I Did Not Hear YouSometimes I don’t listen to my body.  Sometimes I push through pain that I shouldn’t push through to get that last rep done in the weight room or finish that last mile on a run.  Sometimes I finish a big workout and don’t save time for cool down and stretching and consequently have a tight back, calves, shoulders, hamstrings, glutes, and everywhere else too.  Sometimes I wake up at 4:15am for a workout and feel like I need more sleep, but I get up anyway and go get it done.  Ok well, every time I wake up that early, I feel like I need more sleep.  But seriously, there are probably times, such as after only 5 hours of sleep, where I should consider sleep instead of pounding pavement or pumping iron. Does this sound familiar to anyone?  I have come across numerous Type A personalities, like myself, that get addicted to working out, and the schedule of the day.  My morning routine is mapped out to the minute any deviation causes me stress.  Just ask my wife and kids!  Luckily there are tools available to us now, in this high tech era we exist in, that can help us quantify if we are rested and ready for action, or need to take it easy. Now the art is in actually paying attention to these data and resting or taking the intensity down if necessary. I will cover those tools shortly but first I need to share a story. Learning From MistakesI was on a business trip a few years ago.  It involved long day of travel across the country and the destination was Florida.  It was summer time and I was really excited to get checked into the hotel and then go out for an early evening jog and maybe catch the sunset over the water.  After checking in I went down to the gym for a quick warm up before the run.  I was feeling tight in my hips and hamstrings after traveling all day.  I usually work from a standing workstation so being forced to sit in cars, buses, planes, and trains all day long is brutal for me.  Recognizing the tightness I did some foam rolling and smashing on those areas (I gave up foam rolling and smashing about 1 year ago and feel improvement, and will cover that in an upcoming episode).  I then did my usual dynamic warmup of leg swings, burpees, heels to butt, jumping jacks, etc.  You can see my dynamic warm up here. Sounds like pretty good prep for a run right?I then started out on an easy, zone 2, 4 mile jog.  I figured I would head out towards the coast for 2 miles, and then head back to the hotel, to get 4 miles in.  Nothing major. With an easy jog in mind, I headed out toward the sunset.  About 1 mile in I started to notice tightness in my hamstring.  This wasn’t the crampy, lockup feeling.  This was the annoying, pinchy pressure, steady, every step a little worse, tightness. Those of you who have had this, know what I am talking about. I knew it wasn’t feeling “right” but I also knew I still had 3 miles to go, I had been trapped in a seated position while traveling all day, I had beautiful weather, a sunset, a voice in my head saying it is “nothing”, but most dangerous of all, I had the will to push through the pain.  Now don’t get me wrong, pushing through pain and discomfort is what all humans must do to force the body to adapt and improve.  Knowing what the difference is between pain from a high level of exertion, and pain from an injury is the key.  And I knew better.  So why did I keep going?  I am afraid I don’t have a good answer. I hobbled through the rest of the run and had a very sore, and strained, hamstring for several days.  Wondering what caused an injury can make you go crazy.  Questions and self-doubt popped into my head such as – Am I not training my hamstrings enough?  Are there more dynamic hamstring exercises I could have been doing that would have prevented thi...