Well, it happened.

After 67 completed days, I finally missed a workout.

Yesterday was supposed to be Day 68.

It wasn’t.

And for a little while, that bothered me. I’ve made it this far. I’ve worked out when I was tired, sore, frustrated, busy, and when I absolutely didn’t feel like doing anything.

But yesterday?

Life won.

There Just Wasn’t Enough Day

I got up and went to work like normal, and everything was going pretty smoothly until I realized my son’s high school football game that he ball boys for was an away game.

Normally, no big deal.

Except he needed to be at the bus by 4:15 PM.

That’s when I realized my evening was disappearing very quickly.

As soon as I got out of work, I needed to get him straight to the bus.

The game was about an hour away, and then we got an email warning everyone to arrive earlier than usual because apparently parking at the school was complete crap.

Lovely.

So after dropping my son off for the bus, there wasn’t time to squeeze in a workout.

We had to head straight to the game.

At Least We Got the Win! 🏈

The good news?

It was a great game, and we WON!

After the game, we made the drive home and then still had to wait for my son’s bus to get back so we could pick him up.

By the time everyone was finally home…

It was 11 PM.

I was done.

Completely done.

Could I have technically put on my workout clothes and tried to force myself through 45 minutes?

Maybe.

But there was a pretty good chance I’d have fallen asleep while running and become the first person to need medical attention from a treadmill-induced nap.

So I didn’t.

For the first time during this challenge…

I DNF’d Day 68.

So… Did I Fail?

At first, it felt like it.

I’ve been doing this for more than two months.

I was three days from the finish line.

THREE!

And then I missed a day.

It would be really easy to look at that and say:

“Well, I screwed it up. The streak is over. Forget it.”

But what would that accomplish?

Nothing.

This whole challenge has taught me that things aren’t always going to go according to plan.

Actually, if you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time, you’ve probably noticed that things going according to plan around here is becoming suspiciously rare. 😂

Sometimes life just happens.

Missing one day doesn’t erase the other 67.

It doesn’t erase the miles I’ve run.

It doesn’t erase the PRs.

It doesn’t erase the hikes, the strength workouts, the mud run, or every single time I didn’t feel like working out but did it anyway.

And it definitely doesn’t mean I’m quitting.

Day 68… Let’s Try This Again

So I made a decision.

Yesterday wasn’t Day 68.

Yesterday was a DNF.

Today, I picked up where I left off.

This morning, I got my sit-ups done.

Then this afternoon, I headed to the park and knocked out:

4 miles.

There we go.

THAT was Day 68.

The challenge was supposed to take 70 days.

Mine is going to take 71.

And you know what?

I’m completely okay with that.

Progress Doesn’t Disappear Because You Missed a Day

I think this might actually be one of the most important lessons I’ve learned during this entire challenge.

Missing a day isn’t failure. Quitting because you missed a day would be.

I can’t control every crazy workday, football schedule, family commitment, or random thing life throws at us.

What I can control is what I do next.

Yesterday, I missed.

Today, I showed back up.

No restarting from Day 1.

No pretending yesterday didn’t happen.

No beating myself up over it.

I’m just adding another day and moving forward.

Because sometimes…

Shit happens.

And when it does, you get back up and keep going.

Day 68 complete. For real this time. 2 days to go. 💪🩷

Real miles. Real mom. No filter.

– Shannon