"The Gras," Running, and Flexibility.

Happy Mardi Gras y'all.  I know that it isn't officially Mardi Gras until March 8, but here in New Orleans the festivities start a few weeks in advance with parades and balls.  Mardi Gras is all about excess.  Excess in terms of food, alcohol, fun, and beads.  How do you fit Mardi Gras into a lifestyle where you have, for the last 10 months, done everything possible to trim excess?  How do you fit Mardi Gras in when you are swamped at work and when you have to fit running and training in?  I live in New Orleans, so I knew that I had to find a way.

Its all about balance.  Finding a way to fit everything in and not sacrificing yourself in the process.  Thursday night, for example, I was supposed to have a long run.  I got home from work and was exhausted.  It had been a really long week.  I knew that this coming week I had to travel and had some huge depositions.  What was more important --- getting the run in that night or sleeping?  I chose to wake up early the next morning and get my run in then rather than having a crappy run, feeling terrible about that, and being even more exhausted.  I had to break from the rigidity of a planned schedule, but I felt so much better as a result.

Yesterday was one of those picture perfect New Orleans days.  80 degrees.  Not too humid (compared to the summer, but most of y'all would have been dying).  I had a ton of work to do to get ready for the coming week.  I needed to get 5 miles in.  There were also parades going on all afternoon and evening a block from my house because I live on the parade route.  How was I going to get it all in?  Friday night my friends were texting me after partaking in another New Orleans tradition --- 25 cent (yes, you read that correctly) martinis at lunch at Commanders, followed by the first real parades of the season.  I got a text message at 4:39 p.m. on Friday, after they had already had several drinks, that said, "I am wearing a pimp hat and think you should join us at the Delachaise."  I wanted to go, I really did, but I had other things that I needed to get done.  I made the decision that I would work and get done what I had to but that on Saturday night I would find a way to meet them out.

I woke up very early on Saturday.  Went to the office for a few hours.  Got my errands done.  Ran 5 miles.  Worked a bit from home.  Then I went parading with my friends.  I did it responsibly.  No alcohol for me (it has been almost 11 months, why have a drink now?).  Walked to meet my friends so I even got another mile or so of exercise in.  I was home at a decent hour, iced my achilles and knees, and went to bed.  Today, I woke up early and will hunker down at my office during the parades (that way I am land locked until this evening when the parades are done) so I can get everything done and be ready for tomorrow.  I found a way to fit it in.

How does this apply to running?  There are going to be days when I worry about being able to get runs in and/or workouts in.  There are going to be days when I am exhausted and sore and don't want to do it.  There are going to be days when I want to go to a parade instead of a run.  All of this applies because with a little bit of flexibility, it is possible to find a way to fit it all in.  I think that my run was better yesterday than it might have been because I was excited to go parading with my friends.  It is also possible to do "the Gras" in a healthy way where I fit in exercise and didn't drink to the point of vomiting. 

Here are some photos from last night.  I had a blast, and it motivated me to make myself do more things like this.


Before the parades started.  Getting in the Mardi Gras spirit.




After the first parade of the evening.  Moderate bead collection.



Mid evening parading.