Monday, September 5, 2016

Adaptation: It's a Good Thing





I'm gonna talk about AdApTaBiLiTy. Why? Because this past week offered many fine examples of practicing this skill.

For starters, Monday. It appeared to be slightly cool (according to my weather app), so I wore a short-sleeve tech shirt for my early morning run. It wasn't until I was about 10 minutes into the run that I realized I was over-dressed (you know, when I was just far enough away that it wasn't worth turning back). UGH. Sure, I could have lost the shirt and ran in the exercise bra...but, sorry, I'm no longer in my 20's. Even though it was dark, and my abs are not scary (much), that look is not happening for me. Instead, I rolled the sleeves up & under and they stayed in place. Problem solved.


Tuesday, was another early morning. I had four easy miles on the roster, and a busy day at work so I thought it best to get the run done early. I was out of the door before the sunrise, and Momma N played nice and kept the rain away! I may have even saluted her upon returning home.


Wednesday was supposed to be a moderate day of cross-training...but we had plans to load up a rental truck with our oldest daughter's belongings (in hopes of and setting out Thursday morning for the 18-hour trek to Pennsylvania). After a long day at work (in preparation for my 5-day weekend), and a few hours of loading the truck, my energy for exercise was minimal at best. I did some stair-running and called that good.

Oh...let me jump on a tangent for a brief minute. Our best-laid plans for moving our daughter's stuff to her didn't go as we'd envisioned. She moved to Pennsylvania a month ago and has been living in a hotel while awaiting the closing of her townhouse. Her close date had been scheduled for Wednesday at 3:30...until the bank called her (Tuesday morning) and said they needed 2-6 more days to finalize some of the paperwork. No kidding. We were told to go through all the motions (of our impending trip) until we heard otherwise....and it didn't look good by Wednesday evening. Unsure of what to do, we decided to wait an extra day before making the trip there...hoping for a miracle that the closing would get rescheduled for Thursday or Friday.

With the change of plans, I decided to go ahead with the ladder workout that originally had been on my training schedule (my coach had graciously modified my training to accommodate our travel plans...not only am I adaptable, but so is she).

So, Thursday morning, I was out the door early (before day light) to tackle the ladder workout. The first split (is that what it's called?) went fine, and the recovery split, too. About halfway through the second "speed" split, I hit the "light" button on my watch display and (apparently) hit something else by mistake. The screen went blank. WHAT??? So, I estimated my remaining time left and once I hit that time (approximately), I stopped for a few seconds and tried to figure what wrong button I'd pushed on the watch (No Luck). I hit "start" and ran my recovery split and just eye-balled the time on the watch (instead of stopping/starting over). As I was running the third "speed" split, I heard my watch beep (which it had not done before). I glanced down and saw the screen was blank again. REALLY??

No doubt, this was frustrating. I had been pushing so many random buttons on the watch (in various random sequences), so the menus were all whacked. The best I could do at that point was to estimate my running time for the remaining ladder splits. It was not ideal, but it was manageable once I let go of the "watch accountability."


And, since we were not riding across the country to Pennsylvania (yet), I decided to go into work that afternoon. We kept waiting for an update from the bank on the closing, but nothing was able to get scheduled. Finally, that evening, we decided to leave the next morning and take her stuff anyways. This was the only opportunity we'd have the time to get it to her, after all, so we'd arrange for a storage unit to stash all of her stuff for the next week or so until she would be able to get into her new house. Again, not an ideal situation, but doable. Adaptability 101.

Friday arrived with a 3:15AM wake-up. Our plan was to be on the road by 4:00AM, thus arriving around 10:00PM at her hotel. I did a quick plank before jumping in the truck with the husband, younger daughter, and our dog, Max.


How do I feel about road-tripping? I'm not a fan. My piriformis, hamstrings, and glutes have been a little grumpy lately (so I brought my foam roller along), and I slid on some compression sleeves to keep my legs happy. Truthfully, my body feels much more achy after several hours of sitting than it does after running a marathon. Every couple hours, we stopped either for gas, potty breaks, food, or to let Max do his business. And every time we stopped, I did some stretching and as much walking as possible.

After a very long day in the truck, we pulled into the hotel parking lot where the daughter had taken up residency. We were able to secure a room, and we unloaded most of the stuff out of the bed of the truck (and locked it in the cab of the truck, or in the daughter's car, and brought the rest of it into our room). By this time, it was well past 11:00, so I did a few minutes of planking and crashed.


I had hoped to go for a run Saturday morning, but my aches and pains (glutes and piriformis) from the 18-hours of riding were crazy. Also, our hotel was situated on a busy highway with no sidewalks. There wasn't a fitness center, either, so I improvised and did some squats, lunges, planks, and push-ups to start my day (and the achy body felt much better when I was done).


We got everything unloaded into the storage unit and spent the day exploring some of the Amish countryside. Surprisingly, my glutes, piriformis, and hamstrings felt much better, probably due to the constant motion (and not constant sitting).

Sunday morning arrived with another early morning wake-up (4:00AM EST), and we were on the road by 4:30 for the trek back home. I may have even done a plank at one of the rest areas, alongside I-70 in West Virginia (I have never planked in West Virgina, so I can check that off my bucket list).


After another long day (and evening) on the road, we made it back to our driveway around 9:00PM.
I have run three marathons and two ultras, and none of them have anything on this crazy road-tripping adventure we did (to Pennsylvania and back in three days). I actually felt more exhausted after (almost) 18 hours of sitting still than I did after any of those long races. Even though it wasn't on my training plan, I headed out for a very slow and easy 1-mile run after we got home. My legs, body, and mind all needed some "shake-out" action. And I slept like a baby Sunday night.


