The Journey

The journey is more important than the destination.

Several years ago a friend of mine asked me if I would do the Fairlee Triathlon in Vermont. After training for three months, feeling like I was going to drown in the swim, feeling nauseus on the run, I crossed the finished line and was hooked.This led to my triathlon journey.

Please consider supporting my latest effort to raise money for Bretton Woods Adaptive through the Janus Charity Challenge at Ironman Lake Placid this July. Check out the Links I Like section of the blog or explore the BWA Fundraiser links.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Rigid vs. Flexible

I recently received the next training block from Suzan, my coach. While plugging the workouts into my schedule for the next four weeks it became quickly apparent that it is going to be a challenging month. It's not only the physical challenge of the training volume at 10 - 12 hours per week but the prospect at trying to fit it all in with the rest of life.


Over the next four weeks my Son turns 11 and the major fundraiser for Bretton Woods Adaptive is taking place in addition to a busy work schedule. This scheduling exercise of training for an Ironman while also having a family and a job has highlighted the need to have a balance between a rigid disipline to do the training and flexibility to fit it in whenever possible.


The Problem
For example, in two weeks I'll be participating at the BWA Blast, an all day downhill skiing event which is the major annual fundraiser for the charity I'm supporting through the Janus Charity Challenge. I feel a need to be there. Scheduled for the same day is a 2-hour bike followed by a 20-minute run with a 1 hour 45 minute run the next day. I'm at a stage of my training cycle when building an aerobic base is critical for the next stage in training. Missing these workouts would really not be good.


Normally I would do the bike outside in the middle of the day on Saturday when it's warm enough and do the long run on Sunday morning. I definitely can't fit the bike in on the day of the fundraiser and I'd rather not run for almost 2 hours the morning after skiing all day.


The Solution
My plan at this point is to ride on Sunday and get up early on Monday to fit the run in before work. Not an ideal scenario but it is the reality of my balance between being rigid and flexible.