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by Coach Cheryl

As the deadline for writing this tip loomed, I decided to do a bike/run workout, hoping that something would inspire me.

Just as I am getting ready to leave, my mother-in-law asks me to give her a hair a quick trim. Then my daughter tries to stop me from leaving (as she is concerned about me going alone). Finishing the hair and calming my daughter’s nerves, I finally get out on the bike at 12:30. Not three miles in, my cell phone rings. My 12-year-old son, who works a 9-3 shift at a local horse barn Monday through Friday (and begs to stay till 4 on most days), calls me and asks me to come get him at 1!  I tell him I’m three miles from home and that after a few more miles, I’ll be there for him. Everyone’s happy.

Having made my promise, I simultaneously begin to think about how to capitalize on a 10-mile ride versus a 25-mile one, how to make up the soon-to-be-missed run, and  how I am going to get a car of high school field hockey players (today is, of course, my day to carpool) to and from practice and a team dinner while making sure my son makes his football practice--all nearly at the same time. 

And then it hit me! The idea for the article, in living color: PRIORITIZATION. The way I prioritized my tasks put me behind schedule and impacted the training I had scheduled.   I review the morning and note several things that I could have done after my ride/run, ensuring that I got my training in. And while I’m evaluating the effects of putting off training for other things of lower priority (NOT including my children) I realize these smaller decisions have both short- and long-term effects.

Short-term:  After a quality training session, we feel great! In addition to all those endorphins, we have also accomplished something as well, adding an additional boost to our spirit. So, when we cut back or miss a training session, we not only miss the release of those endorphins, we begin to feel mentally and physically bad.

Long-term:  When we constantly make the decision to put other things first and move our ride or run or swim later, it often leads to missed or lower-quality training. So while I feel great having cleaned up my to-do list, I haven't taken a step closer to my larger, life-focused, to-do item of a quality Ironman performance.

The moral of the story is, get your training in first thing if you can. You have race goals, personal goals, physical and mental goals – getting your training in will only help you achieve those goals. And if you fall short, at least you know you did what you could do to achieve them. Everything is high priority these days, our time is challenged with multiple, competing demands; it is knowing how to balance everything out, truly prioritizing, being an effective time manager and making the time for you so that you can achieve your personal goals and feel that sense of accomplishment that is so gratifying. Then you can move on to the other 47 things you have to do...

Safe training,
Coach Cheryl

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