Yesterday afternoon I was rolling around on the floor, biting into a towel and occasionally screaming in pain. My leg cramp pain exceeded the kidney stone pain, which was my previous pain pinnacle.

Perhaps the worst part was having no idea when or if it was going to end. Turns out, it was about 45 minutes of agony. So how did this happen? Completely brought on by my own actions, it was a study in stupidity.

I’ve been running some longer runs this year, realizing that the way to not annually injure my calves is to become more of a runner. So I slowly increased mileage and ran a half marathon in April and 15 miles a few weeks ago. That process has worked well, I competed in sprint triathlon this past weekend and felt great.

So I looked at my schedule this week and realized that Wednesday was a reasonably open day. I scheduled myself a 15 mile run at noon, not really considering that I should be letting my body rest after the tri. I also ignored the bright sun and 88 degree temperature. Since I carry water in a backpack, I figured I’d be fine.

I felt good on the run, though exhausted the last few miles and out of water. I considered walking the last bit, but that just isn’t me. Within 30 minutes of finishing, my legs were lighting up with cramps that just kept coming. It was torture.

So what do I learn? Dial down the pride and up the planning and thinking. That’s good advice for all of us in every area of our lives.