Alonzo Mourning knows how fragile the human body can be. His kidneys taught him that last season.

But that realization hasn't stopped him from pushing himself.

``I have to listen to my mom,'' the Heat's center said Monday. ``She was on the phone with me [Sunday] night pleading with me not to do too much. But she knows me. I try to force the issue and push through it. In a lot of ways, it's not really smart.''

Mourning suffers from the kidney ailment focal glomerulosclerosis, which caused him to miss 69 games last season but now appears to be in remission. He is still not in the physical condition he was before his illness, largely because of the heavy dosage of medication he takes daily.

But Mourning doesn't always want to hear what his body is trying to tell him -- that it isn't where he wants it to be.

``I know this is a marathon,'' he said of the NBA season. ``I should know that it's important for me to be here come the latter part of the season. I have to be smart and listen to my body to prepare myself for that. But at the same time, we have to do the things that we have to do to get better as a team.''