Training For an Ironman is Nothing....

This past week, my daughter, son-in-law and my four darling grandchildren are visiting and all of them are staying in our little tiny basement. I have loved having them here. We have had alot of fun from a trip to the cabin, a tram ride at Snowbird and a hike to Donut Falls, we have been very busy. Honestly, just handling the basics without all the extra activities can be very tiring: breakfast, dishes, baths, more dishes, getting dressed, laundry, lunch, more dishes, laundry, dinner, more dishes.... you get the point.  In the midst of all this, I am still running, biking and swimming... and working.  For example, Monday, we got up really early and ran 16 hard miles. Tuesday we rode our bikes from our cabin to Park City, Wednesday we swam a mile and a half and Thursday I ran 6.5 miles.  And it was while I was running that 6.5 miles I started thinking... all my running, biking and swimming didn't seem quite so difficult this week.  Was it because the training was finally kicking in and everything was getting easier?  Was it because I was getting stronger every day?  Was it because the stars had aligned this week and everything clicked?  Unfortunately, none of these were the answer. It is because training for an Ironman Triathlon is nothing compared to taking care of four children under the age of seven.  I don't know how my daughter does it.   It is exhausting!  Riding up a really difficult hill on my bike seems easy compared to her schedule.  In fact, we were planning to go on a 100 mile bikeride today and we decided to postpone it until tomorrow because we were really tired, but while I was cleaning up the dishes from breakfast and putting in a load of laundry and folding clothes and making the beds I thought... riding my bike for 100 miles would be relaxing... all you have to do is sit there and pedal.  How hard is that?  So, many thanks to my darling family for reminding me how easy training for an Ironman Triathlon really is.