Feeling old

I have been seriously sore lately. My feet hurt. My hips hurt. I was moping around thinking about all the serious, irreparable damage I've probably done to my body when suddenly it hit me:

I'm probably just getting old.

I mean, let's face it. The body of a 22 year old is unfortunately much younger than a body of a 25 year old. Especially a 25 year old with insomnia. Now, I know I'm being slightly melodramatic here, but isn't part of it just that my body is wearing down slightly with age and the running aggrevates this?

I've been an incredibly lucky runner. I have not sustained any serious injuries and I still have ALL of my toenails. I've never even lost one. Although my feet hurt, they have not become all scummy and ugly like some runners that you see. I've learned how quickly you can heal from minor cuts/rubs that you might get while wearing a sports bra or slightly too short socks (usually less than a week). After 42 miles in 24 hours last year, I walked right out of the hotel. I didn't shuffle. I walked. (ok I didn't run either, but let's give me SOME credit).

Sometimes I feel like I'm really missing out on part of the running experience by not having these horrible stories to tell (I lost my toenail in the middle of a date and he found it in is salad!). But as I grow sore, I'm more than thankful that I have had almost 3 great years of running pain free.

Now that I am finally starting to feel the effects, I am trying to be more careful. Instead of skipping the stretching completely, I've been trying to throw some in there (not too much though). I'm trying to focus on eating better meals instead of going with "I can eat whatever I want because I'll run it off," because ultimately, running will feel better if I have the right nutrition in me. I'm trying to sleep more and be gentler on my body.

But let's face it - there will just be sore days. I've never been one of those people who would push through an injury if I got one. I don't eat complete garbage all the time (although there are and probably always will be the occasional dinner of ice cream sandwiches) and in general I eat pretty healthy foods. I do recreational yoga on a more regular basis than I'd prefer to admit (at LEAST once every 3 months). So why don't I just cut myself a break, take a bubble bath, and continue my running?

Why, I think I will do just that.