Consistency

Hooray for warmer SD weather and DRY roads! 

Six years ago our lives changed. For forever. I began running. Ha ha. Just kidding. Actually, six years ago this coming Tuesday, March 11, we transformed from a two-person household with a dog-as-a-child to a three-person household with a dog. (Seriously--the second we brought a baby home, the moment we crossed the threshold, the dog turned into, a dog.)

Oddly enough, our seven-pound addition didn't eat food from the fridge or require her own room (at the time), but she turned our world upside down. I remember crying. Lots of crying.

And that happened even when the baby slept.

Those were dark days in my personal past, but parenthood has made our lives nothing but better. It has made us nothing but better. It has done nothing but strengthen our marriage, communication, and overall teamwork skills. And it's fun.

I had one of those philosophical triathlon moments this week as I finished up my weekly lunch date with our almost-six-year-old at the school cafeteria. I've tried from day one of kindergarten to know her classmates' and friends' names. I just like people. And I really like these little people. As a result, I call them by name now, and they know who I am. But this rapport did not happen in the first week of school or even the fourth week. It took time. Week after week of saying hello, asking them how they're doing, and just making conversation with the kindergartners. I never expected results immediately. Nor did I expect the positive results I'm seeing now.

This made me think of our race (and even our training).

I want results. Now. I want to see some weight fall off. I want to see higher numbers on my bike computer and lower numbers on my Timex GPS watch. But this will only happen with consistency. Repeated session after session of working out. And each workout is like one more visit with the kindergartner, building a relationship one conversation at a time. Building endurance one workout at a time. I guess it's like our buddy Jason always says, "Consistency leads to success."

So we plug away right now. JT had his best training week yet, and arguably, I did too, but I didn't hit the numbers that he did. He nailed every workout he intended to tackle, with a bike, swim, or run all but one day (that wonderful day off) and sometimes twice a day, and he even (drum roll please) started strength training. This is a huge change in the regimen. Oh yes, and he started eating breakfast. Little but critical tweaks like this, we're hoping, will make a big difference down the road.

And so I'm riding his coattails for now. I did not complete the same quantity of workouts as he did (one swim and one bike short), but I did do something everyday, and I incorporated strength this week as well.

Moreover, we had fun. We are learning to behave more intentionally with our time. Jim Elliot wrote, "Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God." Family life has been like that this week as well as training overall. And once again, I find myself so blessed to have a great partner to share this well with. We are so SO blessed.