The epic battle of Brain VS Body

Running over 40 km within 5 days can lead to tired legs. Huh. Who would have thought.

I should have heeded the message my body sent me when I woke up this morning. Usually I feel well rested when I wake up, and the alarm clock doesn't even get the chance to wake me before I jump out of bed and pour my cup of coffee. Not this morning though. This morning, the alarm clock was satisfied it got to do its job. I had slept for nearly 9 hours when I got up, but I still felt groggy.

Nevertheless, I packed my running gear and took the bus in to work. My foot then proceeded to bother me every time I got up to walk. I can almost hear my exasperated body asking my brain with a sigh how I could have missed the numerous signals it had been sending all day that I needed to rest.

Yet, as much as I dreaded the run home, my mood changed when I stepped out the door. The weather was really mild, the sun was glowing and everything was drenched in a soft light. I started running and could immediately tell that it was going to be a tough one. My joints ached. My bones ached. My evil foot ached. But I refused to stop. It was such a magnificent day and I wanted to take my jacket off and run forever. Contradictory, I know. Let me put it like this: if my brain could have jumped out of my head and run on its own, it would, and very enthusiastically at that. My body, on the other hand, would have collapsed in a heap given a chance. It was pure willpower that took me home; my body was the lifeless marionette, my brain the puppet master forcing my legs to keep moving.

Because I didn't torture myself enough with this run, I threw in some push-ups and sit-ups when I got home. I am happy to report that the Two Hundred Sit-ups programme is going according to plan. The push-ups, not so much. I am doing the toddler version, the one where you rest on your knees while you do the push-ups. This is necessary because I have the muscle strength of a toddler. I can't do one single real push-up. There, I said it, and now the whole world knows. I can run 50 km but I can't do a push-up. No strings there that my brain can pull. Judge me if you must.