Yeah, you don't hear that very often. I was waking Chloe up for school this morning (Tuesday) and in a groggy voice, with her eyes still closed, she said "I wish it was Friday". I had to laugh as I walked out to get her a waffle with peanut butter and a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Ok, so my daughter knows what she wants and as a dad I know it's healthier than any kids cereal out there. I think the comment was funny to me because it came from my 7 year old... not a teenager, not a college student, and not a career oriented middle age woman. She was already wishing it was Friday.
My second reaction was "I wish it was Monday." You see Mondays are my "Saturdays" or, my first day off work. Being in public safety you don't get the luxury of a 9-5 Monday through Friday schedule. I wouldn't want it anyway. I have never had a job with those hours and probably never will. My work days are quite long 12.5 hours so there isn't much to get done before or after work unless I want to skip seeing the family for a solid 3 days. That's not going to happen so any amount of training on those days is squeezed in before work (4 AM) or after, and now with daylight savings time this is more reasonable. But still, on those work days, trying to train immediately affects the amount of time with Stacy and the kids.
So that leaves 4 days of training and that is more than enough you might say. Well let's take a look at exhibit A, our calendar mounted on our fridge. As you can see there is quite the color scheme. So taking into consideration, shift work for me (all weekend and part of the week) the occasional court dates, training dates, Stacy working the 4 days of my "weekend", Chloe school, softball, swim practice, fund raising events, birthday parties and doctor appointments, it's quite full. NOW we can start plugging in not 1 person training but 2, and as much as we'd like to pack a lunch for the kids and let them watch a scooby doo marathon so we can ride together, that's not going to happen. Maybe in 5-10 years.
I would love to say that training for RAAM is only physically challenging, but that is the least of it. I believe the hardest part is getting the chance to train. Once your out the door and clipped in you can let it all out. But training and keeping sight of what else matters in your life is a huge undertaking. I think that is what is going to help us succeed. Knowing that for 6-7 days we are only responsible for staying in the saddle and peddling forward. The only deadline looming is a TDL dinner on day 7 (no pressure but I plan on being there).
Mondays have been the days I am able to ride with other TDL members. It kind of sets the tone for the week for me. The first real ride as all the others will have been either very short or on the trainer during my work week. So Friday morning at 4 AM as I roll out of bed I am sure that if my daughter heard me she would ask "Daddy, why do you wish it was Monday?"
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