I train so I can have more time with my precious children. Since completing Vineman, I have been trying to figure out a good balance between the crazy workout schedule I kept to train for an Ironman length triathlon and my before Ironman routine. Last year, I was running four days a week, biking three days a week, and swimming three days as well. On most days I was working out between one and three hours, and on weekends I sometimes put in a six hour day. It was a schedule that I was able to endure by going to bed ridiculously early and rising well before the sun. This is not a schedule I could keep up indefinitely. However, I really don't want to stop training in all three sports...so I decided to just kept going.
Luckily, I have some amazing friends who feel the same way as I do and are willing to get up early to work out with me. I am still meeting the sunrise with my Tuesday/Thursday running group, swimming Wednesday/Friday with Karrie, and then my weekends are filled with more swimming and some long rides and runs. Because I am still maintaining a pretty consistent workout regime, someone recently asked me, "What are you training for?" And I honestly wasn't sure how to answer that question.
I have a few things I would like to sign up for, but I have nothing that is officially on the books. So why is it that I am still getting up early six days a week to get my workouts in? How am I staying motivated without having some difficult race hanging over my head? Why don't I roll over when my alarm goes off? Why am I still texting my training buddies daily to make sure they get out there with me on a consistent basis? What am I training for?
The answer to this question is very corny...I am training for life. With my 231 pound body, I was not going to have a very quality, let alone a very long life. With my borderline high blood pressure and the medications I was taking, there was a huge chance that I was not going to live long enough to see my youngest child go to college or get married. I had no energy to play with my kids, I was tired all the time, and I just couldn't go on living a life where I was so uncomfortable in my own skin.
So I might not be training for some big race, but what I am training for is much more important than that. Sure, I love my bling, but what I love more is what this new life has afforded me, and I am not going back! I will continue to work out on a consistent basis. I will have more races to train for in the future, but if I keep my eye on the fact that the biggest gift that has been given to me in the last few years is my new healthier body, I won't need those races to keep me moving forward. I will move forward because the healthier me will have more energy, will be able to keep up with my kids, and I will live long enough to see all my children graduate and start their own families. What am I training for? I am training for LIFE!
Luckily, I have some amazing friends who feel the same way as I do and are willing to get up early to work out with me. I am still meeting the sunrise with my Tuesday/Thursday running group, swimming Wednesday/Friday with Karrie, and then my weekends are filled with more swimming and some long rides and runs. Because I am still maintaining a pretty consistent workout regime, someone recently asked me, "What are you training for?" And I honestly wasn't sure how to answer that question.
I have a few things I would like to sign up for, but I have nothing that is officially on the books. So why is it that I am still getting up early six days a week to get my workouts in? How am I staying motivated without having some difficult race hanging over my head? Why don't I roll over when my alarm goes off? Why am I still texting my training buddies daily to make sure they get out there with me on a consistent basis? What am I training for?
The answer to this question is very corny...I am training for life. With my 231 pound body, I was not going to have a very quality, let alone a very long life. With my borderline high blood pressure and the medications I was taking, there was a huge chance that I was not going to live long enough to see my youngest child go to college or get married. I had no energy to play with my kids, I was tired all the time, and I just couldn't go on living a life where I was so uncomfortable in my own skin.
So I might not be training for some big race, but what I am training for is much more important than that. Sure, I love my bling, but what I love more is what this new life has afforded me, and I am not going back! I will continue to work out on a consistent basis. I will have more races to train for in the future, but if I keep my eye on the fact that the biggest gift that has been given to me in the last few years is my new healthier body, I won't need those races to keep me moving forward. I will move forward because the healthier me will have more energy, will be able to keep up with my kids, and I will live long enough to see all my children graduate and start their own families. What am I training for? I am training for LIFE!
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