Creating a balance

I have been a bit busy lately, so don't really have anything new to blog about. But, I thought I would share what a typical week for me looks like as some of my cycling friends have remarked to me recently that they "Don't know how I do it". "It" being train enough to be competitive at the Pro level (albeit the Regional Pro level) while working full time as well as finding time to hang out with my husband. I do really try and maintain some sort of balance. Fortunately, I am an engineer and I have a relatively flexible schedule. Also, I have a very patient and independant husband. So, the balance looks something like this: Monday is an easy training day so I try and work a few extra hours to create a buffer for the rest of the week. Tuesdays I wake up at 5:30 and head to the gym, I try to get to work by 7:30 and I treat myself with a breakfast bagel on the way in. I then try to get a 1-1.5hr ride in over lunch or will ride my bike home after work. Wednesdays are usually longish ride days-too long to go during lunch. So, I will either ride into work, ride home from work, or arrange to work from home and go mid-day. Thursday's routine are the same as Tuesday's typically. Friday is a ride during lunch, or a ride into work. Saturday is a long ride day hopefully with my friends...this ride is typically pretty hard and long. Afterwards sometimes Ari and I will go for a mellow hike with Tucker, sometimes we'll run errands, sometimes we'll watch a movie. Lately, I've had to do some work over the weekend as well. Sunday is another longish ride, plus a visit to the gym, laundry, and also I do the grocery shopping for the week. So, there you have it! It basically comes down to a lot of planning!Ari affectionately calls me his bag-lady because I've been known to come home from work with 5-8 bags filled with food, gym clothes, cycling clothes, work clothes, work supplies, etc. The hardest part of maintaining a balance is that once you've got your plan you can't really deviate. For me this means that when I've scheduled a ride, that's the time that I have. I can't wait for the warmer part of the day or the week to get out. I also have to pass up on a lot of last-minute social events. But, that's ok because engineers aren't known for their social skills anyway!