Someone didn't want me to go swimming today...

Today is one of those complicated days when I "have" to go to the gym before work, at lunchtime and after work if I am to be able to complete the hour swim, the hour run and the weights session I have programmed. So I set out my things last night and got up early but it was just as I was entering the ramp to the motorway (the point of no return) that I realized that I had left my suit and shirt at home. Damn! Even though I was less than a kilometer away from home, I had to drive 10 (half of those in heavy traffic) to get home again and the space outside my house had since been filled so I had to park some way around the corner. Even that wasn't enough to stop me: I looked at my watch and realized I could still just about squeeze the swim in, so I went back to the car. Now, the car has one of those "keyless systems" whereby you don't actually have to insert the key to be able to open or start the car- it is enough for the key to be in your pocket. Why did they have to invent a solution for something that wasn't a problem in the first place? To be fair, the car has been warning me for a few days that the batteries in the key are running low but it had to be this morning while I was standing outside in a pair of shorts in sub zero temperatures that the bloody car decides it's not going to open for me. That really was the final straw so I went back home and tried to "reset" the day by snoozing for 15 minutes or so.

Of course, it's not really a big deal - I can move the swim to tomorrow or even if I skip it, it's hardly going to make any difference. But this is what I found hard about the Ironman training last year: it's not that I am tired or fed up of training, it's that I have to make such an effort to squeeze in some of the sessions that, when anything unexpected happens, it meets with the full force of my efforts in the form of anger, frustration and even guilt. Even though I am "only" doing a Half Ironman this year, the extra load compared to "just" training for a Marathon is very noticeable. As this year I am not too concerned about performing at my best in the Half, I may decide to scale down my training load or skew it towards running (for which you get much more bang for your buck).

Part II

So I did my run at lunchtime without too many problems but, when it came to go to the gym after work, I realized that I had left my work access card somewhere - probably in one of the vending machines. After going all round the building trying to find it I eventually found it on my desk under a pile of papers - doh! I got to the gym a bit late and it was absolutely packed with people fulfilling their New Year's Resolutions so it was quite difficult to get around my weights circuit, but I managed in the end. On the way home I had to pick up something from the pharmacy so, as I got into the car, I took my wallet from my suit and put it in the pocket of the gym clothes I was wearing. Or at least I that's what I think I did because when I got to the pharmacy I couldn't find it anywhere. I made a trip back to work and retraced my steps but all to no avail. It probably fell out of my pocket as I was getting into the car or maybe I made the classic mistake of leaving it on the roof of the car, who knows. The point is that all these kind of incredibly annoying things are happening for a reason more than pure coincidence... I am just overloaded!! What a day. Now that I have written it down (and cancelled all my bloody credit cards) I'm starting to feel a bit better about it already.