That Little Voice

The little voice was whispering in my ear this past weekend when my mom and dad were in town for Easter. “Skip Saturday’s workout – your family drove six hours to be here.”

The little voice was squelched. My parents helped me win this one by being very understanding of my four hour absence Saturday morning to bike and run. Nor did they complain when I took a nap in our family room because I was wiped out from the week of exercising and waking up early. (I knew fighting off the nap would be tough because I was already feeling drowsy on the way home from the long and cold brick.)

Two weeks ago, the little voice taunted me when my brother and sister-in-law were in town. “How much more fun would it be to keep the wine flowing instead of switching to water and going to bed early.” But they were just as supportive during their visit as my parents were this weekend.

One friend nearly took my temperature when I told her I couldn’t go to a wine tasting because a key running workout was planned. The little voice was not very happy with me either.

And with the day-to-day long training schedules, my husband has been quite the trooper handling the extra furkid duties. This little voice of guilt is sometimes the hardest to ignore.

Family visits, special events, bad weather, home chores – there are many excuses the little voice tempts me with to skip more workouts than I should. Having such a great family and supportive friends makes it easier for me to ignore its reminders about all the fun I may be missing.

There are many months ahead where the little voice may win – so I can’t thank my family and friends enough for putting up with me and my training.