Hitting the WALL!

Have you ever heard the statement made by many marathon runners, when they say "Around the 22nd mile, I hit the wall"?

Energy Dynamics 101

( Here's the scientific explanation )

“Hitting The Wall is basically about running out of energy,” says Dave Martin, Ph.D., Emeritus Regent’s Professor of Health Sciences at Georgia State University in Atlanta—chemical energy, that is, stored in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and obtained from the breakdown, or metabolism, of energy-containing fuel. The runner’s primary fuel sources are carbohydrates (in the form of blood glucose and glycogen, a polymer of glucose stored in the muscles and liver) and fats (free fatty acids in the bloodstream and muscle triglycerides, molecules containing three fatty acids).

I actually heard about it when I was on the track team, and our coach was explaining it and what to do to keep going AFTER you hit the wall. That mentality stayed with me for years, even though I wasn't running on the track, I was running or working or not sleeping so much ...that I continually hit the Wall, but remembered well, how to keep pushing and keep going. I actually thought that was a good thing?

Then I began to get so sick, and I was always trying to learn new ways to be healthy. One of the first things that I learned was how important it is not to push so hard, or so fast that you hit the Wall, that means your energy is gone and it seems like your shoes are filled with concrete. In healing your Mind and Body, you are taught to honor that Wall, recognize you are too tired, too sleepy, too worn out and to stop everything and let your body rejuvenate. What an odd concept that was to me, what a hard time I had learning that. But now I have to admit that more often than not, I do stop and rest.

Today however and actually for the past 3 days, I have Hit the Wall at some point and despite what I know, I kept pushing and totally ignored the wall. I realized tonight that I need to go back to honoring my body. Listen to what it is trying to tell me. The hard part for me is when it happens and I am doing things that I LOVE TO DO! I got to teach my Quilt Class today, which I love! Then I drove my son to an appointment, stopped and did some errands and then got ready and went and taught a class at church tonight. What a HIGH I am on, but oh...my body is paying for it. So I am telling you that ...I do know better, and I can't keep doing that or my body will get sick. So I am going to try to pace myself more. Why is it, even at my age...I am still learning so many lessons, and some of them OVER and OVER again?  Actually, you don't have to answer that... I know the answer! I will try to do better tomorrow.
Good night dear friends!

 

"Respect your efforts, respect yourself.  Self-respect leads to self-discipline.  When you have both firmly under your belt, that's real power."  ~Clint Eastwood

"Take care of your body.  It's the only place you have to live."  ~Jim Rohn

"The body never lies."  ~Martha Graham

"Sometimes your body is smarter than you are."  ~Author Unknown

 

 

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