Train, Parent, Rest, Repeat.

When the first line of a training plan begins with, "I'm going to punish you this week. Ha ha ha ha," a person has a reason to worry. Thankfully, I know our (sadistic) trainer has a (really weird) sense of humor. 

Last week Jason nailed every workout. I did not. And so this week I get to pay for that apparently. We both finished our long workouts despite an incredibly busy weekend. The weekend schedule looked something like this: Friday--Nikki woke up early, ran uber long and arrived home in time for Jason to swim at 11:30am. Saturday Jason and the six-year-old headed out to take pictures at a local race for SDTriNews.com while a sitter came to take care of the four and almost two-year-old and I rode my bike on the trainer in the basement for nearly six hours. Jason came home having hydrated all morning and completed his uber-long run in the late afternoon. Sunday Jason did his six-hour ride and transition run while I wrangled kids and visited family.

And that is a typical training weekend right now.

Then I received this week's plan.

I won't write it out in detail, but the long workouts are long (the longest run we'll do in training). If I've learned anything in training so far, it's to look at each workout one day at a time, and no more. Dwelling on the difficult does no one any good. But staying positive in the midst of even the most challenging circumstances, well, that can do a whole lot of good.

I read something pretty encouraging this week too worth sharing. I've been re-reading Elisabeth Eliot's book Keep a Quiet Heart. In one of her short chapters she says that courage is not the absence of fear. Courage means doing something even though we're afraid of it. I'll keep that one in my backpocket as race day draws near along with the verses she cites that go along with the concept of courage.

This week we did take a much-needed break from training and life by going to the fair. We tested our courage by riding questionable carnival rides with our very excited four and six-year-old (see pics) , petted some farm animals, and just soaked in a very beautiful day overall. The time away genuinely re-filled us both and gave us the oomph we needed for the next three difficult days of training and parenting.

So, that's life here. It's not a whole lot different than the other training weeks have been--hitting most of the workouts and trying to keep a handle on the family at the same time. To say this has been easy would be a complete lie. But it has forced us to grow as people, as a husband and wife, and as parents.

I fear life after IMChoo may end up being a little on the slow and dull order. But we can't focus on that yet. We have some work to do. :)

Seven weeks left . . .