Kaput and Blessed

Jason's parenting skills began to wane
after a long couple of days alone with
the minions

Once again, teamwork kept our little Troxell family together this week. 

Last week we left you, loyal readers, with the drama of the purple toe. The toe didn't fall off, and I believe it may even be improving. Jason opted to not visit a clinic since, as one of our esteemed physician friends (and fellow endurance athlete) told us that a doctor's visit would do little more than confirm a break. So. . . Jason is toughing it out. He continued to bike Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and he swam like the champ he is on Wednesday and Saturday. Yes, he is amazing. 

I had the pleasure of enjoying a mom's day out last Monday. Some moms get pedicures and go shopping. My day off consisted of a bike fit at the excellent Spoke-n-Sport in Sioux Falls and then a swimming lesson (one of three) with our buddy Kathy, a triathlon coach and swimming guru. Quite frankly, the day provided a much-appreciated day away from the people I love the most. Days off look a little different for this particular triathlete. I came away with the desire to continue to work hard with balance. 

The best part of the day came from a conversation with a friend who is also a dad, husband, and uber triathlete who encouraged me to continue to find some balance with family and fun. It came at the perfect time because the rest of the week unfolded in ways I had not expected. 

We had our perfunctory group rides on Tuesday and Thursday, and I find myself counting my blessings for the people willing to come to our house to train. I wouldn't bike consistently on Tuesdays and Thursdays without company. The people who hang out there, who sweat with us, and who laugh with us matter. I've written enough about our indoor bike training group that everyone who reads this blog already knows how much they matter. Friends matter. 

This became quite apparent later in the week when life began to unravel a bit. Thursday night my tough-as-nails dad whom I've talked about before went into the hospital with heart-attack symptoms. A stress test and then an angiogram revealed by Saturday morning that he would need quadruple bypass surgery, and a couple of bad nights in the hospital pushed the surgery Sunday morning. So Mr. T took charge at home, and I hung out at the hospital an hour away for a couple of days. Dad came through surgery like a champ, as expected. I come by toughness pretty honestly. 

Mr. T.'s number one tip on how to
survive a weekend without Mom: have
the six-year-old write the to-do list. 

When I returned home after a long day of waiting in a hospital, I found a few interesting things:  laundry washed, dried, and mostly folded; sleeping and peaceful children; a very kaput husband; and an email confirming my registration to the Chisago Lakes Toughman Half-Iron Distance triathlon. 

Mr. T. had been busy. 

So had many of our friends. Three different friends volunteered at different times to keep me company, four different people have volunteered to bring meals, and several have offered to help us with kids this past weekend. 

We are so blessed. 

So we'll go into this week with that thought. We didn't get every workout on the schedule in, but we did find the balance we needed for this week. And I believe we worked hard in every workout we had. And we're constantly remembering that while working out matters (this became apparent while hanging out at a heart hospital for a couple of days), so does balance.