Running on Empty

“You gotta know when to hold’em, know when to fold’em” – Kenny Rogers

After yesterday’s run I started to get a bit woozy. The run itself felt great. I got home, had my endurox, stretched, and started dinner (baked Lemon chicken!). While waiting for the chicken to cook, I started to feel a bit light headed. I lay down for a bit but the odd sensation didn’t go away. My stomach felt empty but I wasn’t hungry at all. Typically, I would be ravenous at this point.

Dinner was finally ready, and as I ate I started to feel better. It dawned on me that I probably have depleted my glucose supply, or at least came dangerously low on that. My body had shut down to a certain degree and I was just feeling the effects of it.

This morning, I struggled out of bed and headed to the gym. I felt a bit more sluggish than usual but I figured it was just a case of the Mondays. I figured that I was always like this after a hard set of weekend workouts. However, the moment I got on the track I knew things weren’t right. My legs felt like lead and I was pretty much chugging along at a snail’s pace. I cut my run short and headed to the pool. The pool session lasted… 250 yds. As I stood there at the end of the lane, I knew I had to make a decision. Either suck it up and swim the set or cut my losses and head out. This time I chose the latter.

That’s right. I pretty much said ‘screw this’. I couldn’t hold form, I couldn’t focus. Everything was off.

Ironically, my decision comes one day after posting about commitment and discipline. However, I do believe that I made the right choice. A younger version of me would probably have gone ahead pushed through the workouts and end up injurying myself. A year older, a year wiser.