Sometimes rest is just what the doctor ordered...

Usually on Thursday mornings at a hair past 7 am, I am just returning from running with the group, shedding my sweaty running clothes and getting ready for the work day. This morning, however, at a hair past 7 am, I was snuggled under my big comforter debating how many more minutes I could sleep until I actually had to get up for work. I had gone to bed around 9 pm. That's a good 10 hours of sleep. I was supposed to run 5 miles this morning - last pre-marathon run. Needless to say I didn't.

I rarely miss run group, and I hate when I miss it. Although the group was running hills this morning, I had planned to join them for an easy 5 miles, minus the hills. 5 miles was on my schedule. I rarely skip my morning workout, and if I do, I'm already thinking about how to make it up later in the day. The strive to be “perfect” often defers me from remembering to give my body rest when it's calling for it.

This has been a really busy week at work for me. That, along with the cedar fever plaguing Texas, and constant weather changes have left me feeling a little bit run down. I also made the incredibly dimwit move of doing a bunch of squats, lunges and burpees on Monday that left me incredibly sore. So, by the end of the work day yesterday, the 4:45 am wake up call to go to run group Thursday morning and run 5 miles did not sound very appealing. I started to bargain with myself - maybe I'll sleep a little later and just run 3 miles. But, then I got to thinking about it, and talked some sense into myself. Running 5 miles - or 3 for that matter - is not going to make me run faster in my marathon on Sunday. It really won't provide any benefit at this point. In fact, running this morning when my body was saying REST, would likely just do more way more harm than good.

Fortunately (and sometimes unfortunately), I am one of those people that is excited about exercise/physical activity; it doesn’t take much bribing at all to get me moving. So it can be hard for me to forgo a run or skip a scheduled workout. Sometimes my mind is there ready to go, but my body isn't.  And, to be honest, sometimes I feel guilty about taking a rest day, even though I need it, and seeing everyone else post about their awesome workouts (another reason I got off of Daily Mile). But, sometimes I need to take a day to sit around and not do much of anything at all. And that is okay.

So, today I will rest and forget those 5 miles and will not feel guilty. Hopefully my body will thank me on Sunday. Phoenix bound in the morning!

Anyone else ever feel guilty about taking unscheduled rest days?