If you get tired, learn to rest, not quit – Anonymous
After 5 rounds of sparring this morning with Dirk-san I feel sore & tired, but also a deep sense of satisfaction knowing I am actively working and progressing on my black-belt objectives. This past week has been an active one (like most weeks); I skied for 3 days in fresh powder and logged over 120 miles of downhill skiing. I have gotten in a few runs (last night a 6.30 miler @ 7:44 per mile pace) and my pushup’s, crunches and sundry kata practice. This Sunday afternoon, I shall rest my body–my muscles and my mind need some time to recover! It is often my modus operandi to overdo it; to push too hard until a point of exhaustion. As I continue to work through my daily objectives relative to my training requirements, I am also learning that I must incorporate rest and recovery into my routine as well to ensure I am keeping hydrated, do a bit more stretching BEFORE and AFTER my workout, maintain good nutrition and most importantly, get sufficient sleep!
Being sore after my workout (like I am right now) is good. I have not always seen it this way, but I know it means I have pushed my body by expending energy that needs to be released. There are those days after an intense workout where I simply feel a bit creaky and tight, but most of the time this is alleviated by working out again and the cycle continues.
Learning to listen to my body, to know my limits and to not overextend or exert myself to the point of doing damage has not always been easy for me. I want to push through the pain; run when I have a muscle pull or fight through some other physical ailment or illness (a flu or cold) because that has been ingrained in my psyche (e.g. Suck it up, soldier!). But I too am learning albeit slowly and with a price at times that I also need to learn to rest and let my body recover–that this being a part of my training regimen is as important to my longer-term goals as is my physical training.
So now, I shall rest a bit and let my body do what it is designed to do; rejuvenate and recover.