I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Planning is absolutely CRITICAL to success. The bigger the goal, the more important the plan. EXAMPLE: I decided, 9.5 weeks prior, that it would be a great idea to run a marathon. Given the immense task ahead of me, it would literally only be possible if I planned well and followed that plan. I mean…I was basically going couch to marathon and banking on muscle memory to get me halfway there.
Having a plan, I find, is ALWAYS important for me. I have to have a schedule, a plan, a timeline…I have to have that plan so I have something to stick to. Without it…it’s so easy to just…not.
Whatever the reason, sometimes things just don’t work out how we plan. Honestly, it’s inevitable. This…however…I did not see coming.
SERIOUSLY?
Just shy of 5 feet of snow…in just over 2 weeks.
That much snow in that short a period of time is a snow-removal nightmare. Town, City, and privately contracted snow removal “troops” have had a hell of a time dealing with it all. It was just…so much so fast… And ever since that last blizzard…
We’re running out of room to put the snow.
The snowpiles and snowbanks are enormous. If you don’t live in New England or, I don’t know…on a mountain somewhere…you probably can’t comprehend quite how large some of these snow piles really are. Schools were closed for a full week, some towns even slightly longer!
Why?
If we don’t have room for the SNOW…well, trickle-down effect that ends with lack of safe places to walk and run. In many places there STILL aren’t sidewalks. Where there ARE…they often ice up due to the near-constant sub-freezing temperatures. Some days it’s even single-digit/sub-zero!
All of that has made running outdoors damn near impossible most days. But do we give up? No.
Adapt or die.
Things aren’t always going to work out how we plan. Hell, we’re lucky if it works out like that 50% of the time. If we just give up whenever things don’t go quite right we will never get anywhere…and I’d still be 300 lbs. ADAPT. Know what that means?
Figure it out.
Can’t run outside? Hit the treadmill. Yeah, not the most attractive option, but hey, at least you’re still running. The same goes for whatever your plan was. Sick kid and can’t get to the gym? Do a bodyweight workout at home. Hitting a plateau? Make a change to your workout or nutrition.
There is always an answer. There is always an alternate way to achieve your goal. Giving up and throwing in the towel is never the way to go.
I was SUPPOSED to be running a 10 mile road race tomorrow as my last “big” training effort before the marathon next weekend…
Aaaaaaand it’s postponed. Excellent.
Fine, Universe, I’ll adapt.
So instead, I’m going to do 10 miles outside TODAY, before the snow hits.
FINE.
So I’ll just hit the damn treadmill. Just try and stop THAT.
