Work Woes....

Work has suddenly got massively busy and it is making it more difficult to fit in trg. I am having to work later to make up the hours that I am missing by fitting my trg in at lunch and in the morning and, whilst this is acceptable, it generally means I am more tired and have more hours of stress than I would like.

Being a amateur athlete but trying to train to the level of, at least, a semi-professional athlete is such a juggling act. I'm sure all multi-sport athletes out there, and athletes in general, will understand what I mean. For example, last weekend I went to my friend's hen do in Bath. We had a lovely afternoon walking in the countryside and then a sauna in the swedish sauna they had built in the cottage we rented for the weekend before preparing a fantastic meal. During and after the meal we played games with the bride-to-be and generally had a lot of fun. It was a great time and fantastic to get to do some socialising which is normally so restricted in my life due to training. However, after the games we were all expected to head out into Bath for drinking and dancing. This was at 10.30 at night!! Normally I would already have been asleep for at least an hour and I knew going out would impact upon my resting on the sunday and thus trg on the Monday. Still, I couldn't let everyone down and so headed out though I chose not to get involved in the messy sambuca drinking rounds! In fact, bar a couple of glasses of wine before going out I didn't drink at all.

We finally got back to the cottage at 4am and, exhausted I feel into bed. I was awake by 8am and up by 8.30am. I'm so used to being awake early that it is often hard for me to sleep in too long. Despite having hardly drunk I need feel pretty rubbish, tired and dehydrated. I started the long journey home reflecting on how difficult it is to balance a social life when you are trg to level that I am. That one night out coupled with a few glasses of wine and a long return journey totally exhausted me. I did manage to get up to train on Monday after a very early night on the Sunday but it did throw me for a few days until my sleep pattern came back.

It's so important to get support from those you love, your friends and family who will support you when you most need it. Equally it is important to realise that though you are but an 'amateur' athlete you will get some of the conflicts that are so prevalent in a pro-athlete's level when trg at this level. Work also impacts. I'd would LOVE to get the opportunity to have an afternoon nap, an ice bath and a sports massage every day but unfortunately I also have to earn a living as well as train. With my event still over 18months away I am sure this is not the first time I will be in conflict and finding I am having to juggle many aspects of my life. I just hope I can get it right and it doesn't cause too much stress!