What goes up, must come down!

It's great not having a regular job, but it's not great either. I'm not very good at 9-5; it makes me feel caged. Maybe it's the flaky artist inside of me. Maybe I've just gotten used to financial instability and not knowing what one day holds to the next. I don't know ... I kinda like it though, that freedom of being freelance, especially when it's nice outside :-) Much better than this ...

The bad thing about not working on a daily contract is managing my time. Because I keep irregular hours, I tend to do things in an organized haphazard fashion. Hmm, perhaps I don't give myself enough credit though for being productive - my friends seem to think I'm some sort of Superwoman.

Yeah, right - I am far from it ... I tell you, the number of hours required to train for an Ironman is incredible and because my contracts tend to come in waves that I can't "plan" out ... my training schedule gets torn to shreds.

In fact, I am at the start of one of those mighty waves and by the end of this weekend, something will come crashing down ... Used to be I could "get by" and even marathon train, take care of the kids, fund-raise, and work full-time on just 4-5 hours of sleep a night. Those days are finished. I'm getting about 7-8 hours a night and know that I am just at the limit and could definitely use more.

I have at least 55 hours of work ahead of me through 'til Sunday. Ugh. And I also have to fit in another 12.5 hours of training. UGH!

Alright, tonight's training:

- I'm still trying to play "catch up" for being delinquent on Sunday and skipping training. Today, I just had too much work and meetings to train during the day, so I had no choice and trained at night.

Bike:
- Hill-work. 1.5 hours.
- Rode through downtown and cut across to Westmount to visit her lovely hills. Up and down and up and down and up and down ... etc. I did this one hill that went from Sherbrooke to the Boulevard (Roslyn, I believe) and there was one part of it that was so steep, I didn't think I'd make it, but I did ... whew! I guess I'm getting stronger!
- I went back via Decarie and Cote-Ste-Catherine (long uphill) and then went uphill again through the Outremont hills, or whatever that posh area is nearby Mount Royal and U of M. (Someone, can you tell me?)
- Learned some things about cycling at night:
1) it's dangerous (yes, I have little lights)
2) drivers are still as stupid as they are during the day, if not more
3) I can't see the cracks and potholes in the street as well (duh!)
4) I can't bomb downhill like I usually can for fear of hitting one of those cracks and potholes I can't see
5) I can't go nearly as fast as I can during the day - see 2) & 3)

Run:
- Short 10 min. break at home to change, drink and yes, Dirk, I know ... phone and e-mail are not part of transition.
- Went out the door and ran to the park where I burnt my retinas with the strong lamps contrasted against the dark fields, said "screw that" then continued around the neighbourhood. - 15 min. warm-up followed by 7 x 5 min. race pace with 2 min. recuperation (fast walking)
- Race pace ... what's that? I can't stand running faster than base pace, which is basically the same as marathon pace - ha ha! Dirk, you're killing me. What pace is this? "Please beat me with a stick" pace? UGH. Last two intervals were obviously the most difficult.
- I think I'm getting better at these BRICK workouts :-)