Cumulative Fatigue

When I was leading fire teams, one of the greatest safety issues we faced on a regular basis was Cumulative Fatigue. When we ask our bodies to perform at a high level with no break day after day, before long the effects begin to show physically, mentally and emotionally. Physically, our ability to respond decreases. What might have been easy a week ago, now seems difficult. Our immune system is weakened and even our sleep is effected. Extensive physical training without regular recovery breaks had been directly linked to stress fractures and other injuries. Mentally, cumulative fatigue causes our thought processes to be slowed and making us prone to poor decisions or an inability to make important decisions as quickly as necessary. Emotionally, we are more likely to blow up over a small slight or say something we will later regret.

Get on line and look at any training plan for improved fitness or preparation for a race and you will find that every two to three weeks, a "recovery" period is included to allow the body to rest up before continuing with the training. Our creator knew something about the importance of regular rest. Early in the Bible, God's people were instructed to rest one day each week. In fact, God even instructed them to give the land a rest from growing crops every seven years so the soil could recover. When Jesus walked the earth, he regularly made time to get away from the crowds and the busyness and rest up. Mark 6:31 "Jesus said, "Let's go off by ourselves to a quite place and rest awhile." He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn't even have time to eat." If the Son of God recognized the need to get away and rest it must not only be okay but actually be a good idea. It's so easy to let our lives get overly busy, to be so focused on completing a project or sticking to a training plan, that we don't take time to rest and recover. In the end we will be more healthy and productive if we take regular breaks. One of the advantages of being part of a group like the Calvary Running Team is that you have people around you who will not only encourage you to do more than you could on your own, but they will also help you be accountable for the important things like rest. If this sounds like something you could use, I encourage you to come and join us for a time of fellowship and encouragement will we run, walk, train and rest TOGETHER. This week we will be meeting on Wednesday at 1 pm at Clearwater trail, on Saturday at 8 am at Pre's Trail in Alton Baker Park and on Sunday back at Clearwater trail at 4 pm. Some of our training times have changed so please take note of the changes. I look forward to seeing you out on the trail! Have a great week! Pastor John