You missed Tuesday's workout. The instinct is to make it up: double the next session, squeeze it into an easy day, or add it to the weekend. Do not.
A missed session is gone, not owed.
Why doubling up backfires
Training works through a rhythm of stress and recovery. Hard sessions are separated by easy days so the fitness from each one can emerge. Stacking a missed session onto the next one breaks that rhythm:
- The doubled session costs more recovery than either one alone.
- The easy days that were protecting your next key session disappear.
- The fatigue carries into the following week.
One missed session changes almost nothing about your fitness. Repaying it can cost you the next two.
Consistency beats heroics
Months of uninterrupted, repeatable training matter more than any single workout. Your goal is not to complete every session on the calendar. It is to keep the pattern intact.
When a workout goes wrong
Sometimes you start the session and it falls apart. Splits are slipping, legs are flat, the effort is far above what it should be.
Change the shape of the session instead of forcing it:
- Shorten the reps
- Add more rest
- Switch to an easy or rhythm run
Then protect the next few days. Do not try to prove something in the next workout.
What to do after a missed session
- Let it go. Do not reschedule it on top of something else.
- Run the next session as planned.
- Keep the easy days easy.
- If you miss several sessions, rebuild gradually rather than jumping back to where you were.
How Catherine applies this
When you miss a session, Catherine writes the next day from the miss rather than doubling up, and keeps the rhythm of your week intact. When a workout falls apart, Catherine changes its shape and protects the following days.