Re-evaluation

This morning I had an epiphany, which was: I do not need to be training for another marathon right now.

I was driving all over town, dropping off keys, picking up contracts, taking down signs, collecting checks. Every five seconds my phone rang, and twice it died in the middle of a conversation because I have talked all the life out of my battery and it no longer holds much of a charge. I was making a to-do list on a Subway napkin, but little snippets of to-dos kept crossing my mind and then disappearing before I could add them. I understood the saying "... like a chicken with his head cut off."

I was tired and I was fighting the cold that's been lingering all week. I started to note that I needed to call Katie to schedule tomorrow's 14-mile run, in accordance with the marathon training plan. Then I thought, why in the world am I doing that?

We work a lot of weekends, so Saturdays spent sleeping in with Matt, then hanging out with him, are precious to me. Waking up at 6 a.m. then running for two hours then eating oatmeal while reading the newspaper alone then crawling, sweaty, back into bed just isn't the same. I do not intend to do that every weekend between now and November just so I can prove something to myself.

There is no way to train for a marathon without logging a heck of a lot of hours and miles every week. As in, I might as well get a part-time job. In my busyness-infested life, a new time-consuming goal is the last thing I need.

It took me about three minutes this morning to think the above thoughts and decide, yeah, I absolutely am taking a pass on this one. Quality of life for me, right now, does not mean a personal record in the marathon.