A Slight Change in Race and Travel Plans

Plans change. People get sick and miss vacations. Terrorist attacks ground planes. Injuries force you to bow out of races. Something cooler comes up or your bank account dips down.Since all of the above things have happened to me (and many other travelers I assume), I try not to plan anything in advance. Sure, I might miss opportunities for cheap flights and hotels because I buy at the last minute, but such is life.So against my better judgment, a few months ago I planned out six months of road races and travel. I didn’t buy any tickets, but I publicly posted my race plans which was bad enough. I’d just landed a semi-permanent job and I actually had an address, so I figured I was safe to start planning.I was wrong.In December I had a phone interview while waiting to board a plane in Las Vegas. By the time I’d reached my destination I had the job that I’d wanted for the past year and a half. A week later I flew back to Vegas, packed up my car, and was ready to head up to Denver.But I wanted to see this guy first. We’d been dating for the past year and a half, keeping up a constant stream of communication while I was traveling. When I’d come through Vegas we’d ‘hang out.’ If ya know what I mean.So the next morning my loaded down car, my apparently useless birth control, and I headed to Colorado. I spent two weeks blissfully unaware that I should be feeling exhausted and nauseous before taking that test.So plans change. I didn’t run the tri-state 20 miler in New Hampshire in an effort to save money for impending day care and diaper expenses. I’m not training for the half marathon in Laramie as my body can’t seem to run further than six miles. I’ve forfeited $80 to the Grandma’s Marathon people, seeing as they have a very explicit no refund policy should you get injured or pregnant. Not that I’m complaining because feeling a baby kick just about as cool as crossing a finish line. For better or worse, plans change.I really want to buy some airline tickets and sign up for some races in 2013, but something tells me that I’d hold off on making too many plans. Life may be a little different next year.