I don't think I ever felt better simply lying around. They say movement is medicine. I agree with a couple of caveats.

My left side is mildly flared up with some signs of sciatica which is a new phenomena and my right adductor is not happy either. Neither is bad.

I have experienced pain as high as 10 a number of times and unfortunately have lived in the 4-7 area for many years in the past. Presently I wouldn't even call it pain, just a little discomfort. A 1 at best.

Unlike the past I don't push things and I get reflective really quickly. Over the years I have built up a lot of tools in my toolbox. The most useful is walking.

Yesterday was my long ruck day. It also has an imposing hill. I wanted to skip it because I hate conditioning, but I knew that was a cop out. However, I also knew I did not want to turn my minor issues into bigger ones.

On Saturdays Jess and I ruck together. The hill is almost an unspoken competition. We each hate it when the other chugs ahead. So it's a pretty aggressive ruck.

I told Jess at the onset my adductor was bothering me and I was going to take the whole trip slowly. I know I have weak internal rotators so I wanted to walk purposefully trying to pronate my feet a bit and grab the ground with my toes.

At the onset my body was not happy. I quickly defaulted to walking however I could with the least amount of discomfort. About half an hour in, I noticed the discomfort had vanished. At that point changed my gait and had no pain that way either.

As we approached the hill I felt great, but I told my wife I'm going to be smart and take my time. Each stride was very purposeful. My body felt infinitely better for the rest of the walk, throughout the day and even the next morning - that's the real time my body likes to let me know how things are going.

My body usually comes willingly when I am intentional. For me, that means giving it time to warm-up. Next I can try to put more purpose into a movement. Finally, I have to then be honest with myself on whether there is discomfort.

Pushing through anything when my body resists is only counterproductive. Recent history has taught me even if I do get away with something once in a while it only reinforces that behavior which has f'd me up for the past decade.

I think I'm drifing, but most of my points now are for the old heads or old heads to be. Grease the groove with everything. Don't fight your body. The discipline is not pushing yourself, but being smart enough to back off when necessary so you can be consistent.