The Extra 1%

Yesterday as Sara and I were finishing up a nice relaxing summer dinner with her family we were releazing that we still had some auxiliary training to finish up even though it had already been a long day of training. We joked about the endless pursuit of the many, many little things we do to try and get that little 1% improvement that makes all the difference for a professional runner. Earlier in the day I had already ran 25 miles and driven a couple of hours from Stanford to Santa Rosa so I didn't feel like going back to training. Doing post dinner training is something I generally try and avoid at all cost. I like to have dinner mark the end of my running day when I just relax and enjoy socializing for the rest of the day, but sometimes my crazy day doesn't allow that to be possible.

Last night made me realize how tricky it can be to go after that last 1% improvement. It's tricky because a lot of energy goes into doing all the stretching, strength work, self massage, icing, ect to try and get that extra 1%, which can be mentally draining at times and can lead to burnout if your not careful. The key is always balance and we are always trying to find a way to balance how much energy we have to spend and how to best spend it. We could train all day long if we wanted to, but I don't think that would be wise or that it would lead to improvement. I actually think being a more balanced person makes a healthier, happier, and thus faster person. The question I try and ask myself when I consider whether or not to train more is what is my body craving and what is my body ready to absorb? Sometimes pushing harder is not the answer. It takes self control, confidence, and intuition to know when to train and when to rest, but when in question error on the side of being over rested.