Friday Ramble 04/01/21

This week: Shifting priorities, more reasons to eat lots of calories, and tapping into the ultra mindset. 

The Running Gods work in mysterious ways. This week was supposed to be about recovery, rejuvenation, and healing following a 3-week buildup that may have been the most productive training cycle I’ve ever had. 

It was all of those things, just not the way I intended. Instead of focusing my energies and attention inward, they were directed toward my 8-year-old who’s been home sick with a (non-COVID) cold. One of the not-fun by-products of having kids remove masks at school is that all those adolescent germs are now loose in the wild. 

Had I been trying to achieve a big mileage goal this week, it probably would have put me on the couch next to my son, binging Odd Squad surrounded by a mountain of tissues and stuffies. The human body can only take so much. One thing it can’t do at my age is exert enormous amounts of effort in multiple directions at once. 

The recovery week came at a perfect time. In an effort to stave off whatever illness is circulating through our home, I cut way back on what I thought I’d be doing this week – long spin sessions, intense strength training workouts – and focused on the basics, mainly getting lots of sleep. While it was initially frustrating to surrender some of my physical goals with so much momentum building, it was an easy decision to make. 

Quite honestly, had a mega mileage week been involved it would have been a messier equation. I probably would have tried to meet all my running goals, which would have taxed my immune system, leaving me susceptible to my son’s cold, and knocking me out for a week. Thank you, Running Gods. 

At the same time, nothing is more important than my family’s health. Priorities shift and adjustments need to be made. That includes writing this newsletter. In a nutshell, this week has not been kind on concentration. So, I thought it would be useful to highlight a few other stories and writers who captured my attention.