Sunday, December 12, 2010

Choices

Thanks for everyone kind words about my lamenting the other day. The things I was complaining about are nits and my yellow brick road to iron is paved by hitting my work outs.

This weekend had some scheduling challenges mostly due to those things that keep calling me "Daddy." Saturday had Thing1 with track practice drop off at 10 and pick up at noon. Mrs Rockstar and I would swap kids and was taking Thing1 to a music rehearsal at 3:30 (the concert was Sunday). Thing 2 had to be dropped off at a friends Bat Mitzvah 9:45, pick up at 4:30 to go to church where she was doing church service. Out of church 6ish and then the schedule opened up again.

That meant I had to squeeze in my bike workout either in the early afternoon slot or the night slot. A little more complexity weighed in on my choice:
  • I could have ridden outside in the early afternoon slot. We had a mini heat wave with the temperatures approaching 40! Downright balmy for my neck of the woods. Or....
  • I could take advantage of the good weather and actually put the Christmas lights up on the house. This would mean that I would have to ride inside on the trainer at night.
I chose to put up the lights in the afternoon put an hour in on the trainer at night. I think I chose wisely. More importantly, I think my wife thought I chose wisely.

Sunday was a wash out with inches of rain and wind. The weather teased me from time to time when it stopped raining for 10 or 15 minutes at a time. It was just enough to make me think that I could run outside and then as soon as I decided to run, the skies opened up yet again. The taxi service continued with Thing 1 soccer practice in the morning, Thing2 basketball game in the afternoon, the aforementioned concert starting at 5. The schedule again dictated when I could do what I needed to. I wound up hopping on the Tmill for my 45 minute run starting at 800PM and got the workout done per plan.

So, what does this rambling mean? I had a bunch of choices to make this weekend. I made them so that I could balance life, family and training. It would have been easier to bail on a workout but I was successful maintaining balance. I have to keep making these choices as the iron training continues and I realize it might not be easy. These choices and the balance are two ingredients in my recipe for success at Ironman.

7 comments:

Pahla said...

It sounds like excellent choices were made - congrats on fitting it all in!

Aka Alice said...

I am completely impressed...if it were me, I would have most definitely bailed on at least one of the workouts (and probably would have made Walter do several more drop-offs and pick-ups and deliveries of those people who keep calling me, "mom"...LOL)

Anonymous said...

As long as the wife feels you chose wisely, all is well!

Caratunk Girl said...

Hey I think you chose wisely too! AND you got the workouts in, I might have blown them off. Way to fit it all in!

Heather said...

Good job. Great example! As both a triathlete and a husband.

KovasP said...

If your wife is happy, you definitely chose wisely. That's how it works at our house at least.

Ewa said...

It is a balancing act, isn't it? Seems you are very good at it - trust me, I am a wife so I know.
This is funny but we call our cats Thing1 and Thing2 even though they have normal cat names.