A colleagueE of mine at The Times who is a triathlete had a question: Everyone tells you to listen to your body, but what are you supposed to listen to?
Turns out it's not so obvious.
Deena Kastor, the American record holder for the marathon, interprets the advice selectively.
"Running isn't always comfortable," she said. "I remember running through a lot of discomfort and pain."
And, Ms. Kastor added, she also runs when she does not feel like it.
"So many times the alarm goes off in the morning and you tell yourself you are too tired," she said. "There are times when you are unmotivated, you don't feel your best and most accomplished."
But if you ignore those messages from your body and just go out and run or do your sport, she said, "those are the days when we have the most pride."
"The trick in listening to your body is to know what you can run through," she said. "If you have a sharp pain you should take care of it."
So does listening to your body mean learning to understand the difference between a pain that signals a serious injury and one that can be ignored? And if it does, why do athletes like Ms. Kastor become seriously injured, anyway?
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