Well THAT didn't go as planned

Everyone was up at 6:30 as we'd discussed last night. By 7:00, I was the only one ready to go out the door and was wrestling the not-used-often-enough bike rack onto the car. Got the rack on, then realized the boys' bikes wouldn't rest correctly on the rack. Got the rack back off. Rearranged the seats in the van. Stuck all 4 kids' bikes in the back. At 7:40 we finally left for Cades Cove - 40 minutes after plan. Still doable. We knew we had to leave Cades Cove no later than 10:30 for the girls to get back in time for a birthday party. I readjusted my run plans. No big deal.

We had an uneventful drive to Cades Cove. Then we arrived to find the road wasn't closed to automobiles. Big hesitation. Then we unload the bikes from the car. Emma's has a flat - the tube had a huge hole in in. Great. She began crying because she didn't want to go if she couldn't ride her bike. Abby starts crying because she wanted to start riding her bike and get going. The boys were trying to corral Abby while I calmed Emma. Thoughts of just running and not looking back crossed my mind. Seriously. We started out and got 0.2 of a mile before Don had a meltdown. The cars driving by just pushed way too many stressor buttons for him. It wasn't pretty. We gave up on the bike/run through Cades Cove. We turned around and went back to the car. We drove into Townsend, thinking we'd just use the greenway. As we parked at Apple Valley, the boys decided they didn't want to ride. I threw my hands in the air and the kids in the car, and we went to the Little River Co to grab the last of the pumpkin fudge for the season. They weren't open for another 10 minutes, so my kids hit the KOA playground and I took a few minutes to just breathe. When the store opened, I  grabbed our fudge (hey Tahoe team - there's some packed in my suitcase for you!!) and headed home.

There was a traffic jam on the way home - not too bad - but enough to make me wonder if we'd make the birthday party after all of this. We got home around 11:15. We needed to leave by 12:15 and everyone needed showers, the girls needed princess dresses on, and hair & makeup done. At 12:35 we finally left for the party. Driving in I thought I was lost - but once we arrived it more than made up for the chaos of the morning. Watching 30 little dazzling princesses dance and sing and giggle - and dance and sing and giggle some more - was just what I needed. Hanging out with mom friends and catching up was icing on the cake.

So, no run today. Part of me wants to feel a bit stressed because I know I now have just 15 days until race day and I am nowhere near ready. But part of me thought about the fact that I got to drive to Cades Cove, spend some time with my kids with no technology involved, got to refill the pumpkin fudge stash (come on - there are priorities in life - especially in the fall), my kids got to play for a bit in the sunshine with some other kids, and we get to watch my Hokies play ball tonight. We had a beautiful drive. We got to attend an amazing party. We had some down time. In the big picture - we had nothing to complain about today. Yes - there's always that huge elephant in our room breathing down our necks - but sometimes we just have to ignore it and do life despite it. And - there's always tomorrow - at least we pray so. I can get up at the crack of dawn and go run before my little monkeys ever open their sleepy eyes or roll out of bed. Things have not gone as planned over this entire past year of working towards this race. Why should this weekend have been any different?? Just going with the flow on this journey means adapting to all of the bends in the river and not panicking at the waterfalls. If I just keep going and don't think about it, I might even find myself enjoying the scenery.

I know this isn't the glowing post-long run post some of you were expecting - but it's reality - my reality - and just the way it's been going. I just have to smile and take it for what it is and keep going. Sometimes I even just have to laugh about it. Sometimes being real isn't all Facebook smileys and likes/loves. Life gets in the way of running sometimes - but running should never become so important that I miss out on life with my family and whatever time we have left together. Finding the balance is hard - especially with such an athletic-driven, competitive mindset, and a deep desire to do something for someone else. But finding the balance is essential. After all, this plan isn't mine. It's His. So today didn't go as planned. I'll take that to mean He had something more important in mind - and that's absolutely fine with me.