Hitting the proverbial wall is something none of us ever want to happen in a race. Let’s face it. We never want it to happen ever. Not on a long run. Not during an important training week. Not in life. Never. We prepare, hydrate, fuel, play games with our minds, chant mantras and pray it never happens. Today, I finally hit the wall.

The last month has been pretty intense. I’ve been working hard, training hard and going 24/7. I launched this blog (thank you to everyone who has been so awesomely supportive!), was named one of 40 professionals under 40 to watch by PRWeek and have been traveling non-stop … all while trying to make everything happen without making excuses.

One of the commitments I made to reach my 2012 race goals was to start doing more of my workouts in the morning. I’ve been really proud that I’ve been getting up around 5 a.m. at least 4 days a week the past month to do just that. It has reflected positively on my training and my performance. But more importantly, it has made me feel stronger, more in control and empowered to tackle the day.

It has also made me tired.

Although I’ve been achieving my early morning training goals, I haven’t made other adjustments to compensate for this change. I’ve been going to bed every night at midnight or later (thank you London 2012 Olympics!). I’m typically an 8-hour a night sleeper who’s been getting about 4-5 hours of sleep. I’ve been in and out of airports and hotel rooms. In and out of pools, gyms, bike paths and new running routes. And today, I had to rest.

Today I did not wake up at 5 a.m. Today I have not yet worked out, even though I have a 3-hour bike ride followed by a 50-minute run on my training schedule. Today I slept 12 straight hours (waking up only briefly to catch the finish of the women’s Olympic marathon race around 8 a.m.). Today I slept until lunchtime (*gasp!*). Today I have not yet gotten out of my pajamas.

My body was telling me to slow down for a minute. To recharge. To reset. To relax. And I’m ok with that. We all need those days to do nothing. To take a breath. To take a nap. To not be going a million miles an hour. Today was my day.

I saw a tweet from @LeadToday this afternoon that said: “Don’t complain about a bad today, commit to making a better tomorrow.” And that’s what we all have to do. Whether we just need a day off to recharge, find ourselves hitting the wall or when we make a bad decision and need to refocus on getting back on track, we have to tell ourselves it’s ok and look forward. It’s the only direction that matters.

Have you ever had a day when balancing training and life have just caught up with you? How do you recharge and bounce back?