in the morning and I could hear all of his joints popping as he walked down the hall, his back would crack with just the slightest twist. I was amazed. This summer, after a long day pedaling in Whistler we were walking back to our place and I told J how my knees hurt. We laughed at how I used to be amazed by how much his body cracked, who knew, I am now snapping, crackling and popping and wondering why (insert any part of my body) hurts. Now here I am, years later, my knees hurt, my lower back is always tight and I wouldn't change it for the world!!! Or any other body!


What I have learned is priceless. Resting is extremely important. A body must heal, physically and mentally. I tried to push through my current knee injury, thinking nothing of it and now sitting is uncomfortable, walking is less than desirable, yoga is out of the question and running is not even in the near future. Unless your body has the perfect stride, the perfect cadence, unless your body happens to be automatically perfect you probably understand what I am talking about.


It is true; I may be able to learn to listen, respecting my body and all its amazing capabilities.