Today I did lots of walking.

All of the uphills, 'cause today was HARD!

And I was wondering why. There are several things that it could have been, I guess.

Maybe it was that I am still stiff from the hardout fitness class on Tuesday (thanks, Beth!). It was a combination of boxing and strength stuff, but it was the chest presses and jump squats that really made me sore. And I could really feel my running muscles protesting as I was attempting to run up the hills, which is why I walked so many of them - usually if I am a bit rough to start with, it usually gets easier after a few kms, but not today.

Maybe it was some random time of my cycle that is just making me feel really tired. Who knows where I might be in that, as, being 'a woman of a certain age', my cycles are somewhat unpredictable, and I never quite know what is happening. At least none of the other symptoms of being in my mid-forties decided to rock up, as then I truly would have turned around and gone home! 

Maybe it was the weather. It looks a lot sunnier in that photo than it really was, and I was running most of the uphill bits into a headwind, which was pretty demoralising. The last 2km was in a downpour as well. But before I start the pity party, last week was about 8-10 degrees colder and I got hailed on, and I enjoyed that run, and did my best time round that loop to boot. 

Maybe I am getting the man-flu the husband suffered under last week...

As I was plotting this post on my way around, I was intending to write something about resilience and perseverance. Something that would be a good teaching point when I get back to school and remind my hublings that the Hobsonville Habits (photo credit Lea) are useful and relevant in real life - which they definitely are.

But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered why I was having to wonder at so many possibilities to work out why I felt so rubbish. 

In fact, I worked out that it was probably the fact that I had spent most of the day rushing around and hadn't drunk much except a couple of coffees. And being dehydrated drops my blood pressure, which is low enough to start with. Result: tired, sluggish, heavy, hard. At least I didn't go all fainty, which is more usual when my blood pressure drops...

Anyway, once I had worked that out, I realised that I haven't been thinking about how my body is feeling, except when I actually get to the point of doing the exercise. Really, I need to be mindful and aware of how my body is feeling, what I am doing with it, all the time, so that when I do come to an exertion point I am prepared. I can't just say 'o, I'm going to go for a run this afternoon' without knowing that my body will be able to hack it, that going out won't be counterproductive and I won't just end up feeling like rubbish. 

I think this is relevant for both physical and mental health (there will be a post about that, soon I hope) more than it is for fitness as such. Fitness is, for me at least, a stepping stone to health; it is the health bit which is the key.

So, I learned something today that all scouts know already - Be Prepared! Or who was it that said 'Know Thyself'? 

Being healthy is a combination of mind and body, and being self-aware on a physical level seems to be something that I will have to work on. 

How do you know that now is a good time to exercise, or not? How do you keep yourself prepared for random attacks of exercise? 

By the way, if you like what I'm writing, feel free to share.

#fitandhealthy  #fitnessgoals  #startover  #dohashtagsevenworkinblogs?