The Fourth Discipline

They say the fourth discipline in triathlon is time management. Being able to squeeze all the training required for 3 different sports into a naturally busy life can seem a daunting challenge. But, to be committed to the sport means being committed to making it work.
More so than just being able to squeeze everything in, there’s a requirement as well to make it work over time. If there’s one thing I’ve learned through my own experience its that a good plan never works in real life as well as it does on paper. Life simply intervenes to make the plan irrelevant.
And that’s where the magic has to happen. You have to be able to adjust, immediately. Reset your expectations. And understand that a missed workout, or a shift in schedules is OK. Perhaps even a good thing on occasion. The real trick is staying committed enough to you plan that things don’t slide for silly, made-up reasons cause you’re tired. But flexible enough to know when you’re pushing rope uphill.
And so it was for me already this week. With plans for a fundraiser on Thursday evening, I was already planning around having to be in Toronto instead of working out … That’s an easy thing to plan around. Friday is normally my day off… And so I simply swap Thursday with Friday and I’m done.
Other weeks its not so easy. Days here and there that get messed up at the last minute. Looking for non-existent new slots in the week for workouts that didn’t get done. And sometimes you’ve just got to agree with yourself that a workout isn’t going to be rescheduled. Its just going to be missed. And you’ll take the extra “recovery time” to get stronger.