It Takes a Village

An informative article doubling as an encouraging note

This was a fantastically challenging week. Work has pressed in on both of us lately (as evidenced by Jason's excellent post last week). Our kids have decided they'd like to start running the household (I'm on the verge of letting them). And training continued to take place.

Today in particular we had probably the most balanced day as parents, (crazy) triathletes, and spouses. It aptly illustrated the importance of management overall. We planned the weekend according to our personal limitations, literally working both sides of dawn for the past couple of days. I took the night shift, putting my work hours in late last night with the hope that kids would sleep in a little today. Jason, meanwhile, woke up about three hours after I hit the sheets and had his big bike done before 7:30 and his swim done by 9. This freed him up to do many things like giving the three-year-old a haircut, playing with the kids, taking a nap, and running errands in nearby Sioux Falls. It also gave me the freedom to tackle my big bike this afternoon along with the various domestic tasks that Saturdays bring. I'm going to bed so proud of us today for a little bit of discipline and a lot of teamwork. Days like today make me so proud of us and so proud to be the other half of this marriage and family.

An early morning workout allowed for some bonding time.

And this brings us to the crux of this week's blog:

It takes a village to raise a child. In our house, it takes a village to reach big dreams.

We would be remiss to believe that we can accomplish what looks like the impossible alone. We cite divine intervention frequently. And with that comes those who I'm pretty sure God himself sent our way to help us reach this big dream we have. Meet our support staff.

We have a few good friends who do more than we could imagine. Even before we knew them, they paved the path for us, completing big triathlons and tackling a marathon while we still considered channel surfing an athletic event. They taught us that endurance events are possible, that average people with lofty dreams could do lofty things. They ride bike with us, run with us, swim with us. When our mileage exceeds theirs, they hang around and play with the little Troxells, who love them like family. They clip encouraging articles and leave them on the kitchen counter with personal notes. They've traveled to triathlons with us and helped us manage children. They've brought us big bags of coffee, understanding our love and weakness with the bean. They get us. They're our triathlon family.

We also have an incredible network of coaches and teachers, people who have done Ironman and are more than willing to pass on their advice. We just recently hooked up with an entire team of experienced triathletes in Missouri (go STT!) who are more than willing to share their opinions and expertise.

We have many people who are aware of our dream, and when we see them, they often ask one thing after the perfunctory hello: how's training going? I've taken this question for granted, but I'm beginning to recognize that when people ask this, for the most part, they genuinely care about us and the quest. Some of them want to hear the nitty gritty stories, and others are satisfied with "not bad" or "busy." Regardless, I appreciate the question.

And we have each other.

(Forgive the sappiness for a moment, please.) The initial thought of both of us training while maintaining a family life was just . . . crazy. Initially. But now that we're in the throes of early training, I cannot imagine doing this alone. We better understand the need for a nap (like the big one I took yesterday and the one Jason took this afternoon). I find giving Mr. T. time to workout so much easier than the days when I was pregnant and he was training for his next step towards world domination. It's definitely fun to have someone else asking how far I went or how I feel and to do the same for him. There's just this mutual respect. And then there are those unmentionable topics that only triathletes talk about with each other.

In this blog, they'll remain unmentionable.

This week ahead looks like just another typical week of training, also known as time, sleep, work, and kid management. Bring on Monday. Only 27 weeks to IMChoo!

Enjoying the Ride

Our two big blessings on a field trip with Dad. 

Well another week came and went and the weekly blogging took a back seat to life.  Mrs. T has been really busy with work, kiddos, and training so….here you have it, a Two Ambitious Parents “first."   I, Mr. T, am picking up the creative slack and penning my first entry in our effort at weekly documentation of this crazy quest we have undertaken. I am not a creative/English person so please accept my apologies ahead of time.

The past week was overall a good week.  We got in some great training, highlighted by Mrs. T’s sbr brick workout on Saturday in which she achieved some new personal “bests” for training.  I continued in my quest for world domination, err survival by getting my strength workouts done for the second week in a row.  I also had a great training day on Sunday when I did a strength/long bike/t-run workout thanks to the coercion of my wife and a good friend.  We missed a few sessions due to other obligations (such as our 6 year old’s first birthday party with friends) and circumstances outside of our control (my long lap swim session being truncated due to the fire alarm going off at the facility & having to briefly stand outside in my wet trunks in the South Dakota winter).  These “interruptions” to the perceived “perfect” week of training are something we are learning to deal with more and more.

This brings me to the focus of this week’s post.  Enjoying the ride and not stressing about the details.  Here it is, plain and simple:

We are not elite athletes and never will be.  We are average age-group triathlon enthusiasts who have a dream to finish an Ironman.  The whole experience of undertaking this goal can easily go a couple ways, enjoyable and fulfilling, or stressful and tedious.  In the few years we have been participating in triathlon we have learned some very valuable lessons.  Sure we want to do well, have good finishes, win an award here and there, and become forces to be reckoned with.  That being said we have realized that there are MANY other things more important to us than short lived athletic glory.  By keeping our priorities in line with our desires we are on track to have one of the most difficult yet most enjoyable “seasons” of our life.  We are going to miss a training session here and there.  We are going to cut short a workout to play with our kids.  We are going to adjust the intensity of a workout in order to fit into the demands of life at that moment.  We are going to (try) and not stress about those times and look at the big picture and realize each instance/week/month is all a piece of the puzzle, a step on the path to hopefully realizing our dream.  We are going to our absolute best to train and race up to the level of the work we are able to put in.  If we can do that, the finish, no matter what time shows on the clock, will be worth every moment.

These Two Ambitious Parents will keep pressing on, roll with the punches, and not sweat the small stuff.  Hopefully next week Mrs. T will be back to enriching our lives with her eloquent blogging abilities as writing this for me is harder than doing a strength session!  Until next time, train smart and train safe!