by Jessie Bahrey

Created on: April 15, 2009

Let's face it, no matter how painful it may be to admit it, your body begins to break down when you near or reach the age of forty. For me, I noticed things going downhill when I was 37. As someone who has been running since I was a teenager, I was in denial of the aches and pains that became more frequent, the old injuries that would pop up for no apparent reason, and the fatigue that I had rarely experienced. By the time I was 40, I had to confront the fact that if I wanted to continue running on a regular basis, I would have to change some aspects of my fitness regime. I did make changes, although grudgingly at first, and have managed to keep the injuries at bay.

The first, and most difficult, change that I made was to listen to my body when it was sore or even just tired, and simply rest. Taking a day off used to be something I rarely did, and taking two days off would have made me most unhappy in the past. Unless I had a severe injury or was very sick, I would run through pain, soreness or fatigue. If I was suffering from a minor injury or a pulled or sore muscle, I would take ibuprofen just before a run just to get through it. Now, though it took some scoldings from my husband and some serious self talk, I take a day, sometimes even two. off when I am sick, or am extra sore, or feeling an injury coming on. I no longer feel guilty about taking a break, and I know that I am better off in the long run for the rest.

Another change I have made is to cross-train more often. Instead of only running, I also ride a bike, hike, walk, swim and play tennis. My main form of fitness is still running, but I don't do it exclusively. Using different muscles while doing activities gives my running muscles a break, and it also relieves any boredom I occasionally get from doing the same thing repetitively. I have also enjoyed doing different sports because it allows me to spend time with my husband; I have always been a solitary runner by preference, so bike riding or playing tennis with him is fun, not just part of my fitness routine.

In the past, I paid only lip service to stretching. I still need to do more of it than I do, but I do carve out time after every run or workout to stretch out the main muscles Rather than hurry through the stretching like I used to, I now spend as much time as I can, and although I still get aches, I believe that I have not lost as much flexibility as I would have if I had continued to ignore this component of fitness.

One dumb thing I used to

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