An Object (not) at Rest

The buoy-less, merciless, Lake Herman treated Mr. T. well.

Volunteering in a first grade classroom and watching a lesson on force revealed a pretty profound truth to me this week: objects at rest, stay at rest. Thanks, Mr. Newton.

Since I'm definitely taking a backseat to any official training, this blog will focus mainly on Mr. T.'s preparation for IMCDA, which will take place in seven short weeks. 

This past week brought some wonderful memories into this year's training: 

• The first solo outdoor swim. I'm pretty sure the water temp was warmer than the air temp on this particular day. Friday once the seven-year-old graced us with her after-school presence, we packed everyone up and headed to the beach. Only one of us wore a swimsuit, and I'm pretty sure everyone who drove by thought he was a little crazy. The rest of us wore jackets and kept ourselves appeased with digging for treasures, finding cool rocks, and practicing our drawing skills with a stick and the sand. Mr. T. simply swam back and forth on the buoy-less swim area. I'll say this: the man has some perseverance. 
• The first five-hour ride. Mr. T. opted to take this one inside early Saturday morning. After

  

  Even the watch applauded Mr. T.

  having two different friends suffering serious bike accidents separately (one broke his hip and the other broke several ribs, his collarbone, and his pelvis), I all but threw a parade in Mr. T.'s honor when he opted to stink up the basement rather than brave the elements. Riders on trainers don't typically crash. Best of all, Mr. T. finished this ride by 12:30pm, all so he could recover and then play the role of superdad so I could take a break from the wonderful family and go to a play with a couple of friends. Like I said, this man has some perseverance. 
• The choice to keep the basement water-free over running long on Sunday. Massive storms hit several parts of our our flat state Sunday, and so instead of finding a time for his uber-long run, Mr. T. opted to man the shopvac and the persistently leaky window in our basement. 

So, we got a little rain . . . 

These two were the highlights of the week. Mr. T. had his regular training opportunities throughout the week with nary a wrinkle in the plan. He continues to strength train, and his biggest problem right now is trying to figure out how to get enough calories to fuel his system. Around nine o'clock nearly every evening, he looks at me and says, "What's for supper?" 

I had something triathlon-related and kind of fun happen this week as well. Back in February I signed up to volunteer at Coeur D'Alene. I received my official volunteer email with instructions this week. Memories flood my mind when I think of all the volunteers in Chattanooga last September. Mike Reilly, the voice if Ironman, said that having volunteers is like having your mom with you all day long. He's right. I'm so excited to be a part of that team in June, to have the opportunity to encourage people and help them achieve their dreams. 

Back to Newton: Mr. T. has been anything BUT an object at rest this week. In my own semi-inert state due to self-imposed resting after a rough day of first-trimester fun last week, I cannot help but dwell on Mr. Newton's law of motion. Any one of us, including me in my compromised state , can remain an object at rest. The whole law says, "An object at rest will remain at rest UNLESS [emphasis added] acted on by an unbalanced force." So this makes me wonder, what is the "unbalanced force" that makes any one move? Sometimes it's a scary doctor's appointment. For Mr. T., back in the day, it was a series of unflattering but realistic photographs. Sometimes it's just the desire to reach a goal. Last year the fear of not finishing something I had started made me at least complete the long workouts of the week. So I'm thinking that the key to keeping moving, to staying active despite not feeling like it lies in finding that unbalanced force right now. 

I'll be spending the week looking for my unbalanced force. 

Only seven more weeks 'til IMCDA!

Teamwork

I have a really hard time keeping secrets. So on Monday when we made the announcement, one we’ve harbored for six weeks, that we’re unexpectedly expecting another Troxell, I think we may have surprised a few people. I don't blame them. We certainly were shocked when we found out.

When the truth became apparent back in March, Jason responded with nothing but elation, and I kept thinking about what the future would look like with four children. So many thoughts, mostly pretty selfish, flooded my mind: we cannot afford another baby, I won’t get to race again for a really long time, we need to prepare ourselves for sleepless nights, I’m too old for another baby, I’m really embarrassed because we sold everything and obviously thought we were done having babies, our lives are over.

Like I said, selfish.

