Fitting It All In ...

It's been about 2 years since I have done any significant training for a triathlon.  I have forgotten the juggling act that needs to take place in order to make these things happen. ;). 

When can I swim, bike, run, get strength training in, go to yoga, have quality time with family and friends and find down time. 

It's all quite the interesting juggling act and trying to figure out the training plan can be a little daunting if one looks at the next 8 months as a whole to get ready for 3 half ironmans (70.3 mile races), a 20k, an OWS (open water swim) and the MS150 as well. The events themselves will be fun, the getting there can be the challenging part if I let it overwhelm me.  

How can this be done?  Well, training "officially" starts in February so I am just working on building that base for the work ahead. Everything really gets broken down into priorities. 

1) Family - they are always number ONE for me. What I do and how I get it done revolves around what works best for the family as a whole. Typically, you will see me out at the pre-butt crack of dawn as everyone is still in bed. Cabin and family time takes priority over anything. When we are up north, I may get an early morning long swim in (before the kids are up and before the lake neighbors are ready to start the day) or we may do a family bike ride, but there aren't any long rides or runs that will happen up there.  Let's face it, I am never going to "win" a race, nor am I going to qualify for anything, so if I miss along run or bike one weekend, life will not be over it just keeps moving forward. 

2) Friends - I love spending time with my friends but it gets challenging to manage two kiddos who are involved in a lot of activities (not as many as some, but enough) and a hubcap that has a schedule that I try to keep track of so we can work together to keep Team Wilkinson in a good place. 

I am fortunate to have different groups of friends that our "getting together" is to go for a run, go for a ride, catch s swim or meet after a yoga class, so we have time to connect and solve all the problems of the world ;). There are no sound barriers being broken with speed but we put the miles in while having a great time catching up. A definite training bonus and just makes it a fun way to get the work in. There are friends that I don't get to see as often but we know that when we can see each other it is always fun and a gift to share that time together. 

3) Work - that is a constant. I am fortunate to be able to work part time from home (20-25 hours a week) for a wonderful company. My schedule varies slightly from week to week but I always have a general idea as to what it's going to be which is helpful to get the training in when needed.

4) Training - it gets done, or as one of my first coaches said to me who gave a general idea as to how it needs to get done. If one does 85-90% of the training, all will be good. Rest when needed and if a workout gets missed, let it go. If too many are missed then reevaluating of how I am going about things will be needed, but I tend to be consistant. That training thought has seemed to work for me over the last 12 years since I started running and in the last 9 years since I have participated in my first triathlon. As I wrote earlier, I am never going to "win", so trying to be the fastest out there isn't a goal for me. The goal is to finish while having the best time while participating in the event and enjoying the journey in getting there. 

The goal for this season is to break down the training by month so I can see what needs to be done for that month and then figure it out from there. If I have to move something to another day, then I do that. If something comes up where I need to miss something because of family, work or just plain fatigue, then I typically let it go. If I look at the entire plan in front of me at one time, it gets to be just too overwhelming. I do have the whole plan figured out, but put the things in the calendar for one month at a time as that makes life and training much more manageable. 

2016 is going to be a fun year with life, family, friends, fun and racing. 

Hope you all are staying warm if you are in the Midwest. Screenshot of the temps this morning when we left Eagle River. There is no outdoor training when temps are like this. Brrrrr. At least it's sunny right! 

May you all have a wonderful week ahead. I am looking forward to turning the big 4-7 on Thursday. Let's all get out there and live life, love it, appreciate it and be kind to one another. Until next weekend!  Peace out!