Running Matters posts:

I remember some advice from Joe Henderson about being flexible in your training and adapting it to how you feel on the day. He suggested you run for a mile (to make sure you had shaken all the inertia from your body) and then made a judgement. If you felt tired , then cut it short but if you felt good then why not go further or harder. In other words, within the overall framework of your programme, there should be latitude and you should try to work with rather against your body.

That makes good sense – I am constantly puzzled by how much my mood and vitality can vary from day to day.

I face this dilemma (who doesn’t?) – but at the moment, am forcing myself to run through running funks – and invariably come out feeling better.

The place where I fall down is differentiating a funk from some bio-mechanical issue – stiff muscles, sore knees, an upset stomach, a hayfever attack. In the latter case, I think you should listen to your body – but if I cut the run short because I wasn’t in the mood for it I think I’d end up stuck with an hour-max run limit (about 10k). Of course, I only do the LSRs at the weekends at the moment… so perhaps motivation comes easier.

What do you think, devoted LSR reader?