To Do It List

I was trying to get to sleep last night- and, mind you, I never have to "try": I hit the pillow and I'm out. I never remember falling asleep. But, I had a lot on my mind last night. It was all good- the things I was thinking about. My thoughts included: 1. What I was going to do for my volleyball athletes in the morning for the 2 sessions I had planned from 9-12pm 2. When I was going to fit in my 3 hour triathlon brick workout and whether or not I was going to do it indoors 3. What I was going to eat for breakfast and what I was going to have for recovery 4. When I was going to set this blog up 5. When I was going to do laundry 6. When I was going to call my mom 7. When I was going to send out the emails about my summer volleyball camps 8. When I was going to look at the course map for the race this coming weekend 9. When I was going to swim 10. What I was going to do for dinner.... The list goes on. For some reason, this list was what I had in my head IN BED last night. Weird! But, I did solve most of these "thoughts" by tonight, by 9pm- almost 24 hours after having them all. And, I feel much better. My list for tomorrow, about half as long, and some of the same #s as above, but I was most productive. I tell all of my athletes that in order to be successful at getting proper recovery time, you need to get the most out of the time spent doing your "work"- and for most of my athletes, this work is training, school, homework, social life, and family life. I have athletes that go to school all day, go to volleyball for 3 hours at night, go home and do homework, and get to bed by 12 or 1 am. This cycle is repeated EVERY DAY during the week and then on the weekend, I think they have a little bit more free time, but not much. The 'down time' can be maximized if a person is organized with their time and at least- INKS IT TO THINK IT. I added in a picture of one of my Ironmans that I remembered the most. It was the UK Ironman in 2008 when it was in Sherbourne. It has now since moved around the country, Sherbourne being WAY HARDER than the course now. I was 4th in my Age Group at the time and put in a 11:45 effort I believe. Looking back, the conditions that day were very tough- cold, drizzly, muddy, chain slippage on the bike, bathroom issues on the run...I had it all. However, the most difficult part of this race was the planning and the logistics and I had to be diligent in making sure I made my flight connections, my train connections, and that my host family existed. Doing an International Ironman (by yourself) can be an interesting event in itself- especially when you are wheeling around a huge bike case through the Heathrow airport and the train station in London! It was a great time, and I thank myself for being such a good planner and having enough time to recover. So, whether you are about to interview for a new job tomorrow that might change your life forever, or going to the grocery store to get toothpaste-detergent-milk- and 5 other things you didn't write down, don't sweat the small stuff. We are all doing our best and you will get as much done as you need to. Enjoy the journey in between. Have a great weekend .