The best inspiration is not to outdo others, but to outdo ourselves

It's a funny thing, but when I make out a training schedule, I regularly think that I've put the sessions in the only places they will really fit in the week. Then, when it comes to it and things don't quite go to plan, I find I can shuffle things around all over the place. This week has been a lot like that, with a fair amount of shuffling and re-jigging to get things to fit. However, somehow or another I have succeeded in doing so. Family stuff, work stuff, general home stuff and the training have somehow all been shoehorned into the available waking hours!

On Wednesday I was supposed to be doing a long run and it was just one of those days when I knew I couldn't make myself do it - running didn't appeal at all for some reason. So, I moved things around and did a long ride on the indoor bike instead - 2 and a quarter hours to be precise. This was made much more bearable by watching telly while I was at it. 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' can help you while the hours away, mindless nonsense, but quite fun at that.

I needed to rearrange things on Thursday because Daniel had a meeting in Birmingham and needed a lift to the station during the usual morning training slot. So, I did some planning for school, took him to the station and put off the training until after work. At which point I felt about as much like swimming as I did like running the day before. So, once more it was home and onto the bike - I was clearly in a very cycling sort of a mood. I did an hour and a half, this time to the accompaniment of 'The Jury', followed by 'Never Mind the Buzzcocks'!

Friday more or less went to plan. I ran four miles in the morning, giving a good demonstration of the curry shuffle. I had a take away with a friend the night before and ended up not eating until about quarter to 9. Not good. The meal was very nice, but it's not really a good idea to eat so much at that time of night - or at least, it doesn't much agree with me. Anyway, the result of that was that I didn't run very well at all on Friday morning and felt as though all the curry was sitting in my stomach and weighing me down - yuk! Still, things were better in the afternoon, when I was quite pleased with my swim training, and quite happy to go this time. The only shuffling there was me on the poolside. I forgot my sports bra and didn't feel right at all wandering about without it on. Now, I do realise that it isn't strictly necessary for swimming, but I've always worn one since I began triathlon, so it felt very weird to be without one (I'm not the shape for doing a triathlon without suitable levels of control in that area!).

And today? Well today I had to swap one long run for a slightly shorter one so I could be back in time to accompany Daniel to the pool for his swimming practice. I did 9 miles and practically got blown away. It was decidedly wet and windy out there. I was slow. Mind you, it was hard work out there in those conditions and I felt pretty good after it all the same.