What do you do when you find inconsistency within your consistent structure? And what does THAT mean? Well, sometimes we get so caught up in the immediate experience of our work, training & goals, that we lose sight of the bigger picture.

Last Sunday, we had a perfect day for our long run. I had my oatmeal 1 hour prior, felt ready to go, looking forward to the route. Truly enjoyed the company of my fellow runners training for a Half Marathon in October – easy chatting and banter as we maintained our steady long-run pace. This went on for about the first 8k, and then, my gut started telling me I needed to find a washroom.

Seriously? Now?

I have an eagle eye and good memory of all available washroom stops in our hood, and knew I had about 1.5k before we’d get to a Second Cup. After dealing with nature’s call, I’d now lost my running pals, and still had about 6k to go. I thought ‘If I just pick up my pace, I can likely catch up to them . . . or I can wait another 5 minutes and run with the next group at a slower pace.’ Decided to try to catch up, so off I went, pushing the pace. This lasted for about 10 minutes, and then I took my walk break (we usually do 10 & 1s). Then another blistering 7 minutes and a longer walk break. Still couldn’t see them ahead, and the running spurts are getting shorter/walk breaks taking longer.

I made it back to the start, feeling a little discouraged at my inconsistent performance while running on my own. My good friend Jane reminded me that I finished the run, so I still met my ‘consistency’ goal. That little fresh perspective helped a lot!

Sometimes, when we’re trying to follow the structure we’ve set for ourselves, life happens. We have demands from our work, need to look after our families, or sickness can derail us. It’s okay to keep the plan flexible. We don’t need to throw out the baby with the bath water, we just readjust, recommit and carry on!

Your thoughts, your experiences? Pls comment and share!

~ til next week