Jigsaw Puzzles

One of my friends from way back in my university days posted something on his wall today. 

He wrote: "I now know why most runners don't take three weeks off to carb load five weeks out from race day". 

He was training for a race this fall.  He and his family went out east for a few weeks for a family vacation.  He came home and headed out for his first run in weeks.  It didn't go well apparently.

Life and running don't always mix.

That's ok.

Our beloved running coach always says that running has to fit into your life.  Not the other way around. 

It's really true. Lately, every week is starting to look like a big jigsaw puzzle.  I'm trying to make every piece fit even though there are more and more piece and no more space.  Running and all the other activities associated with it (stretching, icing, showering etc) is now taking over 10 hours per week.  The next few weeks will be more like 12 or 13.  That doesn't sound too crazy over the course of a week but it's double what it used to take and I used to struggle to fit it in before. 

Most of the time, I make it happen because I have committed to running a marathon.  It's only for a few months and I need to do what I need to do.  Sometimes though, life is going to win. 

And it should.

I should be in bed early tonight - it's been a long week and I'm exhausted.  Instead, I'm hopping in the car and heading to Toronto after work.  I'm going to meet friends for dinner and a tour of the Bell Lightbox (home of the Toronto International Film Festival).  Fun!

Next week, I have booked myself two photoshoots after work.  Fitting in three runs around that is going to be a major challenge.  Next weekend, I have committed to being a driver for a 24-hour ultra-distance relay.  Eight runners + 245km of running. Problem is that I also need to fit in my own 28k run and I can't do it with our running group because that's when the relay is happening. So I'm doing it alone on Friday morning. 

I'm ok with that.

The choices we make are what makes our life our own.