So, that's my take on AdApTaBiLiTy.

Also, there's a planking challenge happening this month. Care to join me and several other fabulous peeps? We're all planking! Post your planking pics on Instagram and/or Facebook and use the hash tags #GoAhead #MakeMyPlank. If you want to be included in the tagging, tag me (@runningonthefly) and I'll add you to the roster.




Do you consider yourself blessed with AdApTaBiLiTy? When life gets in the way, have you ever had to adapt your goals? plans? workouts?

I'm linking up with Marcia and Patty and Erika for the Tuesdays on the Run link-up. Head over, checkout the blogs, and see what's going on!



27 comments:

  1. Yes, very adaptable indeed. I've made that road trip to PA. Last summer in fact. It is not a fun one. I do love that you brought Max along though. I hope your daughter appreciates her awesome parents!

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    1. She's had a lot of stress this past five weeks...relocating to a new state (half a country away), new job, buying a car (with the hassle of not being a "resident" of the state yet), and now all this drama with her house. She did seem appreciative, but there certainly have been some moody moments lately.

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  2. I am getting more adaptable as I get older! Great job on all the planking and getting in a workout on the road. My mom grew up in Amish country in Ohio, she still has relatives there but I still haven't been. I hope to someday.

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    1. I wish I would have taken pictures...but felt awkward doing so. We drove by several men and boys harvesting corn...a couple of flat beds and several horses pulling them along. It's quite breath-taking seeing their simple way of life.

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  3. Great job being adaptable! Car trips can really be tough on the body...I would have been miserable being in a car for that long, to be honest! And I definitely need to catch up with the IG planking challenge...I never take good pics of myself!

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    1. My pics are questionable on most occasions! They turn out best when I prop the camera on something instead of trying to hold it while "in position." I think the full-body shots (rather than the ones with my face front & center) turn out the best.

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  4. Wow, how many hours does it take you to get to PA? That stinks that your daughter has to stay at a Hotel cus her house hasn't closed yet. But in a way I guess it's like a very long vacation! What is her job now that she is in PA? (I'm just curious since I live here too)

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    1. Coming from central Iowa, it took us about 18 total hours each way. We stopped several times for various reasons and had a few delayed traffic situations. Total "drive time" was probably closer to 16.5 hours. She's working for the Pella Corp. in Gettysburg.

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  5. i am super impressed with your adaptability!! I do often feel like I am adapting a lot or rather being flexible, but you really had one doozy of a week. I can't believe you guys spent all that time on the road!! I do not like to be in the car that long and in fact we just don't do it because my husband has HUGE issues with his piriformis, so we are like 8 hours max in the car with breaks!!!

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    1. The piriformis crap is annoying. I was constantly shifting my position and massaging my hamstrings to try to keep the discomfort at bay. I probably left a very distinct Icy Hot essence on my car seat.

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  6. Yes!! Keep planking with us!! My run this morning, at 5:30ish start time, was so humid...and that was in the dark with no sunshine LOL

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  7. That is one crazy road trip. In France, people freak out when they need to drive 6 hours. 18 ? wow ! I don't think I have ever taken a road trip that long. Hope things workout with your daughter and congrats on getting some planking & all the rest in during your crazy week.

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    1. Yes, it was a crazy road trip, but it had to get done. Parenting, you know? ;-)

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  8. That's a lot of driving for a weekend road trip! My legs do not like sitting still for a long time either. I'm lucky (I guess) to have a job that keeps me on my feet most of the day. When I end up sitting at my desk, to chart and what not, I'm so stiff when I get up that people ask me if I'm ok! Ahhhh, old age...

    My Garmin is starting to crap out on me as well. I'm starting to look for a new one.

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    1. I hear ya on the getting-up-from-sitting thing. Our department went paperless six months ago, so I'm not up & down and going back & forth to the printer much...and I can certainly feel a difference. UGH. I almost cringe if I've been sitting for longer than 20 minutes and have to rise out of my chair "gracefully" (ha!!)

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  9. I could take some lessons from you on adaptability for sure! Not my strong point. I do like those 55 degree temps that will come sometime soon.

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    1. The 55-degree temps have vacated the territory this week....and the humidity has returned with a vengeance. But I think it's supposed to cool off in another day or so ;-)

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  10. You are SO good with your planking challenge!

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    1. I love planking! It's been a great fitness enhancer for my core work ;-)

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  11. I hear ya on the sitting and long drives. I ran a 10k last Saturday, but I'm pretty sure it was the six hours of driving there and back that is making my own sciatica and back pain act up. Ugh! I had to laugh about being out there when you realize you're too hot. I did that once a couple years ago. I was wearing long sleeves, so I could hide a little but, I am not 20 either (by a long shot), and I did not feel comfortable running in just my sports bra.

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    1. The extended sitting is not good for anyone, but when your tush is already angry (thank you, Piriformis!), it's down-right torture. I'm glad I had a day in between the two long driving days.

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  12. Oh gosh, how stressful for your daughter's closing to be pushed back so late in the game.
    Good job getting in your plank before hitting the road!

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    1. Somehow I can always find a way to make the planks happen ;-) #priorities

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  13. I am fine with that shake out run. Sounds like you really needed it! And you know that I am ALLLLLLL about adaptability. That is what I have built my own training and thus my coaching on!

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    1. I promise I won't have on-going crazy weeks like this for the next two months. Hopefully all of my extended drive-time is done (until we hit the road for Tulsa...).

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  14. Haha I love all the planking across the country!

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    1. I'd love to run a race in every state...but maybe I ought to start with planking (?)

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