So this weekend being 5 weeks out tested my "flexibility".
- Friday Night I got in a great run session which totaled 90 mins trails and 90 mins of interval work (58 Min Hard Running). Normally after this it would be home to bed but decided to catch the end of a ball game and socialize with the non - tri crew who is coming up to drink and support me in Penticton. Made the decision this would be my last special occasion night and had a couple of beers and a few rums. Also watched the hangover and did some cross training while playing the Wii.
- Saturday I just took easy. Has been a hard couple weeks of training and work and rather than run myself into the ground caught up on sleep and some chores and then went for a 7km run to grab the car from where I had left it last night so I could have a few beers at the ball game. That night had to do some work for a release and after a couple hours online finished up some of my home office setup and set the alarm for an early wake up.
- Sunday 5:00am alarm goes :( plan was a couple hours of work max and then hit the road for a ride then a swim. Plans don't always shake out :(. 5am became 7am which became 9am and finally at about 1pm I was free. This is where flexibility comes in -definitely wanted to swim so got in 5 x 550m at Kits pool which was book ended by 1.5km runs. I then got on the bike a rode to the bbq for a group of friends, luckily they are from the tri world so they understood me turning up in Lycra. Chilled around that eating BBQ for a couple hours and then did a short 50km Hard ride before returning to the BBQ wrap up.
Is there a lesson in this - not really. However the fact that most of us have lives with conflicting priorities at times it is still get stuff down if you have an upbeat flexible approach. I could have moped about because things didn't go as planned but instead rolled with it had some variety in my weekend and achieved my objectives.
Feeling nice and fresh now for a 4 to day training camp in Penticton beginning on Thursday. Will look to adjust my schedule a little to allow for a quality weekend.
Chores to do and sleep to be had - stay flexible out there!!!
Hi Jeremy, I've been following your blog for a few months now am guessing you have cloned yourself a few times as your time management seems incredible. What is your secret?
ReplyDeleteAlso, do you ever get physically sore or run down from all your training? If so, how do you cope?
Kick ass blog btw. Will be rooting for you at IMC.
Re Time Management - Training has taught me a lot about prioritizing. Have gone form working 7oh a week to about 45h and feel a lot more effective. Still have a lot to improve.
ReplyDeleteLucky in some regards;
> No Kids (Yet) and Leslie works a lot of weekends.
Some techniques
> Hardest part about any workout is the the first 10m - Once your out the door your on the way. Often you can be back form a 30 minute run in the time it sometimes takes you psych yourself up to get out the door.
> In winter did a lot of "run commuting to work" Got a hour workout in for the time cost of 15 minutes.
> Reclaim Lunch - This hasn't been as successful as I would have hoped at the Boot but try and swim or stretch at lunch
> Blogging helps - clears my head
> Planning - Having a schedule so it is not a decision to workout is a good option.
> Multitask
- Stretch or balance board while watching TV. Preferably TV that has been PVR'd to miss commercials.
- Often eat dinner, breakfast while working, checking email etc.
> Lifestyle - Tri is now an integral part of my lifestyle. Leslie comes to our wed run group as it has all paces. i catch with my tri friends at the pool or going riding.
- Sad to say but hi have found an inverse correlation between beers on friday night and amount of training on sunday. Still hang out with the buds but are often drink san pellgrino
Re Training and Recovery
> No. 1 priority is recovery, I wear skins (compressions tights after big work outs), have ice baths and rehydrate
> Base has been built up over 20 months. So a 60km ride feels like a short session compared to 18 months ago where it was a big day out.
> I seem to be lucky in that I recover pretty quickly.
> Max of two hard weeks of training in a row.
> Aim to get 8 to 10 hours of sleep - also lucky in that when I go to bed I go straight to sleep
> Try to listen to my body - if it ain't happening then kill the session.
FYI Training for an IM is time consuming so you do make sacrifices but it is about decisions I suppose.
> I don't go out to beers with the boys as much as I would like over Summer. Although often I will catch up with them an hour or two in.
> This past winter didn't hit the snow a lot. Instead watched movies at home and spun away on the trainer
> You can only control what you can control. If a week gets hectic it becomes a easy week.
My time management is getting better but still always try new techniques. This is one thing I am always looking for on the net.
Still need a job where I only work on rainy days but think I need another dot com boom to organize that one.