Dialing it down a notch

I've decided not to feel guilty over my runs last week (where I felt like it I was phoning it in), nor this week, where I've definitely cut things short. Yesterday's 4-miler turned into 2 miles. Today's 4 miles of progressive intervals included walk breaks.

Earlier today Barefoot Angie B posted this article from the Barefoot Runner's Society site. It talks about orthotics and running shoes, but the message I took away was that "Injuries are generally a result of intensity, duration, and recovery time." This rings true for me, based on my previous experience. When I started to go faster, I hurt myself. When I started to go farther, I hurt myself. I don't believe I gave myself the time or permission to recover.

So I'm trying to listen to my body for once, and not gung ho myself into another injury. My digestive system has been completely wonky since Saturday night, the arthritis in my lower back and hip have flared up, and I'm just overall tired. Maybe it's time to tone it down a touch. I'm not walking away, I'm just not worrying about paying the calendar back if I don't quite hit the numbers it keeps yelling at me to hit.

In other news, I've tile in my bathroom:

I will have the wall on the right completely tiled by the end of the night, and the wall under the window finished except the 2 spaces you see here, on the other side of the window. That leaves the plumbing wall and the doorway wall, both of which I have some tile cut for. I'm hoping to start working on the floor this weekend.