Triathlon Update: Time

I am now about three months into my experiment into the world of triathlons. It's been going well so far (I think), and I am itching to get out there and finally compete in one. Several things have become obvious so far: 1. I feel a lot better overall, 2. I really like to train when there is a goal to reach, 3. I have to do a lot more laundry.

I have realized that there are 5 main components of competing in a triathlon: swimming, biking, running, health, and time. All five of these need to be balanced in order to do well. So, over the next few days, I'll touch on how all of these different areas are coming along. I also apologize that my blog is turning into a damn training log, but hey, that's what's interesting to me at the moment. I'll get back to politics and whatnot later.

As for work, I actually started training for my first tri two years ago. I was on a fairly easy rotation and I was very dedicated to getting to the gym after work. That ended when my hours shot waaaaaay up at the end of the year. When I decided to try (tri?) again this year, I again started up when I was on an easier rotation. By "easier", I mean that I was only working about 60 hours a week. I am now working a solid 80 hours on my current gig. I am so jealous of these hard-core triathletes that are able to train 2 hours or so a day, but there is just no way I could do it, literally. I try to make time on the weekends and days where I get off early (after working overnight the day before). If I get off work after 7pm, I just don't have the energy to drive the 45 minutes (from the suburbs) to the gym and then get up at 4:45 the next day. Ain't happenin'. I usually only get 6 hours a sleep or so a night. There are also times I am just too tired, and I really need a lot of encouragement to keep going (like all of mid-March).

Sorry this post was boring, but I just wanted to remind myself what a commitment this really is.