Mr. T.’s elation at the addition, however, was contagious, so those thoughts did not last too long. And then when we had an ultrasound to figure out a due date on Monday, I saw the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in a long time. Despite the fact I have been spending much of my day fighting nausea and the assaulting smells around me (who knew Jason’s bodywash smelled so bad!), rational thoughts have taken the place of the irrational along with my husband’s constant assurance of “we’ll figure it out.” He’s so great.

I had a bit of a conundrum when we found out about the baby back in March. I had already signed up and was training for the Brookings Half Marathon on May 2. I knew I could most likely run without consequence as I’d read stories about (crazy) women who’ve run full marathons when much more pregnant than I thought I was. But the general nausea and fatigue made training nearly impossible.

I remembered when my friend Carrie (a real life Olympian and thus genuine competitor) and her husband Charlie trained for the Twin Cities Marathon when they had a newborn. Word on the street was Charlie was on a lifetime taper, so he didn’t worry too much about actual training. Thus I adopted the lifetime taper method of training. I made sure I found the oomph for the long run every week for the past month, and then I tried to survive the rest of the week by just resting as much as possible.

Ironically, it worked.

I woke up at 5am Saturday, and my good friend Lori kept me company on the pre-dawn ride to Brookings and acted as my Sherpa and personal aid station. Whenever I saw her every four miles or so she was there with a half a tab of Nuun for the bottle I filled at every aid station. I paid close attention to how I felt, engaged in a walk break every few miles or so, and generally took the race easy. I tried to soak in the absolutely gorgeous weather (50 degrees with a slight breeze), knowing I will not race again for an entire year if even. This half marathon qualifies as one of the biggest accomplishments I’ve ever done. Troxell Quatro, as I call the baby, and I had a great time.

I have had some consequence for the run. I felt lousy most of the afternoon yesterday with an awful headache, but I have a feeling that had more to do with fatigue than anything else. The day after the run I feel wonderful with minimal soreness and stiffness. And I attribute that completely to all the IM training done last year.

Meanwhile, Jason has continued with his training. He had a recovery week this past week, and due to some signs of overtraining, he purposefully took his training none-too-seriously this week with two casual rides and then a trifecta of disciplines Saturday afternoon after I finished the half. He conquered the green monster, which we’re guessing has a temperature of somewhere in the upper 40s and lower 50s right now. This gave him a great opportunity to test out that attractive bonnet, booties, and gloves he’ll be using in Coeur d’Alene. He has eight weeks left to train, so we’re all prepared for the hardest weeks yet.

I need to include an important note on our training. Saturday afternoon was honestly one of the hardest afternoons I’ve endured for a long time. Jason took soccer-dad duty in the morning while I “raced.” Then he needed to complete his workout because we had plans to go on an all-day trip covering a triathlon on Sunday. Additionally, I really wanted a nap. So, while I tried to rest, a friend took the kids so Jason could train. But even then, I just felt lousy. Even after his bike ride, Jason still had an hour run and his swim left, and we promised the kids we’d take them to the beach while he swam. I’d love to say we had wonderful attitudes despite the intense fatigue, but I did not. I nearly cried because everyone was so tired, kids included. And yet we felt obligated to fulfill the promise to go to the beach. When I freaked out and expressed my regret for our decisions, Jason had one comment: “we’ll get through this.”

He was right.

We went to the beach. The kids played and had a great time. He had a fulfilling (albeit dizzying) swim (see the map of his swim). We returned home and worked together to scrub the day’s dirt off the kids, and then he took the two big kids to the park (as he had promised he’d do earlier), while I put the exhausted two-year-old to bed.

I woke up the next day looking back at Saturday knowing we had survived a hard day. Sunday further solidified the ability to "get through this" when we packed the kids and camera up and covered a triathlon three hours away. The two big kids hung with me while I caught pictures in one area, and Sadie snuggled in with Jason while he snapped pictures in another part of the race. Everyone flexed, no one freaked out, and we all had a great time. 

And all of this--getting through a tiring day Saturday and transitioning into a beautiful Sunday--makes me think we can survive hard days overall when we stay positive, work together, and trust in the One who gives us the oomph to live this wonderful life every day. Thus goes the lesson for the week.  

