Time to de-stress

I've always been good at managing my time.  If you knew me in high school or college or really even now, you knew that I carried a small notebook where I'd plan out my day and write my "to do" list.  It's probably just my Type A personality (I hear most runners have those!:)), but that's just how I've always been.

...which is why this weekend was tough for me.

This weekend I was supposed to run 15miles on Saturday and then have a 3 hour bike workout followed by a 5 mile run on Sunday.  Luckily, my training partner Joe is awesome and agreed to meet me at 6am in Cary to run 15 miles.  He is the definition of a true friend--I mean, seriously, who does that? I'm very lucky!  So, 15miler on Saturday was done.  Sunday would prove to be a major fail.

Saturday after my early morning long run with Joe (and a shower before leaving!), my mom, sister and I left for central Illinois to attend my mom's side of the family bridal shower ("Swift shower" as I refer to it).  We went to three different wineries and just truly enjoyed each other's company...it was completely perfect for my mom's side of the family and I absolutely loved it.  However, it was three hours away and we had a bridal shower to come home to on Sunday.  My shower on Sunday was 1:30-4pm, so I figured I could just squeeze in the bike after the shower.  Hey, the Olympics are on after all so it's not like I'd be bored on the trainer.

Sometimes, no matter how well you think you have things planned, they just don't work out.  My mom's best friend who has children my, Nic and Kristina's ages (we have all been friends since I was 5) threw my bridal shower on Sunday in Crystal Lake.  Ryan came at the end to say hi to all of my nearest and dearest in attendance.  It wasn't until the hostess said she had to leave (at 5pm, well after the shower!) for mass that we realized it was Sunday and we needed to go to church.  Well, after church we wanted to hang out as a family before Kristina goes back to Arkansas on Tuesday.

What's my point?...

Life throws curveballs at you.  You can't anticipate everything, nor can you plan for everything.  When this happens, you can't let it stress you out; you just have to go with the flow.  I used to be CRAZY about making sure I got my workouts in and honestly, did it matter if I got in that extra 5 miles for the week?  Probably not.  Would those extra 5 miles that I didn't get in really have made me run a 2:46 marathon?  Again, probably not.

SO many people stress over getting every single run/bike/swim/whatever in.  I'm definitely guilty of doing that; however, I've come to learn that it's a lot easier to just "let it go" when you can't get a workout in.  No point in stressing about something that you don't have control over.

Alright, there's my wisdom for the week.  And, because looking at pictures is fun, here are some pictures from the showers this weekend...

 My sister and I at our second winery, Willet's Winery.  ps: notice the adorable wine glass!

 How fun are these candy apples and pretzels?!

 My mom and me at our final winery, Makinaw Valley, where Jerry and Katie got married!

 My Sunday Shower at the Agnes house with some of my wonderful friends:)

Umm, how perfect is this?!

This week will be a little more relaxed, so hopefully that leads to some quality training.  If I can't get it in, there are other things that are much higher priorities (job, wedding, house) that just have to have more attention.  Hope that everyone is able to be a little less stressed about working out and getting everything in...it's a lesson that took me (clearly) forever to learn, but I'm a much happier person when I'm not stressed!