Shorter is harder

It's been a mixed week of training as Tollcross once again screwed us with the programming of their 2 50 metre pools.  The "legacy" of the Commonwealth Games only applies to elite athletes.  The "weekend warriors" can forget it.  They are not interested in building us into their schedule despite our requests.  As a result the only weekday 50m swimming will be on a Tuesday morning.  I am now having to reschedule my training with my coach which we are arranging this week.  To say I am disappointed is putting it mildly.  But these set backs will only make me more determined.  It looks like I'll need to do a swimming and running double session on a Sunday morning.
So my swimming has suffered for the last two weeks.  This weekend I was down south in Market Harborough for a friends 50th.  I took my running shoes as I had to do something as my bike ride would be missed.I travelled down on the Friday night as this meant I would have time to run on the Saturday morning before the celibrations started.
I checked the map and headed off to the local park rather than running around the streets.  Imagine my joy when I noticed a Park Run was starting at 9am.  Park Run is now a national phenomenon where throughout the UK at 9am on a Saturday morning, anyone of any standard can turn up for a 5km run and have your time recorded.  People of all shapes, sizes, ages with dogs, push buggies and great runners lined up.  I have a 10km race next weekend and I needed a fast training session to encourage some speed into my legs.  I did a reasonable time for me but as always with the short sharp races I felt sick by the finishline.  Short races are hard when my natural ability to to churn out the miles when all the "sprinters" have burned out.  The Park Run organisers made me feel so welcome and I enjoyed being part of the event.
I'm meeting my coach on Tuesday to review my progress over the last 3 weeks and make adjustments.  I'll be measuring my heart rate 1st thing every morning this week as we need to establish the impact of the training so far.  There are 251 days until Ironman Frankfurt and I'm leaving nothing to chance.  Hurdles like Tollcross's schedule or 50th birthday parties will get in the way but what I need to do is keep the goal in sight and make sure I maximise every training session while have a balance with the rest of my life.  The quandry every Ironman faces, along with everyone else in life!