DNS (Did Not Start)

In racing, a DNS means you committed to the race, but didn't actually start it. In the world of training, this is what happened to me today. I had an 85 mile ride planned for this morning, partly for the fun of it and partly because I decided to ride the North Fork Century in just two weeks and haven't ridden more than 30 miles since before the NYC Tri, so the ride was rather important. But my husband got sick and since he was leading the ride with the GPS, it was off. I tried to quickly switch gears and reschedule an open water swim, but it was too late to make it happen. In one last attempt to salvage the training day, I briefly considered a short run but then decided against it since my long run was just yesterday.

So today ended up being an unplanned rest day. I'm not particularly fond of rest days to begin with and an unplanned one is even less welcomed. If I had planned it, I could have used the day to catch up on all those things I never have time to get to. Instead, I had to improvise as the day moved along. The first thing I did was address the laundry situation. It was literally everywhere and seemed to be multiplying. There ended up being 8 loads of it and a rest day was required in order to get it done. I was able to do some other neglected household things before spending a few hours on the roof deck enjoying a beautiful afternoon and an even more beautiful evening with a bottle of wine. I don't get to do this very often anymore so it was a real treat. We had fall-like weather in NYC this weekend before an inevitable return to the hot, humid days of August next week. I'm glad I got to have some down time to enjoy it.

I also had time to catch up on the Olympics opening ceremony on DVR and watch the live broadcast of Micheal Phelps winning his first gold. It is incredible to watch the swimmers. I can't imagine being able to move through the water like that.

The big ride is rescheduled for tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it. We'll have good weather again, at least in the a.m. hours, and then a full afternoon for relaxing. I'll have to do some adjusting to my schedule for the week now, particularly the timing of my long run, but it will all work out in the end. It's all part of the balancing act of life and triathlon training. I'll be back on schedule in no time.