Online Run & Mindset Coaching - 10 reasons to skip your run

10 Reasons to Skip a Run

(Yes, Even When You’re “Supposed To”)

Real talk…runners are really good at pushing through. We push through bad weather, busy schedules, heavy legs, low motivation, and sometimes even common sense. What? Us? Never! Okay, but there is actually pride in being the person who gets it done no matter what. But is that always a good thing?

There’s a difference between building resilience and ignoring red flags. But we need to learn to identify them first.

If you’ve ever stood in your kitchen lacing up your shoes while a quiet voice inside you said, “This doesn’t feel right today,” this post is for you. We aren’t talking about excuses. I’m going to share with you my smart, coach-approved reasons to skip a run so you can protect your long-term progress.

1. You Didn’t Sleep (And It’s Been More Than One Night)

You know when those poor sleeps start stacking up? One night because you stayed up too late. One night because your brain wouldn’t turn off. One night because life just wouldn’t settle down, the dog got you up to pee, or your kiddo just wouldn’t go to bed.... Sounds familiar right? Suddenly it’s been four or five nights of broken sleep.

Your coordination feels off. Your mood is short. Your legs feel heavy before you’ve even started the run.

One rough night is manageable. A stretch of them changes your nervous system, slows recovery, and increases injury risk. Sometimes the most productive thing you can do for your training is go back to bed.

2. You’re Actively Sick

Fever. Body aches. Deep chest congestion. Perhaps feeling like you’ve been hit-by-a-truck.

The golden rule I share with my athletes is, “In the head → go ahead, In the chest → take a rest.”

Your immune system is already working overtime. Adding a run doesn’t make you tougher, it adds more stress to a system that needs rest. You WILL NOT lose fitness in a few days. You’re actually protecting it.

3. Your Resting Heart Rate Is Noticeably Elevated

When you get out of bed in the morning and you glance at your watch and it’s reading eight or ten beats higher than your normal baseline. Nothing else has changed. This isn’t just a coincidence.

An elevated resting heart rate can signal illness, stress, dehydration, or being poorly recovered. Your body is giving you valuable information to help you with your training goals. Ignoring it doesn’t make you disciplined, it just makes you disconnected.

4. The Weather Is Genuinely Unsafe

There’s a difference between uncomfortable and unsafe.

Rain, cold, wind, those are manageable. But black ice everywhere? -40C temps? Extreme heat warnings? Wildfire smoke that burns your throat? Lightning overhead? Don’t be a superhero, your putting yourself and your goals at risk!

You’re training for longevity, not a story about how tough you were one Tuesday.

5. You Have Sharp, Worsening, or Asymmetrical Pain

I’m not talking about general tightness. Not that mild soreness that warms up after ten minutes. I’m talking sharp, increasing, or one-sided pain that changes your stride.

I know you know the difference. That tweak that gets more noticeable every kilometre. The ache that makes you land differently. Any kind of pain that alters your mechanics is your body asking for help. Listen early and you’ll miss one run. Ignore it and you might miss two months.

6. You’re Mentally Cooked

This isn’t just your low motivation, “I don’t feel like it” energy. This is feeling genuinely overwhelmed. Emotionally drained. Snapping at people for no clear reason. Feeling like you’re holding everything together with duct tape, or rather KT tape.

Running often fills your cup. But sometimes it’s just one more demand on an already maxed-out system. If your nervous system is fried, adding more stress isn’t always the answer.

Just remember that recovery isn’t only physical.

7. You’re Clearly Dehydrated

Headache. Dizziness. Dry mouth. Dark urine. Maybe you travelled. Maybe you crushed one too many coffees and forgot water, (you know who you are). Maybe the day just ran away from you.

Starting a run already dehydrated increases strain on your heart and makes everything feel harder than it should. Hydrate. Reset. Try again tomorrow.

8. You’re Under-Fuelled

Skipped breakfast. Rushed lunch. Light dinner. Maybe you’re just “not that hungry.” Then you head out the door feeling shaky, flat, or weirdly irritable.

Running on empty isn’t grit. It’s simply adding unnecessary stress to your system.

Adaptation requires energy. If there’s no fuel in the tank, there’s nothing to rebuild with. Sometimes the strongest move is eating the sandwich and calling it a day.

9. You’re Coming Off a Hard Race or Max Effort

You left it all out there. Your quads are wrecked. Your nervous system is buzzing. Your brain is tired in a way that’s hard to explain. Think of it this way, racing is controlled trauma. That’s physiology.

The gains don’t happen during the race. They happen after, when you actually put your feet up and recover. If you stack intensity on top of deep fatigue because you feel “behind”, you short-circuit the adaptation.

Rest is part of the program!!

10. Your Body Is Asking for a Pause

This one is harder to measure. There’s no fever, no sharp pain, no dramatic red flags waiving in the hurricane winds. Just a deep internal “not today.”

It’s not fear. It’s not laziness. It’s self-awareness and tuning into your body and mind.

The longer you train, the more you learn the difference between discomfort that builds you and strain that breaks you. Good athletes don’t just follow a plan. They learn to read themselves.

Skipping a run isn’t quitting. It’s not a weakness. It’s not falling off track. Think of it as being the smartest runner on the track! You’re training with intention and wisdom.

The goal isn’t to execute every workout perfectly. The goal is to still be running months and years from now, strong, healthy, and excited to lace up your shoes. Sometimes the most disciplined thing you can do is close your watch, take off your shoes, and choose recovery. Then come back tomorrow ready to train, not just survive.

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