#10 ON GOING SLOW

As discussed in Heart Monitor Training for the Complete Idiot by John Parker, "undertraining" is the secret weapon that leads to health and fitness with a good sense of humor. Rest is when adaptation occurs, and those of us who don't get enough rest between workouts aren't going to get stronger, or do much laughing - we will get tired and grumpy, perhaps injured, perhaps sick. Illness, pain and injury are the body's way of yelling at us to back off!

When I miss a workout I don't try and double up the next day. I count the time off as a rest day bonus and pick up where I left off, knowing I'll probably feel great for the extra kindness to my body.

"Clip-Clop, Clip-Clop...," one foot in front of another, is not the same as running. Improvement requires occasional periods of sustained effort, blended with plenty of rest. With this in mind I almost don't care how hard I exercise, or how much time I spend in some "zone" or "range." When I feel like walking, I walk. When I feel like giving it the gun, I give it the gun. Probably the bottom line test of how well my program is paying off is how I feel when I first get up in the morning. Am I stiff? Am I limping? Do I have pain? I am very pleased to report that as of this morning, I am not stiff, I am not limping, I have no pain. I think I'm doing something right, even though, according to some people, my workout is pretty lazy. "Why," someone told me the other day, "I bet you could lift a lot more weight than that." "I bet I could," I responded as I sprinkled glass in their running shoes, "but for how many days?" (After all, I've been at this for over thirty years.)