The Best-Laid Plans

School vacation week! Aside from getting to spend some quality time with my two little cherubs, vacation week also affords me some flexibility in my training. I didn't have to rush home from Masters swim to get the kids ready for school, and got in a couple of my double workouts before my husband even left for work.

On Wednesday I planned my bike ride for mid-afternoon. I had the kids out all day and felt justified in putting them in front of a movie so I could get in my hour & 15 min. ride at 3pm. This would allow me to shower, make dinner, and have a relaxing evening with my husband after putting the kids to bed. Aaaahhh.....

I got the snacks and drinks, set up the movie in the basement, went to get on my bike, and the phone rings. It's our contractor, who has a crew coming over RIGHT NOW to fix a chronic leak in our downstairs playroom. Argh!

I broke the news to the kids, got changed, and figured I still might have time to get the ride in before dinner. No such luck. They worked in our basement until 6pm.

We had dinner, and I got the kids upstairs early, thinking if I got them to sleep by 7pm, I'd be finished with my ride around 8:15, and that's not SO bad.

Guess what?! They weren't tired. But I was! I was lying in bed with my daughter, trying not to nod off, wondering how the heck I was going to get through this ride.

By the time she finally fell asleep it was almost 7:45. Gulp. I would be on my bike until 9pm. And this wasn't just an easy ride. It involved 6 intervals where I had to go all out for  5 minutes with 3 minutes recovery in between. And between Dan traveling and me being sick, I couldn't possibly skip this workout.

I did the first 5 minutes and swore I would die before I could do that 5 more times. I did the second and thought if I could get through three, then at least I'd be half-way there. I made it through the third and started feeling a tiny bit more confident. I got through the fourth and fifth by just counting in my head. I don't know why that worked, but it did. And then I got to six and I was so psyched to be almost done with these things, that I just plowed through it.

It was exhausting, but the Ironman will be even more exhausting, so I'm glad I pushed myself and got through it. Although the worst part was that I had to jump in the shower, get into bed, and get up at 5am and get right back on the bike. Oy.