Yes, it’s true. I have not run since my first 5k, which is over two weeks ago.

Excuses? Perhaps.

The week following my first 5k, I was preparing for our vacation to Hawaii. {More on that soon!} I learned that I do not handle stress very well. Running {or any type of exercise, for that matter} would have probably calmed me down.

However, I felt like there weren’t enough hours in the days leading up to vacation…

• At work, I was catching up and preparing for my departure so that my duties could easily be taken care of while I was gone.
• We celebrated our Anniversary by dining at one our favorite spots: Sul Lago.
• I had a couple of Wine Tastings.
• I wanted to have my guest posts scheduled to publish while I was away.
• I started taking an online Travel Writing Class earlier in the month that I hadn’t kept up with very well.
• I had to get the house set for our friend Jen who would be staying and playing with our precious pupper dawgs.
• I had laundry to do.
• I had to go shopping to pick up a few things for the trip.
• I had to get Sophie groomed.
• I wanted to get a pedicure {as a reward for completing a 5k race as well as to get my Minnesota-winter toes ready for the beach!} 
• I had to pack.

I drove myself crazy and put myself in an absolute panic. I can’t imagine when I would have worked out. I let this tension build up so high that I think I went temporarily insane. And in the end, I had to skip a poker game my husband and I regularly attend so that I could spend ten hours after work the night before our flight getting everything done. Yes, that’s right, I went to bed at 2am when I had to be up at 6am.

I had to drop the ball on a few things. Sophie’s grooming was one. {She’s a mop right now!} Just see for yourself!

Also, I gave up on the Travel Writing class for now. There was just too much work to be done to catch up. {I still have until this Friday to complete it, but I know it will be offered again.}

And guess what?

Everything is okay.

I just have to learn not to put so much pressure on myself and ask for help. I still don’t know how moms do it. My hat’s off to all you moms out there!

So, tonight I return to running after a two week and two day hiatus. I have two more 5ks coming up in early June. I need to be prepared!

Any tips on how to ease back into running?

What do you do when there are not enough hours in the day/week to complete what you need to do?