September Salvation: fail or forgivable?

First weekend of October and I'm sure you've been dying to know how much fitter, leaner and stronger I am after my month of salvation.

Well, I dare say I am somewhat fitter. Maybe I'm a little stronger. The scales don't lie, and according to them I've lost a couple of kilos. But at the end of the day, I only exercised 20 out of the 30 days in September.

As a simple fraction, I could say 2 out of 3 ain't bad, but let's be honest, twenty is closer to the failing score of 14, than it is to the perfect score of thirty.

Of course, I have all kinds of reasons (ie, excuses) for my ten days of failure:

• the inlaws were visiting x 1 (I know, it should have been the best excuse ever to get out of the house, right?)
  
• wardrobe malfunction x 1 (forgot my running shoes for a session)
• busy volunteering as an official x 3 (two races and a training session)
• a sore throat that could have become something worse x4
• a last minute decision to apply for my dream job at Cricket Australia x 1
  

Here's the summary:
Day 1 - half arsed session on home trainer
Day 2 - 20k ride
Day 3 - 35k river ride
Day 4 - 90min on home trainer
Day 5 - walk recovery
Day 6 - 1 hr on home trainer
Day 7 - 45min water run
Day 8 - FAIL
Day 9 - 35 minute ride
Day 10 - 30k ride
Day 11 - FAIL
Day 12 - FAIL
Day 13 - 50min on home trainer
Day 14 - 5k run
Day 15 - boot camp / circuit
Day 16 - 45 minute water run
Day 17 - FAIL
Day 18 - 2hr on home trainer and 20min run
Day 19 - walk recovery
Day 20 - 55min on home trainer
Day 21 - 6k run
Day 22 - 50min on home trainer
Day 23 - FAIL
Day 24 - 45k road ride
Day 25 - FAIL
Day 26 - 60min on home trainer
Day 27 - FAIL
Day 28 - FAIL
Day 29 - FAIL
Day 30 - FAIL

Most ways you look at it, twenty out of thirty is closer to failing than perfection. As the FAIL days started racking up in the middle of the month, that's exactly how I felt - a failure.

I made a concerted effort to get past this though. It's definitely my experience that negativity never helps you get back on the horse. You have to forgive yourself your sins, and refocus. And after all, that's what this month was all about - getting back on the horse.

I've had a bit of a cold this past week or so. Despite this, I am definitely more motivated and am physically more able to train. Instead of having a fleeting moment wondering if might train in the morning, I now ask myself what training I'll do.

Though I have to categorise September Salvation as a FAIL, if I allow myself a little forgiveness, I will stay focused and move further away from failure.