The Benefits of Crazy Living

A hairy, sweaty, accomplished wrist

We did something pretty loony last year. We both trained for and completed an Ironman. The actual completing isn't really THAT crazy. But the simultaneous training while raising a 1, 3, and 5-year old (who all turned 2, 5, and 6 that year) and simply meeting the obligations of life like work, family, and social media accounts, may have made us a bit more certifiable.

But we did it.

And now that we have taken a more manageable and sane track, I can see the definite benefits of losing it for just a given period of time.

Mr. T has entered some of his longest weeks of training for IMCDA. He has yielded some pretty obvious benefits by completing an IM a year ago and then training for one now. Experience yields success, at least we hope so. He learned oodles last year. In particular, he knows that if he puts time in with moderation, he will find success. He also knows that if he strength trains and listens to his body, he can bypass injury. In particular, he knows that if one workout goes south, that does not mean he has trained for naught. He can learn from the stinky outcome of the day and then apply that knowledge to the next workout.

That happened this week.

Mr. T. had some monster workouts scheduled for the weekend. In particular, he had a 4+ hour bike ride, which he attempted to tackle on Friday. However, he opted to try some new nutrition, and about 3:45 into the ride, he had to stop. We'll leave the nitty gritty details out, but just know that he's chalking the poor experience up to the nutrition and plans on not using the same plan again.

JT sketching out his week's training plan on his itty, bitty
notebook, making itwork around life. Yes, his legs are that long. 

Two days later he had a big, fat run--the biggest of the year and the longest he's ran since IMChoo. He went back to his old faithful nutrition, and voila, he had a great run.

I have yielded some great benefits from our year of crazy as well-- things that will ultimately benefit our family and Mr. T. in his quest for world domination in the middle of the pack.

• Empathy. When he has a cruddy workout, like the aforementioned bike ride, I feel for him. I did not shed tears, but I genuinely felt bad. And then I felt somewhat qualified to actually talk to him about it and ask what made it so lousy. I have vivid memories of one particular workout when my body just wouldn't cooperate last summer. It scared the snot out of me. But this time around, we both know that one bad workout does not deem a waste of training. In fact, when he texted me that he had declared the workout an "epic fail," I responded with "not an epic fail--an epic lesson." 
• Understanding. Training like crazy people last summer and remembering the goals I had makes understanding JT's desire to do well a little easier. I am not perfect. I have had a pretty bad attitude a few times, but those few times melt away quickly when I remember last summer. I will never forget the feeling of having a big goal and then having to work for it with focus for days, weeks, and months on end. Plus, I know this season of busy will not last forever. 
• Perspective. We lived in crazy last summer. We no longer do--at least not THAT kind of crazy. Only one of us goes on a 4+hour bike ride and needs the hour or more to recover. So when I want to whine about something, I think about last summer. Yeah, that was WAY harder than this kind of crazy. 

SDTriNews.com at its finest. 

This week also added one more thing to the schedule. The local sprint tris have begun and thus so has the season for SDTriNews.com. This means Mr. T. has his eye behind the lens of a camera, and I get to write about my favorite sport ever and hang out with some of our favorite people. I had soccer duty with the kids Saturday morning, so Jason covered the Brookings I'm Ready for Summer Tri. I really want to complain about the cold we had to suffer through, but then I remember that some people actually rode their bikes in the same frigid weather--soaking wet. Clearly I'm losing my edge. 

This week looks like another fun week. Jason has a recovery week (yeah!), and just in time. I have my half marathon I've been preparing for. I'm not planning on a PR kind of day but just a couple of hours of fun with a bunch of other people who enjoy running. Plus, the weather looks fantastic. We also have an end of the year program at church on Wednesday, soccer games Saturday morning, and another sprint tri to cover Sunday. Looks like a FUN week! 

The Guest Blogger Speaks

Our Sadie lady helps us remember to not take life
too seriously and to have fun.

Well, I have made it through a big chunk of Ironman training without having to write anything for our blog, but my time has come! Sit down, dust off the reading glasses, and prepare to have your mind blown!!  Or maybe not so much-- probably more like please read this and forgive the absence of literary excellence-- I promise not to make a habit of this. Week 14 is in the books now, and there are only 10 more short weeks to go before it is time to toe the start line again.

