SCHEDULING

My life is basically one big schedule. We schedule pretty much everything around here. From meals to naps to grocery store trips to playdates with friends. Bedtime, bathtime, dinner-time, wake up times are all all scheduled. And when we're marathon training, all runs are scheduled.

Case and point: yesterday we were scheduled to run 16 miles. The plan was simple... I'd get up early and get out the door before 7am. This would get me home by 10 and D could run in the later afternoon. This schedule has worked for us in the past.

K woke up 11 minutes before my alarm went off. To some this might sound upsetting, but she slept from 8:30-5:45. This is a HUGE success for us. I woke up feeling rested. She joined me for some breakfast and several glasses of water. We then went upstairs together. I passed her off to D and headed out for my run.

I was ON SCHEDULE.

My run took me through Rock Creek Park and down towards The Mall. As I approached mile 5 the path along RCP got really crowded. It was full of college students. At 7:30 IN THE MORNING.

What the heck?

As I passed them and asked each group to walk single-file (they were monopolizing the path and really making me and the other runners/bikers mad), I remember thinking to myself wow Georgetown is serious about orientation events. They have their freshman out here with box lunches before 8am on their first Saturday of college.

What a crazy thought!

As I passed the Watergate Hotel, traffic along the sidewalks really increased. There were individuals walking around with crazy big cameras and press passes.

What the heck?

That's when I realized that there was a protest/rally going on. There was no orientation event. It was the big event on The Mall.

Freaking Glenn Beck.

I proudly ran AGAINST the flow of participants across the Memorial Bridge. And I kindly gave directions to a father and son hopelessly lost along the Mt Vernon Trial. I then had to detour my run because running along The Mall was out of the question. I back-tracked near the site of the MLK Jr Museum and the FDR Memorial. And then I headed home.

As I was running home, I realized that not only do I need to create and adhere to my own schedules, but in DC I need to be aware of what is going on when because these types of big events can mess with my scheduled running routes.

AH... one more thing to consider each week while scheduling everything.

I'm freaking exhausted. Time to schedule a nap.