I didn't really stress this in my last post, but to me the accountability factor is really important. Even if I had the time and inclination to build my own plan (which I don't at the moment) I"m not very good at being accountable to myself. Having a coach means that if I skip a workout, I have some explaining to do. I hate making excuses for things, so instead, I just buckle down and do the workouts, knowing that I'll be asked why I didn't do a workout as written. Of course, I'll skip if my body tells me it really needs a break, but mostly, the accountability factor means that I don't skip just out of laziness.

Ironically, I'm skipping today. I've had a very hard couple of days, capped off by racing a half marathon yesterday (and "recovering" from the race with a 2 hour bike ride!) so I'm giving myself permission to skip the easy swim that's on the calendar. I only skip a workout once a month or so, so this is OK. No guilty conscience here! I'll use the extra time to catch up on some things I've been totally neglecting in my personal life (personal life? what personal life?!) and maybe catch up on some sleep.