Finishing What We Start

Today is a bit of a sad day for me.  As weird as this may sound, I'm sad that I've just finished my 63 days of Insanity.  I had set up the schedule so that I would finish a week before leaving for Miami.  I did this so that my body would be able to recover from any nagging little injuries that the Insanity workouts might have caused or exacerbated.  And, while I can't say that I'm entirely free of little nagging injuries, I can say that none of them were caused by Insanity. 

It feels good to finish (as the completion of a project always does).  As you can see in the picture of my schedule, I would highlight a day red when I was finished with the workout for that day.  On some days, this was the main thing that kept me working towards finishing.  If I had to miss a day - for example, when I hurt my heel - it bothered me to see a white square where a red square should be, and I would have to either count that as my "off day" and then do the required workout later, or, in more extreme instances, double up on a workout.  I'll tell you, those days were never fun.  I'm not quite sure why, but I was more willing to double up on a workout than I was to stare at a white square.  Does that sound crazy to anyone else?

As rewarding as finishing a project is, it can also be a sad event as well.  Especially if the process is fun and engaging.  That's a little like what I feel now.  I'm proud of what I've done (although, since I've actually gone through the Insanity schedule before, the luster isn't quite as bright as it was the first time), and I feel great about the results, but there's a little nagging thought in the back of my head that keeps saying "Too bad it's over...that was fun".  I have actually felt that same way when working with Danny on educational projects.  Although I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a great project manager, and I'm sure that Danny would concur, I enjoy the educational projects that we have  undertaken together.  Whenever one ends (and not all of them do, mind you), I have a profound pride in the work that we've done, but I also am left a little sad that it's not continuing on.  Maybe that's why I continue to try and find ways to "weasel" my way into working with him (although, he might feel differently and want nothing more than to wash his hands of me altogether).

But back to finishing Insanity...the problem is that I now find myself with a week worth of time and no real plan for what to do with it.  I don't really feel the need to rest and recover, and so it seems like a wasted opportunity not to do something.  After all, as Karen Lamb said "A year from now you may wish you had started today." The main regret that I have with my workout regime up to this point is that I had to stop running a couple weeks back (anyone who had known me for more than 4 years will tell you how absolutely crazy that sounds coming from me).  I may take this opportunity to do a couple long runs without the additional rigor of the Insanity workouts.  Or, maybe I'll just do the rest and recovery week of workouts again.  I guess I'll have to put some thought into that,though, since the time is now if I want to start something else.  That's the beauty of a finish line...it can actually act as a starting line at the same time.