you must listen to your body- it speaks volumes

My 200k last weekend was awesome, a beautiful warm day, a reunion with riding buddies, help from friends, just an excellent ride. We went up the coast for 66 miles with a great tailwind. The turn around made it a little harder but I was with a terrific group that made it a quick fun trip. Just so we had a story, a bridge was locked so traffic was backed up as we were to go back to Jupiter Island and we had a detour but got back with time and safely.

I didn't ride on Sunday, but commuted to work on Monday and had a nice blow the legs out ride. I felt pretty good but still took an inventory of little aches and soreness. I had a sore spot that came up from my right ankle up the side of my shin. I really need to replace my cleats! I also noticed that the instep of my right foot was itching again.

I had that problem for almost a year and could not figure it out. I tried athlete's foot products, but it was an internal problem, there was no rash or anything on the sole of my foot. I asked doctors, massage therapists, everyone about it and got no answers. I finally went to a chiropractor when I was in CT who said- "oh, of course, that makes perfect sense. You have problems with your pelvis being twisted and tight hips, that goes right down the sciatic nerve and it ends right there in your foot". So- who knew? I worked with him and a massage therapist and it went away.

Now I take it as an indicator. Kind of like I get a very specific back ache when I am running a fever. It may be a very low grade fever, but if I have the back ache, I know even without taking my temperature. So, I made sure to work on stretching out my low back and hips this week and the itch in my foot went away in a day or so.

I think it is so easy to not listen to your body, to ignore little things, hope they go away, or mask them with a pain killer or sleep medication or something. However, if you are really tuned in to what is going on you can address things before they develop into something worse. Listening- such a useful skill to develop whether it is with your spouse, child, boss, body, or conscience. It is all within you, just tune in to it!