Busy Schedules & Training

(Warning, brutal honesty ahead)

Guys, let's be honest: life gets really busy sometimes.

Sometimes, you are working 60 hour weeks at a physical job with barely enough time to grab some dinner once you get home before you're whisked away to another commitment, whether that's church, a second job, or otherwise. Sometimes you can get a workout in that week, on the night you don't have an additional commitment, and sometimes you're so exhausted by the time you get home, that just the though of putting on workout clothes is enough to make your head spin.

Sometimes you feel bad about not getting the workouts in that are scheduled for you. Sometimes, it stresses you out even more to think about getting that 90 minute bike ride in after you've already put in 12 hours at work and driven home through crazy traffic trying to drink enough coffee to convince yourself that yes, it really is worth getting the bike put back on the trainer and ride it. Sometimes you even get so stressed out about getting all your workouts in that you cause a relapse into an illness that is the very reason you do these workouts to begin with.

This week I had to tell myself, "No." No, I won't feel bad about missing workouts after working six 12 hour days in a row. No, I won't beat myself up while driving home for thinking that it might be better to just sit on the couch for an hour before I go to bed. No, I won't be stressed out all day trying to find a way to squeeze an hour run into a schedule that doesn't have 15 minutes to spare. No, I won't feel bad that my only workout this week wasn't my personal record, even though I gave it everything I had that day.

More importantly, this week I told myself, "Yes." Yes, it is ok for you to relax and do nothing right now, because that's what you need. Yes, you have permission to rest your body and your mind after a stressful day. Yes, you will have a better week next week.

Life is tough, and there are weeks that sometimes happen back to back (to back, to back, to back...) where you think there is no way on earth you will live to see the next month. I had one of those weeks this week, complete with an evening of anxiety attacks as I was trying to go to sleep. I spent an hour of already precious and scarce rest time with my body writhing and contorting, only to get up and go to work the next morning. I didn't workout that evening. I didn't work out the next evening. By the time I got home, I had enough time to eat dinner and go to bed. Other days I got home in time to clean up the house, get dinner around, and then rush off to a group event. I didn't work out that evening.

Last night, I had some down time for the first time all week. Do you know what I did? I drank a beer, watched a movie, and went to bed. I sat my butt on the couch all night, did absolutely nothing, and enjoyed being stationary for a couple of hours. That was probably the most therapeutic thing I had done all week.

What I'm saying, is that we will all have weeks like this at some point, where life gets in the way of working out. It's ok. It's ok to take the time for yourself to breathe for a moment. It's ok to take an evening or two and relax to recover your sanity.

Admittedly, it's been a couple of weeks in a row for me like this. I've gotten a workout in here or there, but I have been struggling with telling myself its ok. It's easy for me to say the words to someone else and proclaim, "Rest! You deserve it!" But when it comes to actually believing that that's true for me, I don't do so well. I'm good at taking the time off, but I'm even better at feeling guilty about it, and being stressed out about what I'm not doing, or what I should be doing.

This week should allow for more training time, but it's hard to say. Work is in busy season, personal commitments continue, and I'm not perfect. I'm still tired, and trying to rest my body and mind to come into this next week refreshed and renewed. I'll still get upset with myself for missing workouts if that happens, but I'll also praise myself when I complete a workout, knowing that I was exactly where I needed to be.

If you've had a time like this, how did you get through it or over it? I know I could use the help, and I'm sure there are others out there who could use it as well. Later on...