To Tri or not to Tri...?

The defining moment was one gorgeous April morning in Virginia Beach, with a 4 week old baby as my only spectator, I found myself stood in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher racing against the clock to unload it more quickly than the morning before. I even completed a little victory dance when I busted 8 seconds from my time. Oh dear. Time to get that race entry in and start training again….

Life used to be fairly simple. My then boyfriend and I could swim, bike, run, hike, party, holiday whenever we had the urge to and also had the money to do so. Training, although a big part of my life, was never a ‘luxury’; it was a normal part of day-to-day living. If I got home from work at 8pm, I could just jump on the indoor cycle trainer or go and catch a swim at the local pool and then grab dinner at 10pm - no biggie. As I said life was simple and the furthest distance I planned to race was a half Ironman. Fast forward to July 2014; the boyfriend is now my ever-patient husband, income has reduced to one, and we have a toddling 16 month old to fit into the mix. And then there is the small fact that i’ve upped the distance stakes - Ironman Lake Tahoe. Not a distance to be taken lightly and commitment from the family as a whole is required. Eeek!

Joined by my training buddy during the 'Build' phase.

As much as I love racing, taking on an Ironman distance Triathlon was something we had to discuss as a family. Ok, so with Ross in the UK and Toby small enough to pack up and take anywhere, they didn’t have massive input but the impact on their lives had to be considered; like how would I ensure quality time with my ‘too cool for school’ step-son when he was visiting or how would I make sure Toby didn’t feel neglected whilst I was away from him. Then there was the cost. Gulp! Anyone thinking of entering Ironman branded races should steady themselves for the price. Justifying it through saying ‘i haven’t raced for a year as I had a bump’ was ok but it didn’t pay the entry fee. Luckily, I started teaching Indoor Cycling classes at the gym on the local Naval Base, so at least I could attempt to offset the cost through earning a little bit of pocket money! Next up was time. I’m a full time mum to Toby, was studying for my Personal Training Qualification and teaching some classes on Base. Initially training worked well and I could fit everything fairly easily; I then qualified as a Personal Trainer and TRX instructor, began teaching 8-9 Spin and TRX classes per week, started work at Anytime Fitness here in town and set up my Turbo Fit business. If only there were more hours in the day…!

A Wilcox Family Training Run!

The day care facilities on Base are fantastic and my small social butterfly loves time with his buddies, playing and generally having a whale of a time; so I can drop him there, as and when I need. There are some days he spends there longer than others; but his huge grin as he waddles down the corridor to the ‘Pre-Tod’ class lets me know he is absolutely fine with this arrangement. So, apart from feeling the normal ‘mother guilt’ of leaving my child in daycare for a few hours, I still manage to fit training and everything else in. Sure, it takes a bit more juggling and a number of 5am starts or a 10pm finishes to fit everything in, but its there.

I think the thing I completely underestimated about endurance training and having so many pulls on time is the fact that you get sick. You open yourself to a lowered immunity and having your child spending time in the company of other children means every niggly cold/cough makes a bee-line in your direction; and, once happily hunkered down in your body, a bug can morph into a raging fever which spreads through you like wildfire. However, you gotta keep training right? Wrong! As I found out on a couple of occasions (it takes a couple of attempts to try to prove I’m Superwoman to actually realize I’m not). So, I make sure I monitor my heart rate (HR), fatigue levels, joint soreness, muscle soreness each day to ensure that I’m not going into training depleted in anyway. Sure, sometimes you just need to push through the tiredness; after all, who has small children and isn’t fatigued in some way? The important issue is to recognize the warning signs of an oncoming illness and address it. Ah ha, practicing what I preach finally….

As I mentioned earlier the decision to train for an Ironman is a big one. A decision that, without the support of my ever-patient and all-round awesome husband Chris, I could not have made. Luckily, as a triathlete and Ironman himself, he appreciates the time investment required and without him covering ‘Mummy & Daddy duties’ at the weekends and evenings, the time and effort I could put into training and working would be somewhat reduced. It wouldn’t be impossible but I wouldn’t be able to train to the degree I need or want to, to have a hope of achieving the performance I would like on race day. Or have the opportunity to put the effort into developing my new career and business. Alas, as with all military personnel, Chris is away every so often, but the ‘tour’ we are currently on sees him at home a lot more than he has been in the past. Luckily when he is away on detachment, we have two teenage legends who come around to babysit, whom Toby adores. 

Mixing holidays and racing; good job my boys are understanding!

So this process takes time, effort and energy and some other lifestyle choices are dropped, just for a little while anyway. My fashion attire is sports kit and the closest thing I get to applying make-up during the day is putting on my moisturizer. High heels to me at present is the effect of landing on my toes when running. (The sparkly, beautiful pieces of foot adornment that I own are still sitting pretty on the shelf in the closet waiting to be loved).  I still have the glass of wine or two but life at the moment does seem to revolve around fitting those all important training sessions in. Much like anything you truly desire, if you want it badly enough, something else ‘has to give’. Sessions are very directed and punchy - even the longer 4-5 hours sets are broken into pointed areas, each with their own goal; I no longer ‘faff’ about when i know there are other things to be getting on with. Stef, my coach from TriSL Training helps keep me focussed and I’m ever grateful to him for putting up with my long-winded, fully broken down comments about each session’s performance.

Long and hilly riding whilst on holiday in Yellowstone NP

So, do I love my life? Yes! Is it difficult to fit it all in? Yes, definitely! Would I change it? No! (well, apart from adding another couple of hours to the day and getting Toby to sleep later on a weekend). I saw a quote recently that seemed to sum this article up quite nicely.

 “When you do what you love, the seemingly impossible becomes simply challenging, the laborious becomes purposeful resistance, the difficult loses its edge and is trampled by your progress.” 

Of course Ironman is not for everyone and I am at a point in life where this relentless training and life juggle actually works. There will come a day when it won’t fit together quite so nicely but at that point the challenge then changes. No matter what you decide to take on, believe in yourself, believe in your dreams; you are capable of far more than you could ever imagine.

Happy Training friends,

TF

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