Perhaps being sacrificed by the Aztecs would be easier.......

Nearly another week completed in the training schedule. Only got tomorrow and the 1 hour run in zone 2 to finish it. Week 6 of the programme has not been bad, but I have felt different to last week. Just before you start thinking he´s lost spark, won´t be long until he has a rest and listens to the voices (no I am not taking drugs, see last week´s post) I´m still committed but the challenge of training with all of my other time demands is starting to become apparent.

First of all, in no apparent order of importance or stress, just noting them for your entertainment. Wife has developed a dodgy eye and is in pain, oldest child who is 16 is being a 16 old. Middle child has had a bad stomach for the last few days. Youngest child (the beast, aged 4), leaves a trail of destruction wherever she goes.

Add to this domestic mayhem a busy life as a teacher (no I´m not going to start moaning about how hard it is to be teacher), an assessment week requiring marking and analysing and a whole school inspection in a few weeks requiring extra paperwork shuffling and planning.

Also the water heater in the kitchen is leaking, I spent over an hour in the queue at the supermarket today and it´s bloody February, I´m getting older and I am still waiting to find out the meaning of life.

That feels better, list of stresses complete. I hope you can see then the reason for my lack of spark this week. I´m not saying I´ve more things to worry about than anyone else but all these commitments do drain your energy, nothing more than a class of 10 year olds and 3 children of your own.

According to Don Fink my coaching guru, next week, I will be training for 10 hours. One hour more than this week. How will I cope? I think it´s all about sacrifice. Point in case is where I am now, have been since 9.30pm, in bed about to go to sleep. It´s Saturday night and all my mates from work have gone go karting. Would have been nice to go with them, but the money saved on entrance fee and beers can be put towards some tri bars. The time saved can be used to get a longer sleeping session that will make me better in tomorrow´s training session. 

It´s also about priorities. My priority is on May 31st and I am prepared to sacrifice to get there. I will continue to get up at 5:30 am to train, I will continue to go out training in the dark, cold and wet and I will continue doing all the other things I need to do as well. 

If that doesn´t work, I´m off to Mexico to find some Aztecs to learn about how to sacrifice the old fashioned way!!

Looking down onto the clouds and Córdoba hidden below. Rain had just stopped and all the climbing was nearly over. One last thing. Beat my hill climb time by nearly two minutes on the bike ride. Still kept in zone 2 (max 152HR) so something good must be coming from the training.