Squeezing in workouts ... like a rat stuffs its cheeks with D-Con.

Ironman is in 5 Saturdays.  Five Saturdays.  Five.

I think I make the same mistake every season:  Plan on completing a "long ride" or a "long run" or both on Saturdays, plan on taking naps and staying off my feet all day, blah blah blah.  Saturdays in 2012 consist of working on the shed behind our house, going to soccer games, helping friends with home projects, taking the kids to Chic-Fil-A, and then maybe ... MAYBE ... squeezing in a run in the evening after everyone has gone to bed. 

Some Saturdays have started well -- Nobody in our house besides me is interested in anything that happens at 5:00am on Saturdays, so I've taken advantage of the early-early workouts.  But after a 4 or 5 hour ride, it's off to the races -- shed work, kids stuff, and lots of Diet Coke.

I have a fantastic wife who sacrifices her own workout time to let me get in workouts wherever possible.  But sometimes the only option is to fire up the treadmill at 8:30pm or put on a headlamp and head out the door.  Yes, this is a hobby that I do of my own volition.

Friday night I ran 10 miles on the treadmill between 8:30-10, taking periodic breaks to rock Emory back to sleep.  Sunday night I ran almost 7 miles on the treadmill from 9-10.  Monday morning I got rolling by 5:30am for a 50-mile tri bike ride to work, then lifted weights at lunch.  Tonight I'll ride home and try not to throw up!

Training for Ironman sometimes feels like a secret addiction.  I can't tell my friends or my spouse just how many miles, how many laps, how many hours I've spent, because it sounds ridiculous.  Sometimes I just keep it to myself and hope nobody notices.  I hide my bike behind my door at work, I stash Muscle Milks under my desk, and I keep workout clothes in my desk drawers.  Every day I get grim satisfaction from filling in my daily workout totals.  It's pathetic.  On second thought, November 3rd can't come soon enough!