Time to Catch Up

In light of my day off tomorrow (in recognition of my Saturday birthday), I realized that I've only worked one full week this year. And that was last week. Apparently last week's five whole days broke me and I'm ready for some down time.

I'll have to admit, however, that vacation time for me is a little less lazy than relaxing on the couch watching "You've Got Mail" and sipping tea. That's called a "sick day." Lately my vacation days have become extended training days. I'll wake up early, head to the rec. center and get in 3-4 good hours of training before noon. Whereas many people will sleep until midday, I'm ready to conquer more of the world before lunch!

Tomorrow will provide time for much-needed catch-up: some reading, more homework, story writing and, of course, those 12 five-mile-plus runs I need to squeeze into the month's remaining 19 days.

Although I'm getting a little intimidated that I've overshot on this goal, I think I'll stick with it and see how far I go. No money, no lives are riding on this goal. Just my pride. And that was bound to drop off soon anyway.

I forced a 2,000-yard/30-minute swim into the middle of my work day. It seems people have really enjoyed scheduling meetings immediately after my swim time (don't they know?) these past several weeks, so I find myself sticking to a very strict schedule of 30-45 minutes swimming and 15-20 minutes for getting showered/dressed. At least today it was for a good cause: my surprise birthday celebration, featuring a triple chocolate truffle cake.

When I eat something like a triple chocolate truffle cake, I get people who question my doing so. Many people, it seems, don't think that I should be eating something so rich and delicious when dedicated to something like triathlon training. It's like when people criticize celebrities for bad habits like smoking. Somehow I might corrupt another athlete with my indulgent eating habits. I exercise to remain healthy, not to get healthy.

My argument: I think I have more rights to indulge than someone who has no physical goals whatsoever. I'm not training to lose weight, and eating chocolate (or something equally dreamy) doesn't hinder my ability to train. It's a reward. Restraining yourself from fantastic foods doesn't make you more dedicated. It just makes you hungry.

Now, I'll just go back to having my cookies and tea...