It's All In How You Look At It!

     The sun is shining and the trees and temperature are both telling me it is spring. It appears we've skipped winter here in Western Washington. I thought it would be the perfect day for a run. I threw on some shorts, grabbed my sunglasses, filled my amphipod with some water and headed out the door. My run started okay. I had an easy six mile recovery run scheduled and was ready to enjoy it. I opted to run through town so I could get a good hill workout in. My pace was slow but that was okay. I kept reminding myself it wasn't supposed to be fast, hence the term "easy run". At 2 miles I realized I had to use the restroom. At 2.5 miles I realized my stomach was not feeling tip top in shape. Ugh! That's okay, I told myself. I'd just stop by my house for a quick potty break and head back out the door again.
     I never made it back out the door. I realized it just wasn't going to happen today. And you know what, that's okay. My training plan, much as I sometimes think, isn't really cognitive and aware. It has no idea I didn't do the scheduled mileage. Likewise, it doesn't care. Still, I threw in a short note about tummy troubles. I spent some time stretching, took a nice hot shower (something I typically don't have time for before I have to pick up my kids from school), blow dryed my hair (something else I rarely have time for) and put on some clean clothes. I felt good! It was nice to realize I can feel good about myself even if I find I need to back off here and there. Yeah, my tummy still feels "iffy" but I know it is a hormonal thing and it will pass. I'm also feeling a bit of hormonal induced fatigue. My body seems to be telling me to rest. I will respect my body and heed its wise advice. After all, it deserves my respect. I've pushed it and demanded so much lately. It deserves a day of rest. Even more so since I'll be pushing it again this weekend in a 10K race. I will not feel bad about myself and view today as a failure. Rather, I will call today a taper in advance of my race this weekend. It's all in how you look at it and I'm looking at it with the same enthusiasm most of the rest of this frozen country will feel when they too see the signs of spring outside their windows.