This past week was the first week so far this year that I would classify as more of a struggle physically. I tweaked a muscle in my back at the end of the previous weekend so the week started out with that really bothering me on the swim and the run.  I decided not to push through and make it worse, so I missed a swim and run early in the week.  The cutting back combined with some stretching and foam roller time seemed to have taken care of that issue.  By the end of the week, we were finally blessed with some non-windy weather, and I was able to get outside both Thursday evening and Friday afternoon for some quality time on the bike.  The bike really is starting to come together. All the winter nights spent with friends and Coach Troy must have helped somewhat!  Unfortunately, after my second ride I had the unpleasant experience of developing a not-so-pleasant saddle sore that kept me from a couple of the end of week workouts. 

Now after a few lighter days and today’s prescribed “off” day, things are all back to normal and ready for the start of week 15! This week will bring it’s own challenges I’m sure, mainly trying to figure out how/when to best do some of the workouts this weekend.  The “big” workouts are starting to get pretty….time consuming, so trying to fit those in and balance the rest of life will be the main challenge from here on out.  Both Sammy & Tyler continue to enjoy their first season of soccer, and it has been a fun break from the routine to be able to watch them on Saturdays. This next weekend also brings the start of the triathlon season here in SD and with it the fun of covering events and seeing friends, some for the first time since the end of last season.

Nik continues to prepare for her first race of the season, the Brookings half-marathon on May 2^nd.  Friday after I finished my outside ride she and some friends went out and enjoyed the awesome weather for 10 miles of running fun. The pseudo heat of the day made for a good training effort in some warmer conditions and the chance to practice good hydration. 

The bike finally made it off the trainer
for more than one evening this week.

I think more than anything this last week, the importance of time management and proper recovery were stressed to me.  I missed and cut short a few workouts, but feel ready to tackle this week fully recovered with no nagging injuries.  Being forced to figure out how to fit consecutive days of 3.5 to 5+ hour workouts, time with family, kid’s soccer games, and other obligations into the weekend really make a person write out a schedule and not “waste” any available moment.  It sounds crazy, but Ironman training almost seems to help me lead a more “balanced” life- probably out of necessity, but none the less it is a good thing.  Gone are the days of lying on the couch for hours on end…or even 30 minutes it seems!

Thanks for putting up with me this week, I’ll try my hardest to get the regular contributor back behind the keyboard next week! 

You Got to Keep on Moving . . .

Like I said, Mr. T. worked hard. 

When my older sister and I were kids, our hardworking parents drilled the coveted Midwestern work ethic into us through a number of ways. In particular, I recall my mom telling us in the wee hours of the morning when we woke up that if we would just work hard until noon, we could have the rest of the day to ourselves.

The dark-haired one in the middle held our attention. 

I have no idea what we did for the rest of the day. I do know that even to this day, my sister and I both have a great work ethic before noon and a truly difficult time finding our focus after noon.

On the particularly difficult mornings when we had possibly been out too late and Mom wanted to give us some extra motivation, she would break into Matthew Wilder's tune "Break My Stride." I can still hear her singing to us: "You've got to keep on mooooving." (If you have no idea of what I'm talking about or want to find a tune that will stick in your head forever, check out the Solid Gold video here. Warning: you cannot unsee what you've seen.)

I have no idea what my uber-conservative mother was doing listening to Matthew Wilder.

Mom's tune popped into my head as I thought about this past week. Mr. T.'s IM training is continuing to amp up, and the kids both played in their first soccer game on Saturday. Tired bodies fell into bed Saturday night. Exhausted bodies. Mine included.

Jason put in a big bike and run in three days' time: 80+ miles on the bike on a trainer (thanks to our lovely South Dakota winds) and a 13.5-ish mile run battle 33mph winds for a portion of it.

The nearly-five-year-old went airborne whenever he saw the ball.
We have no idea why. 

Ever the slacker (and proud of it), I muddled through a nine-mile long run Friday with some friends. This half marathon a few weeks away is going to look interesting, to say the least. I also, as promised, put in some strength training. No single part of my body (sans my mind) thanked me for those workouts.

Training here ain't for the faint of heart.

