Last week was a very rough week. The past month has been insane in terms of work, and juggling that with Ironman training has led to very little "fun time," regular sleep deprivation, and an overall feeling of heightened stress. It came to a head this week when I found myself in a constant fight with service providers, utilities companies, and insurance companies over things that they either: (a) should have done but didn't because they dropped the ball, or (b) common sense crap that led to me telling them how to do their jobs.
(As an aside, when did it become the case that good customer service consisted of people actually doing what they say they will do by the deadline they give you the first time? Our expectations as consumers are so low right now that we give people 5 star ratings when they actually do their jobs correctly and no more than that. Ugh.)
Despite all the warnings from those around me, I had a major blowout this week, basically shut down physically, and spent most of my spare time hiding under the covers of my bed. I was tired and unmotivated, unable to push myself into a workout.
So I accepted that I needed a rest and took it. Sure, I felt guilty about it, but it needed to be done. I cleared off my weekend schedule and spent it eating what I wanted and playing video games. However, I only allowed myself to do this under the condition that, on Monday, everything is back on track.
And it is! I enter my training again this week feeling refreshed and fully rested. I am ready to get back into the crazy Ironman lifestyle. Granted, I'm sure things will get crazy again soon, but now I have learned my lesson. Rather than crashing and burning again, I will be more mindful of the craziness and try to pull back before it gets this bad again.
