Ironman - 200 days

The way I see it, I have 200 days to accumulate points to get this ironman finished. 200 chances to invest in training and in resting and in eating well to realize the dream of crossing the finish line. Today is Saturday. My favorite work out day. In part because we start swim practice at 9am (weekday practices are at 6am), and the atmosphere at the pool is friendly and festive. There are always at least five of us in Lane 2, who follow each other with ease during the entire practice. Renata, my long black haired beautiful half ironman partner, was on fire this morning. She led the entire corridor through the 2 hour practice and kept us on pace.
I was in less than stellar form - most likely due to the slice of pecan pie and glass of red wine I had with Virginie and MC last night as I caught up with my MBA girlfriends on the last few weeks of our crazy lives. Virginie, MC and I graduated from an international MBA together back in 2002. Virginie lives a stone's throw away, and MC is in the city nearby. We typically aim to have a girls night about once a month. Yolande, Genevieve and MJ also join us... last night however was just us three MBA grads.
I got home around 11h30pm (too late), and then had a one hour conversation with my spouse L on a sensitive subject. L and I have been together for the last 8 years. We live in a beautiful neighbourhood five minutes from the city, and have a son together, Matis. L has a daughter from a previous relationship. We see her on the weekends. She is the .5 in my statement of I have 2.5 kids. My daughter Morgen is from a previous union with a Norwegian Captain. She is almost thirteen and lives with me full time. She sees her dad for a month every summer, and he typically joins us in Canada every christmas. Her dad and i were an item in my early twenties as I sailed the world on a cruise ship for five years and dained to call it work. Although the passion for the norwegian faded shortly after our daughter was born and we tried to invent a family in a secluded island in the north of Norway before deciding we were better parents far apart from each other, they talk almost every day.
My family is quite functional despite being sown together from different fabrics of life. All the adults tolerate each other. The kids sense no tension. The twelve year old girls actually became close over the years...even though they have very different passtimes and lives. Also in our family are our two year old abyssinian cats, Marcel and Nongo. They are brothers, and are patient and affectionate with our kids.
Its a busy life.
L travels for work very often. Work is also demanding on my end. Additionally, I try to run, bike or swim every day. I enjoy spending time with my kids. I am also very close to my sister and one of my brothers - the latter is also on the triathlon team. My friends are also very important to me. Anie and Chris are what my daughters would call my BFFs (best friends for live). I talk to them every single day. So my challenge right now is making it all fit. Making time for all of these people who each have a very important place in my life, providing for my family, taking care of my health, and getting the work outs in.


My triathlete team coach sends out a work out schedule every Sunday night for the upcoming week. Its pretty detailed, but in essence, the big picture looks like this:

Sunday : am :Long run pm: Swim

Monday: Off

Tuesday: am: Swim pm: Run

Wednesday: am: Weight training pm: bike

Thursday: am: Swim pm: Run

Friday: am: Weight training pm: bike

Saturday: am: Swim pm: run

Right now if I get one of the daily workouts in, I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment. However I know that to be prepared for the ironman, I am going to need to work my way up to about 10 out of the potential 12 weekly workouts. I haven't figured out how yet, and its making me a bit anxious.