We All Have Our Limits

You always hear people telling you to "push your limits", but I want you all to "know your limits". Too often we try to push way past our limits and are disappointed in our inability to do so. We all have our limits, and we have them for good reasons. In running, we have physical and mental limitations. Mental limitations are just a matter of your attitude and outlook on what you are doing. Mental limitations sometimes seem impossible to push past, but once you realize what you are physically capable of you can push yourself to your physical limit instead. Our physical limitations cannot be pushed too much without injury. Physical limitations change slowly over time, so don't expect to go from sitting on the couch your whole life straight to running a marathon. Unless you're magic, it probably won't happen. We have to slowly build ourselves up to reach our limits and slowly push past them. For example, I started my training (as mentioned in my last post) today. Now, I only ran 11 minutes, but prior to today I have not run in months. Factor that in with the cold weather and the Pennsylvania hills and I was pushed to my limits. As much as I hate to stop, I did take a walk break in my run. But you know what? I'm okay with that. I pushed myself as far as I could go. If I had run full out for 11 minutes, I'd probably be twice as sore tomorrow, plus I'd risk damaging some muscles or not being able to breathe. The same should go for all of you. If you are starting to run and/or exercise, the first thing you should do is learn your limits. Once you know where you stand on the physical fitness scale you will better be able to work towards getting stronger and better at what you are doing. If you are following a previously made running plan, keep in mind that it is okay to take a break. If the schedule says to run 200m intervals and it is too hard on you, switch to 100m intervals and alternate between running and walking (rather than running and jogging). Are you going on your first long run? Maybe you can't run those 2.5 miles without stopping. That is perfectly fine! Press pause on your watch and catch your breath while you walk. Obviously the shorter your breaks are the better you will become. I also don't want this to sound like I'm telling you that I am too lazy to finish my runs or that I encourage you to be lazy as often as possible. I simply want everyone to understand that we all have our limits, and we all progress differently than one another. I hope you all find this helpful and remember not to push yourselves too far to the point of injury or discouragement.

Find Your Limits!
Danielle