When I started packing for my trip to Tallahassee, Florida to cover the women’s NCAA basketball tournament, the first thing I threw in my suitcase were my running shoes. The quantity of my workouts has steadily decreased in March. That, combined with the physical stress travel puts on the body and some emotional roller coaster rides over the past 60 days, had me reconsider my race schedule. I am no longer planning on the 70.3 Texas race on April 1. My body, mind and soul just won’t be rested, won’t be in it, and I respect the race (and myself) too much to try and muddle through it. So instead, I’m putting my focus on the Flower City Half Marathon at the end of April in Rochester, N.Y. and my first trail marathon in May.

While the early-season triathlon is out of the picture, my training doesn’t stop. Even on the road. And this trip to Tallahassee, though filled with long days of interviewing and writing and blogging an Tweeting and podcasting, was the perfect chance for me to refocus on the things I love. And among the things I love — my endurance training. So I scouted out the Tallahassee area and found a pretty nice city park, Lake Ella, not too far from my hotel. I went there yesterday and got in a solid 5K. This morning I wanted to up the ante and do 5 miles. It was a bit slow, and a bit ugly at times, but I gave up working for non-existent style points years ago.

The humid morning wasn’t something I was used to, but the sunrise and the warmth made me smile. I said good morning to everyone I saw (and most smiled back, though I was the recipient of a few grumbles) and was excited to be out running, to be moving, to focused on a goal, even if it was just to get to 5 miles on my Garmin.

Before I left for my run, I saw this quote from the poet Rumi, posted on Facebook by my friends at Women’s Quest. It seemed rather appropriate for today. For every day, actually. And so:

Let yourself be silently drawn
by the strange pull of what you really love.
It will not lead you astray.