The true cost of an Ironman

I look forward to my Tuesday training because I’m coming off of a rest day and my motivation is high. This Tuesday my schedule called for a brick workout of 25 miles on the bike followed by a 5 mile run. Having a full time job and full time relationships compresses your schedule and every free minute you have is committed to training, eating, and sleeping. The schedule is always tight but doable. I leave work Tuesday a little later than I wanted but that’s OK, these June days are longer. I get home change in to my gear, set up my transition in the garage for my run and I’m off. Halfway in to my ride with my head down in the aero bars I hit a rock that goes thru my sidewall. It’s repairable, I swap tubes get my CO2 out and while filling the tire my CO2 valve fails on me. I have maybe 60PSI in my tire. Determined, I finish my ride (at a much slower speed) get home and change in to my running shoes. I’m now way behind schedule. The smart thing to do is to cut my workout short…but is that the smart thing to do? I’m doing an Ironman! I finish my run get home and by the time I sit down to eat it’s 9 PM. After eating, I shower, log my workouts, ice my achilles, eat again and by the time I’m ready for bed it’s now 11:30PM and I’ve spent no real time with my wife. I’m ready to go to sleep because I get up early on Wednesdays to do my swim workout before work but my wife wants to spend time with me, talking about our days and having some time of intimacy. I put on my best eyes half open attentive face to give my wife the time she desires. While she talks, all I can think about is how staying up late is going to impact my workouts tomorrow (swim/ repeats on the track) and my ability to finish an Ironman. She gets frustrated, I’m frustrated and then it hits me…I’ve already lost perspective.

Our foolish pride comes from this world, and so do our selfish desires and our desire to have everything we see. None of this comes from the Father. 1 John 2:16

If you are attempting your first Ironman or maybe you’ve finished multiple Ironman events. Remember to keep your perspective. Keep your focus on God, your wife, your children. When you’ve left this world the Ironman finishers medal will mean nothing. Keep the focus on things eternal and praise God everyday that he has blessed you with the support and ability to do an Ironman.