I don't have time for this!

You will notice that today’s blog post is nearly a week late. It was that sort of week. Too many things to do and not enough time to do them. Time. I have touched on this in the recent past but it is a constant presence in our everyday lives. It is arguably our most precious commodity. No, that’s not right; it is inarguably our most precious commodity. All of our desire, efforts, education, and wealth cannot add a single second to each 24 hour day. Deserving or undeserving, it doesn’t matter.




Speaking personally, I know young people have a different perspective on time than older persons. When I was young, I gave little thought to the passage of time, other than to fervently desire to be older, so that I could assume all those rights that went with this: driving, dating, voting, earning my own living, and making decisions for myself. I gave no thought to growing old as such, except as it would add to the things I was permitted to do.



Now, at 60, I view each day as a precious gift, one not to be squandered in mindless activities that serve no purpose. Among those purposes are nurturing connections with friends and family far and near; engaging in activities for the purpose of maintaining or, better yet, improving my health and fitness; striving to improve my care of my patients; furthering my relationship with the God I profess to believe in; and trying to never reach the end of a day without learning something new.



I figure that a good goal is to leave the world a better place for your having lived and to leave people who feel they are better for having known you. In those two regards, my father was a true success.



In day to day practice, there just never seems to be enough time to do all the things you need to do, much less the things you want to do. Trying to add a training plan for an ironman triathlon into an already busy schedule sounds a little crazy…. no, really crazy. What was I thinking? So far, I have been able to keep up with the proposed training schedule but it has been a challenge and I foresee that it will only get harder as the training ramps up. It is true, though, that we make the time for the things that are important to us. The reality is that the daily parade of things that demand my time simply won’t stop and some of those must take priority over training, as much as I wish otherwise. There are patients to care for, family and friends who deserve some of my time, and myriad of things that come along each day demanding my attention, and time. The best I can do is to do what I can, when I can, and hope that will be enough. Isn’t that the best that any of us can do?



Florida Ironman Training Log:

The weather turning cold and rainy this week and having my partner gone for the week made for a long, tiring week. I missed my first training session, in the pool on Thursday because the day began so early and the weather in the evening was awful and I was just tired. So much for a perfect month. My session at the NTC with Karl showed me just how inflexible I am. I suspect it is not going to be easy to overcome nearly 60 years of not doing any stretching but I suppose it can’t hurt to try.



Week’s training summary:

Mon, 2/11- Swim drills, 1375 yds, total time 38:01

Bike (trainer), total time 30:34

Tues, 2/12- rest, stretching

Wed, 2/13- Run intervals, 6 X 1min at 8:15 min/mi pace, total 3.79 mi, time 32:54

Thu, 2/14- None, early AM meeting and in the PM was cold, rainy and I was too tired!

Fri, 2/15- Run, 8 mi at 8:49 min/mi pace, Total time 1:10:20

Sat, 2/16- Bike, 45.05 mi at 14.1 mph ave, total time 3:11:42