I’m taking the first complete day off in six days.
I feel pretty unhappy about it, but one of the reasons I started this blog was to keep myself honest, so here goes.
It’s been really miserably cold out and I’ve been working late hours and I hate running at night when the sidewalks are covered with snow.
And I hate the treadmill.
I can just *hear* myself whining when I write that.
Sunday was supposed to be my long run day (9 miles). However, a family emergency came up and I made a compromise and cut it short to a 2.5-mile run. Choosing to reschedule my run bothered me more than I wanted to let on, but sometimes you just have to do that.
I hoped I’d get the chance to make it up at lunch today, but some co-workers I only get see occasionally were up and I went out with them instead.
Even though I look at my log and I put 22 miles on the road last week and I know in my heart that I will be fine for the race, as long as I don’t take any more unscheduled days or cheat on long runs again. This weekend was just hard because there were too many responsibilities.
Tonight I’m grouchy and feeling crappy. I have swimmers ear, and a persistent headache to accompany this earache. So instead of heading to Planet Fitness to try to pound out some circuits, I’m in bed answering email and writing this blog post. I’m planning on going to bed early and trying to make it up tomorrow.
Fitness is a commitment, and it’s one that you have to really prioritize, because it’s not always fun to do.
I used to think, “I have so much of x, y, and x to do. I could sit here forever and never get it done. I don’t have time to go to the gym in the morning, or at lunch, and I’m way too tired when I get home. I’m also too tired to make a meal, so I’ll stop at Dunkin Donuts on the way.”
But now I think, “Fitness is not a part of my life that I am willing to compromise. There will always be more of x, y, or z to do. But I only have one body, and I owe it to myself to give it the 60 minutes a day it needs to be as strong as I can be.”
And even though I might get into work later, or lose the time I would have spent working at my desk at lunch, or lose that time I would have done spent with my husband on Sunday during my long run, it’s worth it because it makes me a better, happier person the other 23 hours of the day.
But sometimes there are very good reasons to compromise. And family and bad earaches are some of them.