Don't Let the Smile Fool You

There's a funny thing about training photos.

You stop for half a second, hold up the phone, smile at the camera, and suddenly it looks like you're having the time of your life.

Don't let the smile fool you.

Today was supposed to be a one-hour run. I went into it already carrying some fatigue from strength training a couple of days ago. My calves were incredibly tight from the start — the kind of tightness where you keep telling yourself they'll loosen up once you get moving.

For a while, that was the plan.

Just settle in. Find the rhythm. Keep moving.

About 40 minutes into the run, though, my left Achilles started getting sore. Then my left foot started tingling and going numb.

That changed things.

The numbness would dissipate after walking for a few minutes, but every endurance athlete eventually has to learn the difference between discomfort worth working through and a warning worth listening to. Today, the smart decision was to stop running rather than chase another 20 minutes simply because the training plan said 60.

And I hate doing that.

There's a part of me that still equates stopping with quitting. If the workout says an hour, I want the hour. If there are 20 minutes left, I want those 20 minutes.

But that mentality can become its own form of stupidity.

The objective isn't to win today's workout.

The objective is to arrive at the starting line healthy enough to accomplish the mission.

IRONMAN 70.3 Chattanooga is still months away. One unfinished training run means absolutely nothing. Turning an irritated Achilles into an injury because I was too stubborn to stop could mean weeks.

So today goes into the training log as 40 minutes, not 60.

Not a failure.

Not an excuse.

Just another lesson in learning when to push and when pushing becomes counterproductive.

And apparently I was still capable of smiling through it.

Don't let the picture fool you. My calves were pissed.

Movement Creates Momentum

Momentum doesn't always mean going faster.

Sometimes it means making the decision that allows you to come back tomorrow.

Because 22 ≠ 0.