Runner's Dilemma #16 Tired, and Wondering — Should I Run, or Should I Rest?
Runner's Log | Runner's Dilemma #16
Runner's Dilemma #16
Tired, and Wondering - Should I Run, or Should I Rest?
On the subway home from work, a lot of people have their eyes closed.
Some heads drop the moment they sit down. Others just lean against something, staring at nothing.
A full day of work behind them, finally on the way home.
I have days like that too.
The moment I get home, before I even change out of my work clothes, I lie down flat on the living room floor.
Eyes closed, the first thought that comes is always the same.
And right behind it, another thought.
And it's not just ordinary tired. Eyes wanting to shut. Wanting to lie down. Wanting to do absolutely nothing, if at all possible.
Every time it happened, I found myself wondering the same thing.
Or is resting the right call?
I. So I Went Looking for an Answer
At first I assumed there'd be one clean answer.
If you're tired, rest.
Or: even when tired, a light run actually helps.
But the more I looked into it, the more I realized the word "tired" itself was doing too much work.
Tired from not sleeping enough.
Tired because your muscles are worn out from training.
Tired in a way where your body is actually fine, but you just don't want to do anything.
We call all three of these the exact same thing: tired.
II. When You're Tired
As it turns out, there's research showing that people who move regularly tend to feel less fatigue than people who don't.
But that alone didn't give me a real answer.
Because I still didn't know exactly what kind of "tired" I was actually talking about.
What I really wanted to know about was this:
Getting home from work completely drained,
leaving the dishes undone,
leaving the laundry unfolded,
just —
That exact state.
III. The Day I Chose the Living Room Floor
Of course, on the living room floor, the answer is already decided.
That part sounds reasonable enough. But somewhere along the way, "resting" quietly turns into picking up my phone and watching meaningless videos.
Next thing I know, 30 or 40 minutes have slipped by.
So I skip the run and go to bed — except a body that isn't tired enough doesn't fall asleep easily.
And that's how the regret goes.
IV. What the Living Room Floor Can't Tell You
My mind had already made up its answer, lying there on the floor.
But lying on that floor, I actually couldn't tell whether my body genuinely needed rest, or whether it would have loosened up if I'd just moved a little.
So here's what I'm going to try from now on.
I'm just going out to go through the motions of running.
Lace up the shoes. Step outside.
And move, slowly.
Five minutes. Ten minutes.
That should be enough to actually feel what state my body is in today.
If a little movement loosens things up and it feels better than expected, I keep going a bit longer.
If it doesn't — if I'm still exhausted, still heavy, if today just isn't the day — I turn around and go home.
V. In the End
The goal on a tired day isn't
it's to find out what state my body is actually in.
Keep going a bit more if it's okay.
Or just turn back.
It's not a particularly impressive answer.
Even after digging through the research, there was no single answer that applies to everyone.
But at least for me, this feels like the most realistic one.
On a tired day, instead of lying on the floor endlessly debating "should I run or not" —
just lace up the shoes and step outside.
Move a little, and then decide.
Keep going a bit more if it's okay. Or just turn back that day.
"Ugh, I should have just gone running" —
that regret should come around a little less often.
Reference: Puetz, T. W. (2006). Physical activity and feelings of energy and fatigue: A review of epidemiological evidence. Sports Medicine, 36(9), 767–780.
