That's Life...

I sit here on a cold rainy morning, contemplating what happened to our glorious weather over the past week. Last weekend you guys were running in the NYC Half in balmy temperatures (for March at least). Remember last year? It felt as though we were in a sauna, rather then running down the west side of Manhattan. I actually got out of the northeast last weekend and took my daughter to Florida to see my in-laws for a few days. I had to acclimate my body to running in 80˚ weather with humidity levels in the 80% range. Not what I was actually prepared for.

The thing about running in temperatures that aren’t really in sync with what the calendar is saying is always a challenge. The first cold run, the first rainy cold run, the first really hot humid run. All these things tax our bodies, regardless of how well we’ve trained. For the speedsters, the time may only be a few seconds per mile pace, for us mid- packers and mere mortals, it may take off as much as a minute or more. Either way, it’s an adjustment.

Adjusting our running is something we’ve all had to do for various reasons, new job = new hours; new apartment = different commute; new relationship = well, that doesn’t mean too many changes, right? New baby = no sleep; preschooler = chauffer. Sometimes it seems that every change in life brings new challenges that we need to balance against our running. Or rather, we need to balance our running against those new challenges.

If you pick up any magazine that deals with staying in shape or exercise, one of the first pieces of advice they give you about any program that you embark on is to stick with and schedule it in. It sounds corny, but it works. Back in the old days (before Outlook), I would have my organizer and would pen (yes, pen, not pencil) in my lunch time runs. Once digital calendars came into being, I would block out my runs. There were plenty of times when I would get a call from someone trying to schedule a meeting, asking if I could move my “other meeting”. I would feel a tad guilty as I thought to myself, if they only knew… And yes, sometimes, I would move my run to later or earlier, but sometimes I wouldn’t.

Nowadays? Well, I still schedule my runs and workouts. It’s a little more complicated then declining a meeting about a general ledger issue. Somehow coordinating my husband’s calendar, my daughter’s and my own is trickier then setting up a meeting at a now defunct Wall Street firm. I think it’s because we’re not all on the same server and Outlook platform, but it’s also because it’s a little harder to decline a playdate for a 4½ year old or to postpone a swim because your husband had an unexpected meeting come up on the largest project he’s ever worked on (did you ever notice how every project is the largest ever?).

No matter what challenges we face as runners, as athletes, we all have our own way of dealing with the complications that arise. I would love to hear from some of you how you get your runs or rides or swims in. Do you block out time on a calendar? Do you tell you significant other that a certain hour or two is sacrosanct? Do you go to the gym at the same time every day and it’s just become accepted that if someone needs to find you that’s were you are?

Today’s challenge for me? Coordinating painting a bookcase with the 4½ year olds’ help, a yoga dvd (no way I’m making it to a class) and getting said 4½ year old to an ice skating lesson at 5pm. This all has to happen between noon and 5pm. Help! - Tha Gabster