A sign that caught my attention...

Good morning!  Myles is resting in his rightful place, my lap, as I type a short blog this morning.  First, I have to say Happy Birthday to my Mom!  She turns 29 today.  Ever heard of Benjamin Button?  My Mom is the real life female version.  She just keeps getting younger.  It's amazing.  Really it is.
Today is the last day of August and typically on the last day of the month I rest--especially if I've already hit my monthly mileage goal.  This months goal was 200 miles and I ran 238.3, which is great considering that August is so busy for me with Res Life training and opening.  Anyway, I fully intended to run this morning and even laid my stuff out for the morning.  On my way to bed, though, I made a pit stop (use your imagination) and happened to pick up an article I had been reading in Running Times about Ian Sharman, a successful ultramarathon runner.  I only looked at one page but in 20 point font in bold I read a quote:  "I've learned that all the other stuff you do is wasted if you don't allow the body time to recover properly..."  Wow!  It was like a sign from the Running Gods. I've been running a lot lately and have run 677.3 miles since June 1 after running 585 miles in the first five months of the year.  Almost 100 more miles in the last three months than in the first five months of the year.  I've also run 48 double digit mile runs (over 10 miles) since June 1.  I noticed that I've been a bit more sore than usual over the past few days.  So...when I read that quote, I was like okay I'm going to take off a day.  Whew.

I constantly battle with running just the right amount.  Specifically, I need to run the miles and workouts to hit my goal pace for the Monumental Marathon on 11/5, but at the same time I don't want to over train and injure myself.  It's SUCH a fine line and I really rely on my instincts to tell me when to take a break.  However, sometimes there are signs that just pop out in front of you in the most random places (For example, in the bathroom before bed).  Anyway, I'm a big believer in signs and things happening to give you direction--sometimes they are just subtle or in unexpected places. 

I hope that you have a wonderful day.  Keep your eyes open for signs and happy running to you...