After the whirlwind of stress and travel and work that was April, I’m calling Lazy May.

Not that I won’t be getting back to running regularly this week.  And not that I’m eschewing any of my domestic duties.  But I’m giving myself a break.

Maybe I’ll do this every year.

Right now, I just need a few nights on a secluded beach with no tantruming 3 year olds or messy 11 year olds.  No run planned for the morning unless I want to.  No grocery shopping or yard mowing or gardening nagging at me.  No parties or cookouts or sleepovers or birthdays or holidays that require shopping or planning of any sort. No sinks full of dishes or hampers full of dirty laundry.

I need a break.

I’m planning short runs.  Three, four miles during the week; maybe a few sixers on the weekends.  That’s it until late June.  If I sleep in, I’ll run on the treadmill in the afternoon and I’m okay with that.

I’m attending other people parties.  And I’m not going to offer to bring anything or help in any way.  You might think that’s rude, but I’ve been helping with everything, for months.  I want to relax and enjoy my social time for a few weeks.

I’m making ridiculously easy dinners and only baking because I feel like it.

I’ve been stressed, moody and crabby.  I haven’t had a date night with my husband in months.  All of my free time has gone toward my best friend’s wedding and the myriad events leading up to it. To the wedding before that and events leading up to it. To family birthdays and new babies and the events surrounding them.

It was a blast, but I’m tired.

We start training for the Savannah Rock-n-Roll Marathon the last week of June.  We’re going to be running a lot this summer.  And those runs will have to happen at the butt-crack of dawn. There’s no getting around it.

There will be no time for lazy.

Besides running, we’ve got all kinds of travel on the books. I’ve already planned a weekend in Amelia Island, ten days in Wisconsin and a weekend in the Keys. We’re looking at a family cruise to the Bahamas somewhere in there.  It’s going to be hectic.

So I’m calling Lazy May, and intend to soak up every last minute of after-work beers, boxed cereals and movie nights on the couch.  Going out to eat instead of cooking.  Heading to the beach instead of finishing the yard work. Sitting on the couch with a book instead of mopping the floors.  A few cocktails on Friday nights instead of carb-loading for a long run on Saturday morning.

I’m not very good at being lazy, so I’m deliberately trying to force myself to accept it, if even for the next two or three weeks. Just like rest days are essential to our training schedules, I think this mental rest period is essential to my overall well-being.

Maybe I’ll start writing “Rest Day Recaps” instead of my usual “Long Run Reports.”  As long as there’s a margarita in my hand, you can call it whatever you want.