HTFU.....

Endurance sports are hard.  They often hurt.  Being an amateur athlete means there are many times we push ourselves to keep going when we really want to quit.  Sometimes you just gotta tell yourself to just dig in, HTFU, and deal with the consequences later.

That perserverance and determination, that spirit of "shoot now, ask questions later" carries over to all of life's challenges.  A lot of good comes from learning to HTFU.

That being said . . .

With all this positivity filling the air around me, it's hard to imagine having a down day.  Or two. 

But I am.

Is it okay to have a down day?  Or even two? 

I found out today that there are some significant changes coming in The B's life that will affect me.  The RSVPs for my BBQ to Beat Cancer are not even coming in, so I may not even be having a party.  I am coming down with something, which means my training this week will be scant, and I'm working overtime.
(To clarify: I always work over 50 hours a week.  This week I'm working over 60: 10-12 hours per day, 5-6 days per week.)

In short, it is a Tough Week.

Now, normally I'd just tell myself to HTFU and move on, but it has really been a long time since I've had a few down days.  And I'm really proud of that. 

I've gone in the last 6 months from struggling with severe depression and illness to rarely missing a beat.  6 months ago, I struggled to work 1 40-hour-per-week job and work out a little (let alone train).  A seemingly insurmountable stack of obstacles piled up in front of me every single day.  But, despite the mind-numbing fatigue I felt while going through that, and my cancer and treatments, I told myself, you're going to be tired anyway.  You might as well be tired and work out.

In short, I told myself to HTFU.

Now, the other part about being an endurance athlete is knowing when to rest.  That part does not come as easy as knowing when to HTFU.

So, knowing that I am still a few weeks to my goal race, and taper weeks are the best weeks to reduce my volume, and also knowing that I have had so many more amazing days than down days, I'm going to force myself not to talk about this any more.  <---That's the rule I established.  Acknowledge it and then move on.  Because, no matter how tough a week is, there will always be some kind of light at the end of the tunnel.

It's a Tough Week.

Time to HTFU and move on.