Running. pt II

I am trying to find a balance in my running training so I don't hurt myself. The process looks something like this:


being lazy >>being active >>pushing yourself >>hurting yourself* >>injuring yourself

I want to be where the asterisk is. Somewhere past pushing myself, in the "no pain, no gain" category, but certainly not seriously injuring myself. Two friends recently told me about injuries they've accrued via running and it freaked me out a little bit. On my last long run, my feet were starting to hurt kind of bad and I got paranoid.

Here's the thing about running: they say that your lung capacity expands much more quickly than the capabilities of your muscles and joints do. I am noticing this firsthand. When I started training, I would run until I couldn't breath anymore. Even when I couldn't breathe anymore, my legs and feet still felt fine. Nowadays, I no longer get winded unless I'm sprinting. My lung endurance is incredible. Now my body triggers me that it's time to stop by making me feet, legs, and knees feel like they're going to give out. The problem with this is, leg pain is a lot easier to ignore and push through than not being able to breathe is. So I think I might be pushing myself too hard, too quickly.

I think I'm going to take it easy until my 10k on Sunday. Wish me luck!!