Flexibility

This post has nothing to do with touching my toes or Downward Dog. I do neither particularly well, and although that kind of flexibility is also on my to-do list, the flexibility to which I refer today is of a more global variety.

Today was supposed to be my first official 20 miler of the Boston cycle (I did 19.5 last week, but it wasn't official). Last night, however, Burlington got 9 inches of heavy, wet snow and because it's a weekend, the sidewalks haven't received much attention. To top it off, I have a chemistry and biology exam on Wednesday  and a practice MCAT next Sunday, plus my regular 40 hour work week staring me in the face. So, I didn't do 20 miles today. I didn't even do 10.  I slogged for an hour tonight between practice sets and returned looking like a human slush puppy. But I got out there.

Life or not, Boston is coming. Long runs are vital. But so is sanity. I'm a runner but I'm also a researcher, a student, a daughter and a sister. So when weeks like this crop up, I start bargaining with myself. If all else fails, I try for at least an hour of running a day. If the wheels really come off the bus, I sneak out for 30 minutes. On really bad days, I settle for ten minutes and some crunches. But those days are rare. Years of experience have taught me that running makes me a better/kinder/more focused researcher/student/daughter/sister. As such, I can rationalize 30 minutes of running taken from all my other responsibilities.

How flexible are you? What do you do to figure out how to balance running, the demands of the marathon and the inevitable life monster that disrupts even the more organized of people?

Run On.
~S