Fail to plan - plan to fail

The year started off so strong & for the most part that trend has continued. I am swimming, biking & running more, well maybe a little less running, but that's okay since running is my strongest area. I am training for an indoor triathlon coming up in March along with getting ready to take my cycling outside this spring. A few weeks ago, I was asked what my training plan was for the week. Easy answer - 1 hr cycle Monday, 1 hour run Tuesday, 45 minute swim Wednesday, 1 hour cycle Thursday (maybe throw a run in after to make it a brick), rest Friday, long run Saturday, swim then bike Sunday.  That was going pretty well for a few weeks.  Now I have thrown strength training in on Tuesday & Thursday mornings.  Switched my workout schedule to all mornings (5:15/5:30 starts Mon-Thurs) & an evening class on Thursday & mornings on weekends. Problem is now with the strength work, I am running less - haven't been running Tuesday mornings, so that is one day gone & I am cycling on Wednesday mornings as well, so I haven't been swimming. Fast forward to this past Sunday - I made it to the pool to swim before performance cycle. Didn't know anyone else there & got in my lane & went. It was the first time in my life that I actually enjoyed swimming. It wasn't very fast, it probably wasn't very pretty, but it was relaxing while still being a tough workout. My breathing is improving - such a change since early January!  I read articles & watch videos & then I try to incorporate it in the water.  Sometimes I try to work on everything at once & that is usually an epic fail. Everything goes from bad to worse & I end up frustrated.  So my plan is to focus on one thing each time I go down to the lane. If I feel the anxiety creeping back in, I will myself to slow down & just breathe. Yesterday, I was at the office after my morning strength training & thought it would be nice to go for a swim after work. Two months ago I would never have had a thought like that. So I after work, I ran home to get my suit and headed back to the gym & started to swim. It was not as nice as Sunday's effort. The warm up was fine, then I had to figure out what I wanted to do. This is where the fail to plan, plan to fail comes in.  I know I am supposed to bring a workout with me to the pool, but I didn't.  I thought - I've got this, just get in the pool and swim. Wrong!  As a good friend tells me - train smarter, not harder. Yesterday was not the day for that. Since my weekly schedule has changed, I need to rewrite my training plan - really only minor changes, but without it, I have more opportunity to mess it up. If I have the equation right, bike time should equal swim + running time for the week. Going to be a challenge for the next few weeks because I don't want to give up my cycle classes because they are getting good! How do you plan for your workouts?  Do you plan at all?  

Side note: we use USB drives to record our data on the bikes at Lifetime.  I upload mine to Training Peaks to store & review the workout.  Granted, I don't really understand it, but I love the graphs!  Here is one from this past Monday called Rule of 5s... 

Up next (hopefully) - buying a road bike. So many things to consider & advice from so many different directions can make a girl go crazy! But I need to get it done so I can head outside with everyone when the weather warms up & get my courage up to register for a sprint triathlon I have been looking at ;)