what is and what could have been

If you have not yet found my other blog (team scrappy) you don't know that I am a triathlete. Training for triathlons goes in cycles - usually about four weeks per cycle - that consist of three weeks of challenging workouts that are meant to "build" you up, by breaking you down. You get more and more sore and tired, and then the last week of the cycle allows you to recover. That fourth week is heavenly - your muscles repair themselves, the soreness subsides, and by the end of the week you are faster and stronger than you were at the beginning of the cycle. I just started a new build cycle - the beginning of which is supposed to feel pretty good since it follows a recovery week. But because I was so consumed by the TV during my recovery week (I watched all of season two of 24 between Thursday and Sunday - along with several other shows), I really didn't take good care of myself. I didn't get much sleep, I missed two of my workouts, and I didn't really take the time to eat well. Consequence: I have felt like crap this week. Seriously, the headache yesterday was just icing on the cake (ps, the headache is gone today!).

Soooo, headache aside, this anti-TV thing has really saved my body this week. Had I started season three of 24 this week (one of the scenes I'm missing out on is at right), I might know a little more about what happens to Jack Bauer, but I probably would have missed out on four hours of naps and several badly needed sessions of stretching. You see, when I usually need to stretch or take a nap I say, "Oh, I'll just watch TV while I stretch," or "I can fall asleep while watching Friends," but the reality is that I'll turn on the TV and forget all about whatever it was I had planned on doing. Not any more!

A mild headache yesterday was a small price to pay for rest and stretching that I needed to recover. I may still be paying for last week's TV extravaganza, but I'd be paying for it a lot worse if I spent this week finding out what happened with Jack Bauer and some chemical weapon in Mexico. (I didn't watch it, I promise - I heard it from someone else.)

Anyway, school's out now for a week, and I'll be spending some of that time in New Jersey at my parents house. Lots of free time will definitely be a challenge! Let's see how it unfolds...

Days without incident: 4