Let the fun begin....

This is the point when the title of my blog becomes a reality ... when will I sleep? I'm beginning to ask myself that question. Two weeks of training have been happily completed in luxurious style. Week 3 commences tomorrow, so does work, so does reality.
My base programme lasts for 10-weeks and is really all about laying the foundations for what's to come. I've taken a look, got the general gist of it, but I'm not really dwelling on weeks 10-30, except to note that the number of training hours peaks at 20! Right now, in the base training phase, the maximum number of hours per week peaks at 11-hours.
So all I'm having to find just now is 7-8 hours to sweat. If I start to stumble at the first hurdle, I've got no hope. Luckily, I'm a fairly organised person, you have to be just to be a working mum. I've also got two great teenage sons who are as lazy as the rest when they want to be, but can rustle up a decent meal for the family and cycle to activities when a parent taxi isn't available. I've also got the most supportive husband in the world, he's 100 per cent behind my Iron endeavour and I know will be on hand to do all the things I can't as the training ramps up. More crucial than that, I know my family will not begrudge the time I'm spending or moan when I can't be wonder wife or wonder mum. I couldn't do this without that support. Ironman training is selfish, it has to be, you can't afford to skimp on it and hope to complete 140 miles on a wing and a prayer. Like most mums, being selfish goes against the grain. We give and give and sacrifice for our families; of course we don't think of it like that, it's just what mums do. But I have earmarked six selfish months. It's clearly not a sabbatical, I can only dream of how blissfully easy it would be to only have myself and my job to worry about. The challenge I've set myself is as much about organising my life as it is about finding my physical limits.
So, I'm sitting here surrounded by lists. Lists of all the meals we will eat this week, lists of all the activities and appointments the four of us need to attend this week, a list of all the training I need to do, lists of all the work I need to do for school.
I'm not going to harp on about what's involved with being a teacher, I get paid for it, I love the holidays and I enjoy my job, well most of it! However, suffice to say that contrary to popular belief, my average weekly hours regularly amount to 50+. I don't start at 9am and finish at 3pm. It's more like 8.15am to 5pm Monday to Friday, plus a few more hours each night at home and a chunk of time at the weekend. The start of term is always the hardest with mountains of planning and paperwork. So if a list of what the family are going to eat each day of the week sounds incredibly dull - it is - but it's how I survive and ensure we all eat good, healthy food!
Goodbye holidays, so long spontaneity...hello term-time!
The hardest part of my week right now is fitting in two double-training days. That looks like Monday and Thursday this week, when I'm going to have to set my alarm for 6.15am to turbo or run for 45-mins. I'll swim both evenings with Lomond Masters Swimming Club. Over the last two weeks I've just tagged a half-hour run or cycle onto the swim session, but 45-mins is just that bit longer. To get the best of out both sessions I think I need to separate them. Also, I don't have enough time at night to put them back to back because I need to eat, mark schoolwork, taxi children and at some point .... sleep!
The fun starts here - wish me luck.