Chariots on Fire (June 27, 2006)

Or why you should listen to what your body is telling you.

Recently I've been experiencing some pain on my right foot. It all started when I was training for the LA Marathon last March (3/19/06). Pain had gone away but it came back. So I'm doing the ice and stretching routine plus massage therapy. I have a special roller I use while sitting at my computer.

Meanwhile, biking, swimming and weight lifting should keep me in shape. The other thing is the need for sleep. Many studies confirm that lack of it cause more than just sleepiness and lack of productivity at work. Neurological problems arise from lack of sleep and certainly performance is impacted if you're doing any kind of workout. I think sometimes we stay up because we have this gnawing feeling that 'we're going to miss something' if we don't stay up and 'the night's young'. Well it's true. We're missing something, sleep and the regenerative benefits that come from it.

This is how it works. From what I've read, the hours of 9:00 - 2:00 PM, are the physical rebuilding (muscle repair) part of sleep. After that it's the mental recovery that we receive, dreaming and such. Staying up doing whatever we think is pressing, over time hurts us in more ways than we can imagine. We all age but continually missing sleep will speed up the process. Artificial lighting has been a mixed blessing. It has extended our day, but we sure are paying for it in health terms. Even birds are affected by light pollution. I read an article about how confused migrating flocks have become due to the city lights. Birds landing in places way off their destinations. We just don't know as much as we think we do!

One sure way of telling if you're missing recovery time (sleep, rest, etc), is how long it takes for soreness to go away from a hard workout. Catching colds frequently is a sure sign of some immune deficiency, lack of rest etc. This brings up something I'm very happy about. In the last four years I've not gotten as sick as I used to. The last time I had flu like symptoms was about seven months ago and that lasted a whole half a day (1/2). Prior to that it was a year. I can't remember now how long it's been since I've really gotten sick. I like it, I like at lot! :-) Other's around me have gotten sick more often. Yes, I'm counting my blessings!

Last night I went to bed, later than usual, so this morning, naturally, my walk and workout were not as efficient. But I had an excellent breakfast again and feel quite good. If I can wake up by myself before the alarm goes off, I'm good.

This morning's walk, included some nice surprises. I was followed by a dog and I thought, oh boy, another confrontation. Well it turns out the critter just wanted some company it seems. It followed me closely as I zig zagged on the trail and was just happy to go along. I also got some nice photos of the flowers you see below .

So I'm paying attention to my body, eating my blueberries and dark chocolate. I'm lean, strong, healthy and happy. When I go long, I experience God's patience.