One Final Re-Set . . .

Time to push the re-set button. . . one more time. 

We have a little over three weeks until we start what I’d call “hard” training for IMChoo, and so we’re grateful for a break from everything normal.

Jason had a work-related conference to attend in Orlando this week, and he gracious let me tag along. Hooray for (me having) the most flexible job ever. We split up the minions and left them behind with grandparents and a family friend. Last I knew, they didn’t miss us. (When I tried to talk on the phone with the six-year-old, she lasted maybe sixty seconds and then basically hung up on me. “Gotta go, Mom.”)  We’re on vacation.

Really REALLY on vacation.

We’ve walked on the beach, dug for sea shells, ate some really good food, scared the natives with our naked white legs, and worked out .  . . not once.

Now I realize that the uber-triathletes of the world are frowning now, but hear me out. When we left, I had my fair share of niggles—a persistently sore shoulder, a hip that kept me awake at night, and just a sense of dread any time a workout presented itself. We’ve had opportunity to run (on treadmills) and bike (on fat-seated exercise bikes) and lift (in the hotel gym). But instead, we opted to re-charge the batteries by eating some foods with high levels of omega-3 and just enjoy the quiet time listening to each other breath. (I can’t remember the last time we had this many meals in a row with no kids.)

A respite from open-water swimming? 

I doubt the five-day break from the sport we love is going to keep us from our goals of stepping across the IMChoo finish line in September.

But not resting may have.

My dad is a big philosopher, especially for a guy who spends his days sitting on a tractor. Maybe there’s a connection there. Anyway, he called me randomly yesterday while we were trying to find our next big meal. We had literally a 30-second conversation in which he said something to the effect of, “Every night when you go to bed, ask yourself what you learned that day. And I’m not talking about gossip. What lesson did you learn that day.”

We’re coming home tomorrow after a five-day break, and we’re both pretty excited to jump back into the routine of working out, tackling domestic duties, and prepping for IMChoo not to mention hugging and kissing the three kids that didn’t miss us. And I can’t help but keep my dad’s words in the back of my head: what lesson did we learn?

When burnout is knocking on the door, stop, rest, and push the re-set button.

23 weeks and counting!