As far as soccer goes, we're still not too sure who won the games. And as far as we know, our kids did because they are such studs (we're a little biased).

Meanwhile, another big week of training looms in front of Jason, and, vicariously, the family as well. We can handle it, though. If there's something we've learned over the past year and a half, we just need to keep on moving.

Ain't nothing gonna break our stride. Ain't nothing gonna slow us down. Oh no. We've got to keep on moving . . .

Forgive me.

The Great Outdoors

Age did not discriminate for this ride. 

Nothing compares to training outdoors, no matter the weather. No indoor bike ride or dreadmill run can replicate the warm sunshine, slight breeze, fresh air, and vivid, constantly changing scenery. On the other hand, no indoor ride or run or even swim could simulate the gusty spring wind, constant mist, and uneven hills with which Mother Nature assaults us.

Nothing compares to outdoor training. 

And so, we took advantage of such opportunities last week. 

Tuesday night, as mentioned, via the wonderful technology of social media, Mr. T. organized a no-drop group ride. Optimal weather greeted us, or at least as optimal as we can hope for in southeast South Dakota in late March. We had temps in the upper 60s and low 70s and a slight south breeze. Because of the great variety of riders whom he anticipated, Mr. T. opted to send us on a north route with a few gentle rollers versus the south route with some constant hills. All in all, I'd call the event a success. Twelve people total rode. We even had our local bike mechanic come in case we had any problems on the ride. 

The rest of the week brought average training with the interruption of Easter festivities from Friday through Sunday. Mr. T. sent me outside for a quick mid-week run Thursday despite 25 mph gusts of wind. I came back feeling like I had accomplished more than just a three-mile run. I'm thinking we need to call this the "Mother Nature" badge of honor. 

Clearly RC has different elevation
than the east side of the state

We spent Friday afternoon through Sunday out on the west side of the state with Mr. T.'s parents, celebrating the holiday and generally watching the kids receive some grandparent love. Sunday after church and before we headed home, Mr. T. squeezed in his long run. Needless to say, the hills of Rapid City did not disappoint. 

This week will look much like other training weeks with a longer ride, run, and swim in this weekend and the basic workouts throughout the week. Mr. T. still continues to strength train, and this is yielding some genuinely positive results. It certainly isn't hurting. 

I'm continuing my own training as well, with more focus on strength than in the past. I'm also basking in the freedom of Spring Break from school this week, with the hope of putting in some good workouts and catching up with the income-earning job. Whenever I think things are hard, I just remember September 28, 2014.

It's crazy how one day can give a person the strength to do a million other things. 

When we first finished Ironman back in September and I tried to complain about basic life issues, Mr. T. always replied with the same line: you're an Ironman. Suck it up. 

More on sucking it up next week. . . 

Sporties for Shorties

Prepare yourselves for brevity this week:

This past week we had something happen that has never occurred in our family before. We had a child attend his first sports practice. Our nearly-five-year-old son took his turn to show us his stuff on the soccer field. He did such a good job that he convinced his uber shy seven year old sister that she too might enjoy the sport.

Our schedule now looks very different than it did a week ago.

But quite frankly, I don't mind. Their both playing soccer for the next couple of months which means Minnie, our kid-friendly vehicle, has officially become the soccer van three to four days a week. Thankfully we live close to everything. That happens when you live in a town so small it has only two stop lights. Our version of "running" means we need to leave the house five minutes before practice starts. We really have it rough.

Jason continues to train diligently for IM Couer d'Alene. He is steadily continuing to improve on the swim, hitting a milestone pace this week. He continues on with his twice-a-week sweat-and-socialize spin on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Saturday morning he ponied up early and completed his 3.5 hour ride and 30-minute run before noon. As his support crew, I appreciated this early completion because we had schedule a double date with some good friends beginning at 3:00 while the kids snagged some quality time with grandma and grandpa.

We also had the pleasure of a variety of weather. South Dakota springs do not disappoint. Friday, when I ran long, we had decent wind gusts, freezing temps, and snow flurries. Saturday and Sunday we had gusts that blew up to 50 mph. We have this saying around here when the weather really stinks: "Might be windy on race day!" I'm hopeful that JT won't have to endure gusts in Idaho like we had here this weekend.