Day to Day Struggles

   Ever have one of those weeks at work where you are running around like a chicken with your head cut off and the next day there is almost nothing for you to do?  Yeah that's been my week so far! Monday and Tuesday I only put in 1hr of overtime and during the day I had almost nothing to do!  Then Wednesday comes along, and naturally I had plans after work, only to find out that the day wasn't going to go even remotely how I had it planned!  I was constantly on the go, with a hard deadline for 8am this morning, there was no way I could leave work. So after starting work at 6:30am, I was finally able to leave at 7:15pm! That's a long day for anyone, let alone being a contractor!  So naturally, I didn't get my work out in.  By the time I got home at 8pm, I was so mentally exhausted that the physical exhaustion was just as intense. 
    I was really frustrated that I wasn't able to get a training run in or a work out of some sort.  But it served as a good lesson.
    1. It is OK to miss a training run - When I trained for my first marathon, I thought I'd never see the finish line if I didn't do EVERY SINGLE mile in the training program.  To the point that I ran in the rain one day and slipped in the mud and was in pain for a few days and had no choice but to skip the run the next day.  Another time, it was pouring rain and I had to get a long 14 mile run in... so I went to the campus gym and did 14 miles on the treadmill!!! Have you ever done that?  It's brutal!
   2. Things NEVER go as planned - I'm a planner, I like to know exactly when I'm going to workout, what is going on in the day, so that I can plan out everything.  Sure every now and then I fly by the seat of my pants, but mostly I like knowing.  With working overtime as much as I am, planning has sort of gone out the window.  I no longer know when I'll get home, when I'll eat dinner or if I'll even work OT.  So I've started leaving a gym bag in my car, so that I can change and go workout right after work, whatever time that seems to be.  But don't get frustrated if it doesn't work out like you thought.  Sometimes thats what makes a workout interesting!

   Lesson:  Training and working out is a day to day struggle, just because one day doesn't go as planned, doesn't mean every day will be like that! DON'T GIVE UP! The ups and downs of training is what separates the really runners from the supposed runners!

Rocking out to: Absolute by The Fray