Flexibilty

It seems these days that everything I do has to be scheduled into my already busy life. I work full time, married with two boys, and going to school part time. Add to that managing a household, and my life seems pretty full. Where does that leave "me" time? Many might say, well going to school is doing something for myself. Well, yeah, it is, but it is also extremely stressful, and very taxing on my brain. I also need something that helps me destress, and clear my mind. Running/exercise is what does that for me. So, I NEED to add it to my weekly schedule. The question then becomes when I can find time? I know I need it, so I must make time.

I decided that I want to run my second 1/2 marathon in November. My first, in my opinion, did not go as well as I wanted it to. I felt completely unprepared, and was dealing with undiagnosed exercise induced asthma. So, this time around, I am managing my asthma, and want to be prepared. I have found a training plan that I like, and have made it one of my priorities. I've learned that if I'm not happy, my family is miserable, so I have made sure to add "me" time into my schedule. That said, though, I still sometimes just don't feel like running. This is where the "hate" portion of running comes into play. Sometimes, I can force myself onto the treadmill, or out on the road, and in the end I am glad I did, but other times I just can't do it. Or, something happens and I just can't devote the time I need to my run. So, this is where flexibility comes in.

Yes, I have a scheduled training plan with set days to run, cross train or rest, but when things get in the way, I need to be able to swap days or even sometimes, even have to skip exercising that day. This happened to me today, I had to leave early today to take my two dogs to the vet, so that didn't allow for a morning run, and if anyone knows Florida, its pretty hard to run in the afternoon. Unfortunately, my treadmill is in the garage, and even with fans, is really hot. I knew today, because it was so hot, I wouldn't be able to run the miles I want, so I decided I needed to be flexible. And, just so you know, I am not the most flexible person in the world. I like schedules, they keep me on track, which is something  I need. I easily get off track. I don't know how many times I get distracted during the day, and forget what I was originally doing. Kind of what I am doing right now - LOL. Ok, back to the point of my blog, flexibility. So, today, it was do another type of exercise or none at all. I'm proud of myself, I didn't let myself give in. I chose, another type of exercise, and not an easy one at that. I chose Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred - Level 2, and if anyone has tried it, it is definitely not easy. So, I am patting myself on the back, the old me would've hung up the towel, grabbed a beer, and plopped on the couch to watch tv. The new me says I can't have a beer unless I workout first. As London Tipton says, YAY me! :)