Rarely does a week ever look like it does on my pretty little training schedule. In the perfect world, my training schedule right now would look like this:
Mondays: Run, Stength Train
Tuesdays: Bike, Swim
Wednesdays: Run, Strength Train
Thursdays: Bike
Fridays: Run, Swim
Saturdays: Long Run
On paper, it looks beautiful. But after years of doing this and tweaking things, I've come to accept that after I pour my heart and soul into the training schedule, I should just then throw it out the window because it will rarely look like this.
Take this last week for example. January 1st conveniently fell on a Monday, making it the most optimal time to start anything new. Brand new week, month, year. However, my body had other plans and I was sick. All week. So nothing got done on Monday. Tuesday, I managed to eke out a 30 minute spin on the bike (I call just sitting on the bike and spinning the pedals a "spin" as opposed to an actual ride that requires a towel to mop up sweat and a fair amount of muttered swear words). Wednesday I ran on the treadmill (at a 3% decline because I can) for 30 minutes, Thursday was another 30 minute spin, made even less effort-wise because I was on the phone with mom, and Friday I finally made it back outside for 3 miles with my ladies. That put me over the edge for Saturday, so it was back to the treadmill (and the 3% decline) for an hour. No pool time because when I have a cold, that just aggravates the cold. No strength training because no one wants you at the gym when you look and sound like I did.
There is a popular belief that you should work out normally through your illnesses and some do just fine. After years of muscling through workouts while feeling like a bus has run me over, I've decided that dialing it back a lot when I'm sick works the best for me. My sicknesses don't linger as long and I'm still somewhat functioning for the rest of what life entails. It's a delicate balance and there is no one-size-fits-all approach.
This is what real life looks like. In the perfect world, I would hit all my intended scheduled workouts and it would be Utopia, but between three kids and myself + whatever else life might throw my way, the training schedule turns into a recommended list and I can only hope to achieve the majority of what's on it. And that's good enough for me.
This week, I'm feeling much better and ready to tackle that schedule! Rock on Week 2!
~Sandra
Mondays: Run, Stength Train
Tuesdays: Bike, Swim
Wednesdays: Run, Strength Train
Thursdays: Bike
Fridays: Run, Swim
Saturdays: Long Run
On paper, it looks beautiful. But after years of doing this and tweaking things, I've come to accept that after I pour my heart and soul into the training schedule, I should just then throw it out the window because it will rarely look like this.
Take this last week for example. January 1st conveniently fell on a Monday, making it the most optimal time to start anything new. Brand new week, month, year. However, my body had other plans and I was sick. All week. So nothing got done on Monday. Tuesday, I managed to eke out a 30 minute spin on the bike (I call just sitting on the bike and spinning the pedals a "spin" as opposed to an actual ride that requires a towel to mop up sweat and a fair amount of muttered swear words). Wednesday I ran on the treadmill (at a 3% decline because I can) for 30 minutes, Thursday was another 30 minute spin, made even less effort-wise because I was on the phone with mom, and Friday I finally made it back outside for 3 miles with my ladies. That put me over the edge for Saturday, so it was back to the treadmill (and the 3% decline) for an hour. No pool time because when I have a cold, that just aggravates the cold. No strength training because no one wants you at the gym when you look and sound like I did.
There is a popular belief that you should work out normally through your illnesses and some do just fine. After years of muscling through workouts while feeling like a bus has run me over, I've decided that dialing it back a lot when I'm sick works the best for me. My sicknesses don't linger as long and I'm still somewhat functioning for the rest of what life entails. It's a delicate balance and there is no one-size-fits-all approach.
This is what real life looks like. In the perfect world, I would hit all my intended scheduled workouts and it would be Utopia, but between three kids and myself + whatever else life might throw my way, the training schedule turns into a recommended list and I can only hope to achieve the majority of what's on it. And that's good enough for me.
This week, I'm feeling much better and ready to tackle that schedule! Rock on Week 2!
~Sandra
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