That's Okay

Spud's teacher has something that she says to the kids regularly.  "That's okay."  Four year olds sometimes get worked up over little things, and sometimes they're bigger, but usually it's no big deal.  She'll put her hands out to the side and say "That's okay."

Last week I had a good solid week of training.  I felt like I was really getting back into it.  Some of my workouts were easier and some left me in a fabulous state of utter exhaustion.  Friday came, and after 6 solid days of training, I had a planned and deserved rest day.

Then, Friday night came and I got slammed with the illness that Sweetpea had come down with the day before.  Within the same hour, Spud and my husband started feeling sick as well.  The weekend (when I had planned to do a long bike, long run, shorter run, and a swim) became a write off.  Sweetpea was the sickest of all of us.  She was coughing so hard she was vomitting and getting bleeding noses.  Rather then spending a couple hours on a bike, I spent a couple hours in an urgent care clinic.

It's Monday morning, and everyone is feeling somewhat better.  Not perfect, but better.  Spud will probably go to school today.  The husband is taking a sick day from work, but he's recovering.  Sweetpea is still sick, but the medication she got yesterday allowed her to cough less actually sleep for the first time in four days.  I'm still congested, but feeling well enough that I might attempt a short run if I can fit it in and am optimistic that I can go to my coached swim this evening.

I won't get that missed training from the weekend back.

And you know what?

That's okay.

The thing is, I'm a mother first.  Sure, my children are like little plague factories, but I love them.  They're going to keep bringing home germs and I'm going to keep getting sick.  Sometimes I'm going to have perfect weeks of training, and other weeks I'm going to miss my key workouts and have no way of fitting them back in.

That's okay.

I am dedicated.  I am consistent.  When I can, I will follow my plan to a tee.  When I can't, I might miss some of it.  Will my performance on race day suffer because of it?  Possibly.

That's okay.

I'd like to look at it as my performance might be different, rather then it might "suffer".  I'm confident that I can pull off a solid race despite the occasional training gap due to illness.  What I want to do is race the best that I am capable of.  There are plenty of things that limit me, and short of becoming a pro and dedicating all my days to training, there always will be limiters.  (Having said that, even pros have limiters.)  Dealing with sick kids and them spreading their germs is simply one of my limiters.

That's okay.