Rebekah is a personal friend who I have known for several years and have coached in the past. This conversation has been edited for clarity.
Feeling better than expected.
Rebekah: I am mildly concerned/weirded out that I am running much faster with zero difficulty and/or injury. Today I ran four miles at under 7:30 pace and could have gone more. And since my asthma was nonexistent, I was barely winded, like, not winded at all. Just sweaty.
Rich: Well, first, how does your training over the past year compare to other times you’ve trained consistently? You might just be in the best shape of your life. You never even did distance running as a sport until your senior year of high school. Look how talented your brothers are. And running in Oregon [as opposed to Kansas or Colorado] may just treat your asthma really well.
Rebekah: That is an interesting thought. I definitely have fewer bad days here. As far as training goes: Last summer I started doing 3-4 miles every day at lunch. When the weather got bad, I went to the gym and traded between stairs and running, but probably did more stairs. And still did 5 or 6 days a week. Now it is nice again and I usually get at least 4 days a week in, plus walking a mile or so every day from place to place. But there is zero method to it.
Rich: Right, best shape of your life.
Rebekah: Must be… And by zero intent i just mean – I do what i feel like doing.
Rich: The fact that you haven’t had any over-training injuries may surprise me a little, but that’s where the zero intentions comes into play. You just ran what felt good, not what you felt you NEEDED to be or SHOULD be running. i.e. You were constantly aware of your body’s signals.
End conversation.
Obviously, this is a “problem” everyone would love to have, but it does highlight, if nothing else, the importance of running smart and relaxed and not “toughing it out” when your body is telling you that’s not a good idea.
Check out Rebekah’s recipes, thoughts on the food world, etc. at http://pdxfoodlove.com/