Sometimes Taking A Break Is Better Than Breaking Something

The daily power-walking program of mine has forced me to try on many different shoes. I was originally wearing a very comfortable pair of hiking boots until they just quit being comfortable. I then went through three pairs of well-worn sneakers until I found a pair that could handle the pounding. I know I’m in need of some new sneakers, but the pair I’ve settled on still has a few hundred kilometres left in them, so they will do for now. On one morning late last month I earned a ‘you’re setting quite a pace this morning’ comment from a local I passed on the way to work. He was strolling with his dog when I met him. I know he’s a long distance bicyclist and runner, so I took it as a compliment but in the days to follow I noticed my feet were getting sore and the route was getting a little boring. I’ve been through this many times before when I used to run, so I knew what it meant and how to fix it. So I took a few days off. I had Sweet Roast drive me to work. I relaxed and didn’t stress out about it at all. I knew I just needed to give my body a rest before it started to fight back. The rest also gave my feet a chance to get over whatever was bugging them. In actual fact I suspect a slight sprain on one big toe from the power walking. The break was good as it gave me a chance to not see or be on my route for a few days. The first day back on it was refreshing. I noticed things I didn’t see before and suddenly it became interesting again. And I looked forward to the trip to work. When I was cross training with weights I would occasionally mix up my routine to ‘shock’ my body and to snap it out of the rhythm it was used to. Sometimes that meant skipping part of the routine or maybe changing the order of the program. We often need to shake things up to keep from getting bored with whatever it is we are doing in order to stay healthy and get fit. Sometimes it just means taking a short break every so often. Whatever ends up working for you, try to incorporate it as your safety valve and you’ll never lose interest in your routine. Just remember, try not to keep it too routine!

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