Triathlon problems—> I feel like the universe is working against me this week, at least when it comes to fitting in my workouts. The biggest problem has been kiddo sleep and, actually, as I write this post at the ass crack of dawn, I keep interrupting myself to silently walk Henry back into his bedroom. Regardless of the time I’ve put him to bed, he’s been waking up paiiiiinfully early.
So early, in fact, that “before the kids wakeup†workouts have been impossible to coordinate, as has anything besides “run downstairs and slam coffee ASAP.†And so early that he falls apart by 4 PM, which is when the gym childcare re-opens for the evening. He was so exhausted yesterday afternoon that I couldn’t convince him to leave the house or even sit in the stroller for a jog!
I felt bad for him, but I felt worse for me. Hah. I actually tried, “Henry, I have to swim 1500 meters, bike 28 miles, and run a 10K in two weeks – work with me, pal!†No dice. Kiddos come first, but seriously – this is killing me. I do believe that I have a decent enough strength and endurance base to pull this race out of me come August 9 but… it might be ugly. Really ugly.
The weather has been working against me, too – a huge rainstorm that closed the pool RIGHT when I was about to leave to swim laps. Hmmph.
And, of course, painfully early wakeups mean that I’m pretty bleary-eyed and mostly surviving on an intake of dark-brewed coffee. I know what I need to do – ride out Henry’s weird sleep fluctuation by going to bed early myself and doing my workouts at the extreme crack ass of dawn, but… I just can’t pull myself together for it.
I did manage to do one really short run this week. It was 2.2 miles, but I did speedwork at the same time. This was a big scheduling feat, so I was pretty proud.
And although I haven’t had time to pound the pavement, I did make a big decision for my triathlon – I’m going to wear a wetsuit in the swim! I have only worn a wetsuit during one other race, and I usually shun the idea of a wetsuit, so this is a big deal for me.
I decided to wear one because I think I’ll appreciate the added buoyancy during the race – I’ve heard wetsuits can cut time by about 10% or so.
And last, but not least, I have scheduled a big workout for Saturday morning. I’m doing an open water swim followed by a bike, and I’m aiming for 1500 meters (race distance) and about 15 miles or so. Getting it on the calendar has been a bit of a challenge, but I know I need open water experience before this event, and… heck… I know I won’t have any trouble whatsoever waking up early to make the event. Henry will be pounding on my door at 5:15!
What part of your life makes it hard to get to the gym? Kids, work, school? What solutions do you have? For a few weeks there, writing my workouts down in my calendar was really helping me coordinate gym time with kids and work. I need to get my family back into a decent rhythm STAT!
You’ve been cranking out killer workouts the past couple of weeks, just remember that!! Next week is taper anyways.
P.S. I just told a multi-Ironman about the vaseline trick and it blew his mind, lol.