Wednesday Words to Run By

My feeling is that any day that I am too busy to run is a day that I am too busy.

-John Bryant

This week is the most challenging for me so far this year to balance work, school, family, and exercising. Time for spring parent-teacher conferences have arrived, which means that in addition to my typical one long day a week (about 14 hours away from home for teaching and doctoral classes), I will also have two more about 12 hour days for teaching and conferences. We do, however, have Friday off in order to compensate for the two late evenings. It is usually easy to map out 4-5 days to exercise, working around my one night of classes, but with three nights in a row, I know that I am going to be drained.

Last night as I was commuting, I came to the realization that yes, I will be too busy to run for those three days. While I will pack workout clothes in my car in the event that I get the motivation to go to the gym on the way home tonight or tomorrow, I also remember clearly that after long days I typically just want to come home, be with family and relax. I had to accept that it is okay. After all, this is not what my typical weeks look like.

Rather than lamenting the lost days of exercising or figuring out a way to cram in some workouts no matter what, I am going to focus on still eating healthy during these days, getting enough sleep, and making sure to not lose my momentum in the process. I know that come Friday it is essential that I get a workout in. I know that next week I cannot let one light workout week turn into another light workout week. I need to get back on schedule because often weeks like these are enough to throw off all my attempts at making healthy lifestyle changes. I will have to consciously remember that my extra busy work is over and it is time to go back to my previous cycle of regularly exercising. As long as I do, then I will just accept that occasionally my workout plans need to shift in order to accommodate other aspects in my life.