Slow and Steady

Friday, August 19, 2011

Friday Five: Guilty Relaxation

The mark of a successful man is 
one that has spent an entire day 
on the bank of a river 
without feeling guilty about it.  
~Author Unknown

OMG I have been so busy that I have not posted for a week yet again! I feel like I have a better excuse this time, I was out of town for work for a few days, but it appears I am living up to my slacker name. I have the best of intentions to write (ambitious). Friday 5 here goes:
  1. Sunday I wanted to do a post. I was super focused on my fantastic Saturday of working out and watching the John Wooden PBS special I DVR'd a few weeks back, that I decided I would work on a post about coaching, mentoring and John Wooden. Yeah, well I am still working on it so it hasn't been posted yet.
  2. I had to go out of town for work Tuesday and got back last night. I didn't post in between, but I did reconnect with how much I love writing. When one loves writing they spend time on it, I have spent time on it, but not time to post anything. What have I been writing? Poems, a self assessment, letters to friends and a list of ideas for great writing prompts. Someday those things will make their way onto this blog, but I haven't figured out how just yet. While this blog is about everything, I also know that I mostly post about workouts, running, triathlon etc. I have to figure out my post balance. I totally dig structure so I may try to add some of these writing efforts to my Tuesday Tidbit, Thoughtful Thursday or Saturday Sampler posts.
  3. I reconnected with a colleague Wednesday night, one who had been going by a diminutive of his given name. His name means leader or something close and by shortening it he was taking away from who he was meant to be. He said this was part of creating his "brand." This made me think about who I am, as I often do. Who am I? What is my brand? What do I want to project? On Thursday our training brought in one of the highest agency executives in our Region. What was her topic? Self Assessments and leadership. H-E-L-L-O! Do you think the universe is trying to send me a message here? She talked about giving ourselves a self assessment. What we think our strengths and weaknesses are as leaders? What we think people think of us, perceptions? What do we want people to think and know about us? So in addition to my coaching, mentoring, John Wooden post coming soon, you will likely see me progress through a self assessment and try the idea of creating a "brand" for myself. Do you have a brand for your self? Are you constantly doing self assessments?
  4. My son is fake sick today. By fake sick, he had a little reflux at school from his breakfast and tossed his cookies. Our school has a rule that if he tosses 'em, we take him. So I took my smiling, skipping, happy dance kid home today. We are hanging in the TV room eating bagels and oatmeal watching Bee Movie. He is totally fine and I got an excuse to take a few hours off from work to relax with my Duder. The babysitter will be here before noon and then it is back to the office for me. I have a ton to do since I was out of the office most of the week for an out of town training or I would have taken the rest of the day off.
  5. I am so looking forward to Sunday. My BFF needs a break and so do I. We plan to eat our way through San Francisco for the day. We are pretending we might run, but we probably won't. My office was supposed to move locations next weekend, but as it usually goes with construction, it's been delayed. I was originally booked for mandatory overtime that weekend and now I am home. My husband has jumped on the opportunity for a backpacking trip since he is no longer on full time kid duty that weekend. He is also heading to Montana for a fly-fishing trip in September. As the quote says above, my hubby is successful. He doesn't feel guilty taking these trips because he works hard at work and even harder at home. I on the other hand, while I don't feel guilty about my one day in SF this coming Sunday (yet), I do feel guilty generally about being away from home. Away for work, away for workouts and definitely away for any type of vacation or me time alone. Are you guilt ridden on "me" trips? Being away for workouts?  
Why I Kick A$$: This week's training is going fantastically. I even did some spontaneous speed work last night and nailed a 9 minute mile. Yes that is fast for me. Actually the last quarter mile was at 7:15. I think I may rework my training plan again to incorporate some speed work.
Thankful Three:
  1. For a few hours with my Duder
  2. For a BFF
  3. For pen and paper   

2 comments:

Pahla said...

I have never, not even once, taken a trip by myself. To be fair, neither has my husband. We're both pretty home-bound since having kids. I don't feel guilty getting in my workouts, though, but that's mostly because my kids are old enough to get themselves breakfast while I'm out on a run. :)

Jill said...

YAY for a great week running!! Enjoy your weekend eating in SF, would so love to join you!!