Where did the time go?

One of the challenges many "weekend warrior" sports-people face is finding the time to pursue their sporting passions.  Cyclists, such as myself, are no different.

I've always been clear about my priorities. Whilst I'm passionate about my cycling, family activities come first.  So once they are factored in, plus my work commitments (I still need to earn some dollars  -I'm not a full-time professional cycling blogger yet!!), there isn't a heap of time to squeeze in some 'quality training' on the bike.

There is a well worn saying about this - the six P's  (ie. "Perfect planning prevents p!ss poor performance").  In other words, some planning of your week means you should be able to fit in enough bike time for enjoyment, good training, and racing.

With my long injury lay-off, I had completely forgotten about the necessity of planning my on-bike time. I've simply been commuting on my bike (a very handy 1 hour , 23km commute each way), and adding in any other rides as I could squeeze them in.  That's worked well for the first couple of months, but it has gone pear-shaped and come undone so far in October.

An initial run of bad weather in the first half of the month restricted my riding days.  And now, I'm been sent to Sydney for work for at least a week.  My initial goal of 350km for October is looking like a distant dream...

Now, if I'd been planning for this, it could have been different.  I have a mag-trainer sitting in the spare room - with the wet weather in the first half of the month, I should have set this up so I could squeeze in a few early morning sessions.  This would have me in good shape leading into the week away in Sin City (Sydney).

Then, whilst in Sydney, I could knockout some crosstraining - like running, or some workouts in the hotel gym - that would tide me over and give me a bit of variety until I get back.

In any case, its not worth crying over spilt milk, or lamenting about what I should've, could've or would've done.  The important thing here is to re-learn the 'planning' lesson, and to have my contingency time arrangements in place for next time this happens.

So, when I get back from my Sydney trip, I'll have these plans in place.  I'll be looking forward to being back on track and getting in as much training as possible before a couple of big races in November.

In the meantime - if anyone has any tips about places to hit in Sydney after work, I'd love to hear them!!