"Don't wish the time away"

As I was sweating through my first yoga session since June, the instructor said the title of this post. Ok - I know - meditation and yoga groups are full of platitudes and maybe this qualifies. But, maybe the platitude is in the eye of the beholder - or maybe we just all need to be reminded of very simple, yet important truths from time-to-time.
There isn't anything that marks a good race from a bad race more clearly than whether you are engaged in what you're doing versus going through the motions. Once your brain clicks into "waiting for the finish" mode nothing good is going to happen. The instructor's point was - if you're already here why not make the best of it?
A lot of life is like that. Very rarely are we in situations where our mind is completely in the present. Too often we think of ourselves as chess players - always three moves ahead. Not that life shouldn't involve planning and preperation, but first and foremost life is meant to be experienced. If we're always thinking of the next job, the next race, or even just the next day - we can miss out on everything the present can offer.
As for the recent past - I ended up making the executive decision Saturday morning at 6am that I'd rather sleep than drive 45 minutes to a 10k. When I woke up I felt slightly guilty - so, I decided to do my 20 miler. I didn't finally get out the door until almost 9am - which meant I didn't finish until almost 11:30am. I ran a point-to-point course, starting in Dagsboro, DE and attempting to finish at Rehoboth Beach, DE. Well, my calculations were a little off - because at almost 2 hrs 30 mins of running I was still a few miles south of Rehoboth. Thankfully I had brought my cell phone - so, I called my support vehicle (my wife) and impatiently waited it out in the shade of the scrubby trees along highway 1. It was a great beach day - not so much for a 20 miler.
Even though I brought water I was still pretty dehydrated the next day (when it was even hotter). So, I did something I haven't done since June 21st - I took the day off from running.

Last Week
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles 16X400 (first 4 76-77 second 4 74-75 third 4 72-74 last 4 66-71)
Wednesday: 9.5 miles
Thursday: 11 miles
Friday: 8.5 miles
Saturday: 20 miles
Sunday: 0 miles
Total: 73 miles

This Week
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles track workout
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 14 miles 4 mi @ T pace 4 min rest 3 mi @ T pace 3 min rest 2 mi @ T pace 2 min rest 1 mi @ T pace
Friday: 8 miles
Saturday: 12 miles 12X400m @ R pace
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 85 miles