What Happened?

I’m not quite sure when or how it happened, but I’ve somehow done a complete 180 in my life. Just a few months ago I cherished the freedom of my independent life and looked forward to my free time because that’s exactly what it was – free time. I could do anything that I wanted and I rarely ever made plans more than 24 hours in advance. Simply put, I hated schedules and craved spontaneity. If I felt like sitting around all day after a workout, I did it. If I felt like calling up a friend and walking around the museums all day, I did it. It was perfect.

Now, I’m a different person and I’m not sure I like it. I just spent over an hour (on a Friday night, no less) planning almost every hour of my weekend. And if that’s not enough, those plans were made with the knowledge that they would have a domino effect on my schedule for Monday, Tuesday, and even Wednesday.

How will my long ride tomorrow affect my ten mile race on Sunday? If I add a couple miles before my race on Sunday, will that impact my recovery from the long ride or even my interval training on Tuesday night? Should I do a swim on Sunday afternoon or concentrate on recovery… but then that will mean I don’t swim for almost four days unless I move my swim up to Monday. If I go out with friends tonight, how late can I stay out and still have enough time to sleep before my long ride? ….. I think you get the drift.

My life has turned from absolute spontaneity to nonstop planning. And now, as the hours and mileage increase, I find myself updating and tweaking the schedule at every chance I get. I rely on my body (my legs, mostly) to tell me what I can and cannot do, instead of before when I just did whatever sounded fun or whatever I felt like doing.

Worst of all, I find myself planning out exactly how long (down to the minute) I can spend doing the simplest things of all – reading, watching TV, or hanging out with friends.

Sad, I know! Let’s just say I have a list of what my life will be like during those weeks after the race, and NO PLANNING is very very high on the list. The only thing I intend to do on June 28th is anything that I don’t intend to do on June 28th.

That is, until I start training for my next challenge… (possibly coming in a post on Sunday)