Aaaah, Wrinkles.

My Friday training plan has a big wrinkle in it. Yeah. Wrinkles aren’t always fun, but they always have a positive – they present an opportunity to stand up and prove to yourself that you’re bigger, better, stronger, and more resilient than that wrinkle in your path. So, today I’m going to pull out two skills from my tool bag that have always helped me with wrinkles in my plans:

1. Show Up. I’m showing up anyway. Always. Always. Show Up.

2. Pivot. When what I want is no longer available to me, I find another option and I embrace it with enthusiasm. My Plan B is now a kick-ass Plan A.

What is the wrinkle? My 12-mile trail run at 10,000 ft, which was dry and sunny 12 hours ago, is now covered in 18 inches of snow with 25 mile per hour wind, and 0-degree wind chill. But I need those 12 miles today.

So, it’s time to break out the backcountry snowshoes and the cold weather gear. It won’t be the run I was hoping for, but it will be 12-miles just the same. I could easily convince myself that the wind and windchill could make this a rest day indoors, I’ve had a busy week of travel that has left me jet-lagged, and I could be frustrated by the fact I can’t do the run I planned. But I am pivoting and going out anyway.

I’m not just going - I’m immediately making the mental shift to “I love the opportunity to test my cold weather tolerance today. And I’ve been dying for a good backcountry session.”

Show up, pivot, and change your mental state to match. No lamenting the plan I can’t complete today. Lots of things in life are just a matter of how you choose to think about them, and we can all choose to show up, pivot, and enjoy the change in plan.