The Benefits of Crazy Living

A hairy, sweaty, accomplished wrist

We did something pretty loony last year. We both trained for and completed an Ironman. The actual completing isn't really THAT crazy. But the simultaneous training while raising a 1, 3, and 5-year old (who all turned 2, 5, and 6 that year) and simply meeting the obligations of life like work, family, and social media accounts, may have made us a bit more certifiable.

But we did it.

And now that we have taken a more manageable and sane track, I can see the definite benefits of losing it for just a given period of time.

Mr. T has entered some of his longest weeks of training for IMCDA. He has yielded some pretty obvious benefits by completing an IM a year ago and then training for one now. Experience yields success, at least we hope so. He learned oodles last year. In particular, he knows that if he puts time in with moderation, he will find success. He also knows that if he strength trains and listens to his body, he can bypass injury. In particular, he knows that if one workout goes south, that does not mean he has trained for naught. He can learn from the stinky outcome of the day and then apply that knowledge to the next workout.

That happened this week.

Mr. T. had some monster workouts scheduled for the weekend. In particular, he had a 4+ hour bike ride, which he attempted to tackle on Friday. However, he opted to try some new nutrition, and about 3:45 into the ride, he had to stop. We'll leave the nitty gritty details out, but just know that he's chalking the poor experience up to the nutrition and plans on not using the same plan again.

JT sketching out his week's training plan on his itty, bitty
notebook, making itwork around life. Yes, his legs are that long. 

Two days later he had a big, fat run--the biggest of the year and the longest he's ran since IMChoo. He went back to his old faithful nutrition, and voila, he had a great run.

I have yielded some great benefits from our year of crazy as well-- things that will ultimately benefit our family and Mr. T. in his quest for world domination in the middle of the pack.

• Empathy. When he has a cruddy workout, like the aforementioned bike ride, I feel for him. I did not shed tears, but I genuinely felt bad. And then I felt somewhat qualified to actually talk to him about it and ask what made it so lousy. I have vivid memories of one particular workout when my body just wouldn't cooperate last summer. It scared the snot out of me. But this time around, we both know that one bad workout does not deem a waste of training. In fact, when he texted me that he had declared the workout an "epic fail," I responded with "not an epic fail--an epic lesson." 
• Understanding. Training like crazy people last summer and remembering the goals I had makes understanding JT's desire to do well a little easier. I am not perfect. I have had a pretty bad attitude a few times, but those few times melt away quickly when I remember last summer. I will never forget the feeling of having a big goal and then having to work for it with focus for days, weeks, and months on end. Plus, I know this season of busy will not last forever. 
• Perspective. We lived in crazy last summer. We no longer do--at least not THAT kind of crazy. Only one of us goes on a 4+hour bike ride and needs the hour or more to recover. So when I want to whine about something, I think about last summer. Yeah, that was WAY harder than this kind of crazy. 

SDTriNews.com at its finest. 

This week also added one more thing to the schedule. The local sprint tris have begun and thus so has the season for SDTriNews.com. This means Mr. T. has his eye behind the lens of a camera, and I get to write about my favorite sport ever and hang out with some of our favorite people. I had soccer duty with the kids Saturday morning, so Jason covered the Brookings I'm Ready for Summer Tri. I really want to complain about the cold we had to suffer through, but then I remember that some people actually rode their bikes in the same frigid weather--soaking wet. Clearly I'm losing my edge. 

This week looks like another fun week. Jason has a recovery week (yeah!), and just in time. I have my half marathon I've been preparing for. I'm not planning on a PR kind of day but just a couple of hours of fun with a bunch of other people who enjoy running. Plus, the weather looks fantastic. We also have an end of the year program at church on Wednesday, soccer games Saturday morning, and another sprint tri to cover Sunday. Looks like a FUN week!