Not according to Plan

Life is sometimes really funny. One week (last week a.k.a vacation week), I was able to stick to the training plan and then some, putting in record miles on the bike and running and this week has just barely started and just nothing seems to go according to plan.

Sunday was supposed to be a double brick, but after snapping at my husband for no good reason and then snapping at my mother on the phone for no good reason, I decided to give myself a mental health day and took the day off from my workouts. Most of the time exercise helps me to decompress and sometimes, the workout on the plan is an additional stress source. I don't know if it was post vacation blues or PMS... but not doing anything other than walking the dog was the better alternative for me.

Monday was supposed to be a 30 mile bike ride. I felt like company, so I decided to join a group ride that starts on Monday, just a couple of miles from where I work. I packed the bike and my gear the night before and then changed right after work. While in the bathroom, I noticed that I forgot my sportsbra and my first reaction was: "Forget it. Just go home and hop on the trainer for the ride, the weather looks bad anyways!" But then I thought: "Suck it up, buttercup!" and went to the ride anyways (in my regular bra and it didn't feel right, at least there was no chafing). We got in 17 miles, while the last (maybe) five miles was through a thunderstorm... it poured down on us, the wind pushed us around, the rain and the debris from the trees hit us, it was dark.... I have never felt so scared on my bike before and I am happy to report that everyone in our group made it back to the cars safe and sound.

Today I had a 6 mile run with some hill repeats on tap. After the rain from last night, it actually felt fairly decent this morning. I started out from the Y for my 2 mile warm-up and then did my first hill repeat on McDaniel. After I topped the hill, I felt a rumble in my tummy and I knew, I was in trouble. For a minute, I thought about hiding in some bushes, but it had gotten light by then and there are just a ton of runners out and about around that time in the area.... So I made it slowly back (jog-walking) to the Y, losing a lot of time. After my pit stop, I headed out again to Faris this time, because that hill is just so much closer and did 5 more hill repeats there, before running out of time and having to head back to the Y. At least I got my mileage in this morning, but unfortunately not the number of hill repeats that I was supposed to, but I guess, it's better than nothing.

I know, life doesn't end, when things don't go according to plan and a race is not being made or lost by a handful of workouts... Call me OCD or a control freak, but I just like to do things according to plan for the most part... All is not lost for the week yet, I think I'll have a comeback in the second half! ;-)