Only 240 days . . . to Wonder What the Limit Feels Like

Happy February! Only 240 days until IM Choo. Only 240 days until we dip into the dark, murky waters of the Tennessee River. Only 240 days until we pedal into Georgia and back. Only 240 days until we will our legs and feet to move one after the other for 26.2 miles after a 112-mile bike ride and 2.4-mile swim. Only 240 days.

Thankfully, we still have 240 days to prepare.

This week we have nothing new to report other than we continue the challenge of pre-training training, or base building. Our ironman-trainer buddy has informed us we need to build up to a 60-minute swim, 2.5-3 hour bike, and 80-minute run by the time we start scheduled training in May. JT is pretty much there in all areas or could at least muster the toughness to complete them if he had to right now. I'm still building. But I'm hopeful too that if I just keep adding a little more to my long bikes and long runs every weekend, I'll be there by May.

And then the real work will begin.

This week found us with the regular schedule of taking turns swimming and biking. We'll be skipping the long run this week with the focus on spending some time together as a family with family, celebrating Grandpa Troxell's birthday. We definitely feel the flexibility to skip a workout here and there right now.

Come May, there will be no more skipping.

Our bi-weekly rides on Tuesday and Thursday nights have led me to the conclusion that training would be so much harder if our kids were actually older. For those who don't know, we have three little blessings ages 1, 3, and 5. On Tuesdays we have been splitting our time by me spinning early in the morning so I can teach a class on Tuesday evening while the little blessings sleep and JT spinning with the group. On Thursday nights we put the littlest blessing to bed and let the other two stay up a little past their normal bedtime to hang out with the group while we spin.

And they love it.

They regularly bug us on Thursdays, asking when everyone is coming over for a bike over. I am anticipating some serious disappointment once we move the ride outside.

I don't know what life will be like when we have a 13, 11, and 9-year-old, or something like that in their later years. Ignorance is bliss. We can only rely on the observations of friends who do have older kids. I do know this: our little kids make training pretty easy. They play around us as we spin. They ring cowbells when we run. They lift weights with us when we strength train. And when we swim, well, they sleep.

We've found success so far in training either while they're sleeping early in the morning or evening and by taking turns. I often wonder how this will work as our duration and intensity increases.

We'll find out in 240 days.