Learning to Cope When Everything Seems to Go Wrong

One thing. I just wanted ONE thing to go as planned yesterday.

I started off with the best of intentions, then it quickly went off the rails.

🙅🏻‍♀️ I couldn’t get my 🍑 out of bed to run early.
🙅🏻‍♀️ My adjusted plan to workout midday got sidetracked.
🙅🏻‍♀️ 10,000 unexpected calls took over HOURS of my day.
🙅🏻‍♀️ I took so many deep breathes I’m surprised I’m remained on the ground and not in outer space.
🙅🏻‍♀️ Tears of frustration hit my desk.
🙅🏻‍♀️ A tiny fraction of what I planned to get done actually got crossed off the list.
🙅🏻‍♀️ I wanted (more than once) to unsubscribe from being an adult.

So yeah, yesterday I just wanted ONE thing to go as planned.  Sound familiar?

My Go-To Coping Technique

I’m betting you can guess what it is and you’d be right. Experience has taught me that when I cannot seem to control anything in my day, the ONE thing I can control is my run.

The timing of getting out the door may have been nearly 10 hours overdue, but I set out late in the afternoon determined to make the five miles on my plan for the day the ONE thing I could control entirely.

While I am very Type A, I am not a control freak. Please note: I asked for ONE thing, not everything.

So I got changed, did my warm up, and I ran. I controlled my breathing, pace, foot strike, route, and best of all, my effort–the only things that relied entirely on me to control. No outside forces could make them go awry. I had the control.

And by the time my watch clicked for Mile 5, I felt like the universe had been set right.

Day 3 of Peak Week 1 ✔️ (20 miles into 50)

Next: We rest 🧘🏻‍♀️