I have been very lucky. I have never been injured running except for twisting my ankle running on ice. This of course was more of a mental breakdown on my part because I should not have been running that day. It was a wet winter day and just cold enough to make the pavement slippery. You can only run so long on your toes on ice. You get the picture, running + ice = sprained ankle.

So, I am "SUPER RUNNER." I have been a runner since I was eight years old. No, I am not exaggerating. I woke up every morning at 5 am to run. You can blame the summer Olympics on that. It's a good thing I don't watch as much TV these days, no telling what I would be doing now. That's a lot of miles running. So how do I do it?

I listen to my body. Every runner I know that trains for marathons does more miles than I do. A marathon is a 26-mile running event, and yes I've done quite a few. Every tri-athlete I know trains more than I do. A triathlon is an event where you swim, bike and run. Yes I have done quite a few of those as well. Every runner I race with runs more miles than I do. Yes, some times I do question my running. Especially when I have a bad race. I think to myself, "maybe I don't train enough."

Don't get me wrong. I work out a lot. More than most people do. Probably more than your average person who is trying to get in shape. But, and this is a big but, I walk sometimes instead of running. There are days my legs are tired and I bike to give them a rest. Running is a lot of impact. You strike the ground again and again. If you are on a bike you eliminate the impact. There are days when my body is so tired that I just stretch.

I used to think that I don't try hard enough or I'm not as strong as all those other runners. They work harder than I do. But, here I am twenty some years later and I am still running. I go to races and listen to everybody's conversations. I just had surgery for this. I just finished rehab for that. I can't say "been there done that." I have never had surgery. I have never been to rehab, although, sometimes I think I would like to because I would learn a lot. "KNOCK ON WOOD"

So what does all of my rambling have to do with you? I don't care what your goals are. I don't care what your plan is. You will be most successful when you listen to your body. What is it telling you? Is it telling you that you are out of shape? Do you huff and puff climbing a flight of stairs? Is it telling you that you need to eat better? Does your stomach feel heavy as you're trying to fall asleep at night? Is it telling you you're not working hard? Do you lift weights without feeling any soreness, because you should feel some soreness to challenge your muscles? Is it telling you that you need rest? Do you feel tired every morning at 10 am? Is it telling you that "this is boring" as you exercise? Do you need to find something new to do because you're sleepwalking through your workout?

We are all looking for answers to problems. We assume somebody out there has the answers. We think that the solutions to our problems are too complicated for us to fix. We are overweight. We are out of shape. We have no energy. We need an expert, or some complex pill that will solve our problems. Yes, these may be helpful and sometimes you do need help.

But I think we rely too much on these things. So, if we can't afford it we have an excuse. If we don't have time to consult with and expert, we have an excuse. If we don't have a doctor we really trust, we have an excuse. But, in the meantime, our bodies are still talking to us. Our bodies are telling us something is wrong. Our bodies are begging us to change. So, why are we not listening?

We listen to our spouse telling us to take out the trash because if we don't we will be discussing it all day long. We listen to our boss because we don't want to get fired. We listen to the weather forecaster because we don't want to be dressed wrong. We listen to those infomercials because we believe they have all the answers. So, when do we listen to ourselves, listen to our body?