the best thing about training plans is that they make you do stuff you don’t want to do.

today is a 6-mile run at race pace. i worked late last night. i welcomed christmas eve with the remains of the cabernet sauvignon and two bowls of honey nut rice chex. yes, i know how to party. i didn’t get much sleep. and today i have to go to work early today. i had to set the alarm clock so that i’d wake up in time to get in the run. god, i hate morning runs.

still. you must follow the training plan.

i feed the cat, i eat some oatmeal, i read a few chapters of my book, i think about how much i don’t feel like running today. but still. the plan. i must. i dutifully pull on my shoes, my shorts, my singlet, my hat, my watch, my sunglasses. i stand at the door.

and then i walk over to the computer and pull up the training plan. i change it so that today is a day off. i prop up my feet. the cat jumps on my lap. we prepare to watch a Christmas Classic of the Young and the Senseless. i have another bowl of honey nut rice chex. because the road goes on forever, and the party never ends. yes, they are paying me for product placement. the best things about training plans is you can change them. life isn’t numbers. life is just life.