Not Off The Wagon But Not On Track

My training has been going really well but my life has become very busy lately. Instead of making my training a priority and sucking it up to go for a run in the morning, I've been squeezing my training in around everything else in my schedule.

I didn't run at all yesterday. I slept in and then worked an 11 hour day. I was tempted to go for a quick set of Hill Repeats when I got home but it was 9pm and I knew I would only be running the workout because I didn't want another blank space on my training calendar... not because running at 9pm was a good idea.

Last year, I ran at least a mile a day as a random challenge to myself. There were a lot of days like yesterday where I was forcing myself out the door in the evening just to get that run in. I wasn't disciplined about scheduling my mile-a-day then, and I haven't been good about scheduling my training lately.

Today was more of the same. Instead of getting up early to go for the 10 miles I missed yesterday, I ran in the afternoon. I work shorter days on Friday because I work late on Thursday so I decided to run after work. The problem is, I also put off packing for a trip we're taking this weekend so I had to pack my things and load the car before I could go for my run. By the time I was packed, I didn't have time for 10 miles and had to cut it back to 6. The actual run went fine, but I'm starting to feel lousy about my time management when it comes to my training.

I have high hopes for October. I want to make some key adjustments to my routine to help make the marathon on November 6th my best yet. This is the time that I've really slacked off my training for some previous marathons and I want to go into this one feeling like I didn't hold anything back.

In October, I plan to get up and do more of my runs in the morning before work. I plan to miss fewer scheduled workouts and really get the most out of my remaining training. I plan to stop drinking soda and eating candy until after the marathon (I Love both but it's tradition to cut them out of my diet leading up to a marathon).

I'm still happy with where I am in my training and missing the past two days hasn't completely derailed me, but I'm seeing the familiar recurring patterns popping up and I don't want to fall into old habits.

Thursday
Goal For The Day: Middle Distance (Postponed).
Distance: 0.00 Miles.

Friday
Goal For The Day: Middle Distance.
Distance: 6.00 Miles.
Time: 40:36. 6:46 Avg. (6:35, 6:20, 6:48, 6:38, 7:10, 7:01).
Route: Kircher Park Loop.
Conditions: 73 degrees. 4:30pm.

Notes: I didn't feel bad about missing Wednesday but Thursday was just plain lazy. Then cutting today short because of poor planning was frustrating. I don't want to make excuses or rationalize missing days and then come up short on Race Day. Then I'll look back and wonder why I didn't just get up in the morning. I want to go into Race Day feeling like I prepared the best I could, no matter what the result is. Tomorrow is a new month loaded with opportunity.

Daily Miles: 6.00 Miles.
Blog Totals:
  Run - 381.42 Miles.
  Bike - 144.45 Miles.
  Swim - 10,050+ meters.