Challenging Weekend

"My body immediately reacts to a lack of exercise. 'Take me outside' it cries; 'let me out'". Paula Zahn

This weekend was the first of many challenging weekends we will have this spring with the kid's volleyball and soccer tournaments. Madison had her first out-of-town volleyball tournament.

Ever since December 26th, I had done a swim, bike or run every day.....until Friday. Knowing we had the tournament and knowing the hotel had a gym, I packed enough clothes to run each day we were there. I was planning to run Friday evening once we arrived at the hotel and got checked in. What I didn't count on was lots of rain and leaving the house an hour later than we planned. By the time we got to the hotel, it was time for the parent meeting. By the time we were done, it was 9:30 at night and I was still full from our late dinner. The streak was broken as no workout got done.

Saturday morning we were up early for the girls' first game of the tournament. They had three games and were done around 2. They played awesome, winning 2 of the 3 matches. As we were leaving, some issues arrived that caused us to be later getting back to the hotel than planned, but I headed to the exercies room anyway. It was a TINY room. I managed to get in 45 minutes on the treadmill. Then I showered and we went out to eat.

Sunday was another early morning. The girls unfortunately played the #1 ranked team of the tournament. They played hard, but it wasn't enough. After a 2 hour break they played their other two games. Again, earlier issues of the weekend had an affect on the girls emotionally and they lost the next two matches as well. They were a player short so Madison was playing front row and back row. They played their hearts out and were exhausted. The parents decided to take the girls downtown for some Tex-Mex and let them bond as a team. We had about 25 people for dinner. But after eating Tex-Mex and getting back late, there was no way I was getting on the treadmill. And I needed it after sitting at the games all day.

Monday morning my body was screaming, "I need a workout". Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for me) we had someone bang on our door at 6am. Obviously they had the wrong room, but now that I was awake I decided to head to the treadmill for an hour run and then meet the girls in the lobby for breakfast. I got in my run and felt much better.

Then it was off to the final day of the tournament. It was win or go home. The girls won the first two matches and made it to the finals. And the final match went to 3 games. They fought so hard, but were sooooo tired. They ended up with second place in their bracket. We were all so proud.

Today it was hard to go back to work and I think it was hard for the girls to go back to school. Madison said she almost fell asleep in class. And they all looked sluggish at practice. Me? I feel better after getting back into my workout routine. My body needs it.