Journey to Kona Day 102: Making Time for Workouts

Today was a busy day.  I had to navigate L.A. traffic for what totaled over 4 hours, had a lunch meeting, visited my parents, and helped put my grandson to bed.  I managed to get in a 45 minute bike ride when I woke up (I've got my "go to" 45 minute loop dialed in, so that it's almost a habit it to jump on my bike and do it).  I then stopped at the club on my way into L.A. and did 45 minutes in the pool.  Just like that, 1 1/2 hours of training.  If one is trying to build volume for ironman training, this is the key.  You've got to get the workouts in.  Sometimes it's easier said than done, but I'm finding that since I've made my training my number one priority, it's a little easier.

I can see how professional athletes can train, with no other priorities, or get laser focused on their training at the exclusion of all other things.  On the other hand, there are plenty of people, professionals included, who multi-task any other variety of activities and priorities.  When it comes down to it, you just have to do it.  My travel at the beginning of this week (which seems like forever ago already), definitely made it more difficult to build volume for the week, and the weekend is going to have to make up for that.  Still, when I have a significant amount of volume for a few days, having a few lighter days right after is also fine.  I still need to have time to recover.

I'm hitting the home stretch for Boulder, and will soon need to choose between workouts and rest.   Both are ideal, but ultimately, rest is the most important.  If I miss the rest, I'll risk getting sick, and not getting rid of the fatigue that's inherent in ironman training.  After Boulder, the Kona training starts, and hopefully, I can utilize some of the things I've learned in the past few months to allow me to be fully prepared.  This is one of them.  Making time. Getting in that extra 30 minute swim, or a 45 minute bike ride, or sometimes, just a 20 minute run.  It all adds up.