The NHL playoffs and the death of my schedule

Yes I am a huge hockey fan and yes, I have been consumed by the playoffs.

With eight fairly close and entertaining series, the running shoes have spent more time than usual on lying by the front door as I have been glued to couch watching games.

Aside from a short, leisurely rollerblade along the Rideau Canal last Wednesday and another painful run Sunday evening, my exercise schedule had seemingly been tossed out the window.

That was until this morning.

I survived another run with my roommate egging my on, but quickly realized that the week off did more harm than I thought. While my shins continued to nag, I wasn't in the best shape during or afterwards. Although we finished the usual route in approximately 30 minutes -- a slight improvement for me, but not for him -- I hadn't been breathing that heavily in a while.

We finished off the morning routine with an hour session at the gym, before I had to head to the office.

With just over two weeks until my first run, I know I have to kick things into overdrive.