I have to admit juggling work (a demanding job which I do love), riding and racing my bike (which I also love), and life (social and 'the neccessities') is often a battle.
I think that alot of us 'working athletes' have the same struggles - how do we fit it all into a day? For me the answer and prioritization of Work/Bike/Life depends on what is going on - and sometimes it is out of my control and I just try to hang on tight for the ride.
It's been one of those 'hang on tight' months ... at work I am getting ready to move the website my team has been working (Microsoft Malware Protection portal) on from beta to production - for those interested: click here for the beta and here for the current production portal. We've done a lot of work :) I have also adopted another project as one of my coworkers has taken a new position outside of our team ... It's been busy ramping up on the new project, keeping it on track while delivering on my current project - the portal website. Of course admidst all this are lots of races and training to get me prepped for Worlds in a few short weeks.
For the past while a typical day consists of:
- roll out of bed around 6am
- wake up whilst riding my bike around 6:45am
- finish ride, drink a recovery drink, shower, and get ready for work
- leave for the office around 8:45am
- go to work and rush around to meetings and order people around all day (ok, not really ... I manage several projects)
- get home around 7pm
- make dinner and eat
- work some more until 9pmish
- head to bed
Rinse and repeat! As you can see there isn't much 'life' in the mix so to fit it in something else has to give. OK, so maybe thre really isn't a 'balance' per se, but it works for me (most days). I'm lucky that Fraser also loves to ride and understands my need to get out on my bike as well as the demands in the office.
Once race season is over the balance swings more in favor of work and life before I get back into training full swing again. So to all you athletes that are full-time moms or have demanding jobs, keep at it - make sure you find the balance that works for you!
