And that is how today’s workout didn’t happen. I didn’t map it out as part of my day, and between working all day, having company (not the same company that was in earlier this weekend, now it’s a cousin), and doing an early dinner out to accommodate Sweet Pea’s bedtime, it didn’t happen. Yes, I could have gotten on the trainer (which was my vague plan, though calling it a plan may be far too generous) from 7:30-8:15pm.
But, this being my taper week, plus the fact that Sweet Pea doesn’t realize we all set our clocks back, one of my goals is to go to bed as early as possible, and doing any form of exercise after dinner is in direct opposition to that goal. I’m a night person in the first place. For me, an evening workout is about as soothing as a triple shot Americano. In fact, when I was in graduate school, I would often go to my 24 hour gym at 10pm and get on the Stair Master for 45 minutes to give me the energy to finish my papers and projects. My roommate at the time, who, god love her, was a classic type A, with all her work done well in advance, (and all of her clothes perfectly ironed, in neat, color coordinated rows, every hair perfectly in place at all times, always a couple minutes early to everything, yet so incredibly much fun to be with, boy do I miss her!) would stare with her mouth agape in disbelief and say “I can’t believe you are going anywhere right now when your paper is due in less than 12 hours. My stomach is in knots for you.” But it worked for me. If every minute could be the last minute, I would get 1000% more done, I am sure of it. I think there’s a lesson there…
Non sequitor: At work today I met the most AMAZING person. I am so scared the Healthcare Privacy Police are going to knock on my door if I talk about work at all, but I must share this… One of my patients and I got to chatting and I learned that she’s been a recreational runner since her first child was a year old. What’s the big deal, right? The big deal is that she’s in her 80’s. I’m no math genius but I did some quick, rough calculations in my head, and realized, oh my god, this woman has been running since the late 1960’s. Running wasn’t even A Thing People Did back then. If the sight of a man running down the street was bizarre, a woman running down the street was considered downright crazy.
Did you know that in 1966 Roberta Gibb hid behind a bush by the Start line of the Boston Marathon and unofficially started when the gun went off? Back then, women were excluded from the race, because women supposedly weren’t capable of it (Although there have been reports of women having finished marathons as early as the late nineteenth century).
So I couldn’t just smile and say “Awesome, I’m a runner too.” I had to get some more info. She told me she bought her first pair of Adidas running shoes in the late 1960’s but because they didn’t have a women’s line, she purchased the smallest men’s pair for $15 (which was the equivalent of about $100 today, according to the online inflation calculator I found, actually). She said people looked at her when she ran outside like she was crazy. She was in her 80’s but she looked about 70. So, that was pretty awesome.
So I didn’t work out, but I met someone awesome at work, and our guest happens to be a major morning person which meant Sweet Pea got to spend the pre-dawn hour playing with someone (instead of alone in her crib with her stuffed animals, because this mama doesn’t play anything with anyone before the sun rises. Unless it involves a workout. Yes, I have been known to exercise while it’s still dark). It was a pretty good day.