I consider myself to be an organized person. And my Type A personality is a good fit (generally) for the triathlon lifestyle. However, I am consistently amazed by the amount of organization required to prepare for training and races. Take this morning...
The plan was to hit the gym for a strength workout, get ready for work at the gym and then drive home and get out to door to walk to the train no later than 7:05am. Easy, right? Well, in order to make this happen I needed to have the following prepared to be able to walk out of the house at 4:45am:
- Gym clothes (would wear most of these to the gym)
- Work clothes (would wear most of these to the gym over workout clothes, but would need clean socks and undergarments)
- Jewelry for work (which would replace the sportwatch I would wear to the gym)
- Shoes for work (packed in work bag), gym shoes (tied over gym bag) and boots for walking to the train in the snow (wear these)
- Work bag packed (with book for train, some papers I would need at work)
- Gym bag packed (with stuff to get ready for work - brush, makeup, etc)
- Nutrition and a water bottle for pre-gym and at the gym
- Post-workout snack (TJ's chocolate soymilk in individual container)
- Food for work (breakfast, lunch and snacks)
I used to have this down to a science and prided myself on the efficiencies of my morning (as I waited and waited and waited for Jonathan to get ready). But this morning was a nightmare. I forgot my work shoes. I got my pre-workout snack all over my favorite cashmere gloves. In my attempt to be efficient, I mistakenly left a hard-boiled egg in my lunch bag over night (ewwwww...). And this time Jonathan waited and waited and waited for me, sending me into a complete tizzy before the clock even hit 7am.
I know that I'm out of practice and the routine will come back to me in time. But with the amount of preparation and logistics necessary to get a good workout in early in the morning, it leaves me wondering if there are some good shortcuts I could take? Ways to be even more efficient? If anyone has any thoughts, I would love to hear them. Because it's only January 6th and I have a long season of early morning workouts ahead of me....
Happy Training!
- Her
The plan was to hit the gym for a strength workout, get ready for work at the gym and then drive home and get out to door to walk to the train no later than 7:05am. Easy, right? Well, in order to make this happen I needed to have the following prepared to be able to walk out of the house at 4:45am:
- Gym clothes (would wear most of these to the gym)
- Work clothes (would wear most of these to the gym over workout clothes, but would need clean socks and undergarments)
- Jewelry for work (which would replace the sportwatch I would wear to the gym)
- Shoes for work (packed in work bag), gym shoes (tied over gym bag) and boots for walking to the train in the snow (wear these)
- Work bag packed (with book for train, some papers I would need at work)
- Gym bag packed (with stuff to get ready for work - brush, makeup, etc)
- Nutrition and a water bottle for pre-gym and at the gym
- Post-workout snack (TJ's chocolate soymilk in individual container)
- Food for work (breakfast, lunch and snacks)
I used to have this down to a science and prided myself on the efficiencies of my morning (as I waited and waited and waited for Jonathan to get ready). But this morning was a nightmare. I forgot my work shoes. I got my pre-workout snack all over my favorite cashmere gloves. In my attempt to be efficient, I mistakenly left a hard-boiled egg in my lunch bag over night (ewwwww...). And this time Jonathan waited and waited and waited for me, sending me into a complete tizzy before the clock even hit 7am.
I know that I'm out of practice and the routine will come back to me in time. But with the amount of preparation and logistics necessary to get a good workout in early in the morning, it leaves me wondering if there are some good shortcuts I could take? Ways to be even more efficient? If anyone has any thoughts, I would love to hear them. Because it's only January 6th and I have a long season of early morning workouts ahead of me....
Happy Training!
- Her
Comments
I say wing it. Give it a week and you'll instinctively remember only what you really need and you'll never know what you 'forgot' on that list.
I know it sounds crazy and a little scary, but you can do it.
- Nathan
- Him
I also invested in those bags that you use when packing/camping to keep things separate. So, I've got a toiletries bag, a swim bag, a misc. workout bag... things that never change from workout to workout and that I never use outside of working out, if that makes sense. Makes it easy to have all that packed up and ready to go.
Of course, I still forget things. But since I drive to the gym, I also keep extras of a lot of things in the car, just in case. :)