My husband hasn’t done an Ironman race since California in 2015. Due to injuries and work obligations he was forced to take some time away from the sport. Can I still be called a TriWife? I mean we’re talking three years here.
He is supposed to be getting back into the sport this spring, however, which brings up the question…Will I have forgotten everything I’ve learned over the years about triwife survival or will the memory kick in and it will be like I’ve never been gone?
After all this time, in complete honesty, I have mixed emotions about getting back to the world of triathlons. While my husband has started and maintained a training schedule over the past year, it’s been a bit more flexible than during the height of his triathlon “career”. Vacations have just been vacations and not centered on training for a race or with a future race in the back of his mind. For instance…
- We didn’t plan the destination based on what was available for him to get workouts in.
- He didn’t bring anything special to work out with in case there wasn’t a gym.
- If he missed a workout, the world did not fall apart.
- He ate whatever he wanted and even had one or TWO drinks with dinner – even a glass of wine at lunch on occasion.
- He told his coach ahead of time to give him a “flexible” schedule and he obliged.
- We didn’t go to dinner at 6:30 unless we were really hungry.
- He slept in most days because he didn’t have to get up and work out before we played tourists.
- These were totally stress-free vacations.
Don’t get me wrong. I have loved the triathlon lifestyle for a variety of reasons. I have met so many wonderful life-long friends I never would have otherwise. There would be no TriWivesClub which means I wouldn’t be writing this article right now. I am proud to say my husband is a triathlete. And we have developed a much healthier way of living.
Being totally honest, I have even missed going to races, especially the 70.3s. I like half distance races and wouldn’t mind if my husband switched to just doing halfs. You get the fun of a triathlon, but not the tediousness, yes I said it, of a full distance…except, of course, the World Championships in Hawaii.
It’s just that after all these years of things like sleep deprivation, long, hot days in the sun, lugging gear on an airplane, and learning to do a lot of things on my own, I became a bit weary. I had forgotten what it was like to have a life. And rediscovering how amazing that can be, I’m not sure I’m ready to give that or my husband up…
I’m also not sure if he’s going to have the same zeal for racing that he had when he first got into the sport. For one thing he’s older…all of these years and injuries have taken a toll on his body…and he has developed other interests that compete with the sport. But the most telling sign was when he learned we have family visiting the weekend of his first race he actually said, I swear, “Maybe I won’t do Florida.”
So, it will be interesting to see what happens this season. Will having that first race under our belt stoke the triathlon fires for both of us or will those fires have fizzled out? I’ll keep you updated!
Have you been out of triathlons for awhile and made a come back?
Sherry is one of the TriWivesClub and LifeDoneWell co-founders and contributes to multiple blogs. She is a former co-owner of the California Apparel News and had a career in the healthcare industry. Her passions include traveling, real food, the environment, and animal rescue/welfare. She lives a healthy lifestyle and has been a vegetarian since 1987. She and her husband are parents to two rescue pups and reside in Connecticut.
