We're On the Road to Lake Placid...

Eric is doing his first Ironman this year - Lake Placid - July 25th.  You can probably imagine how much fun this journey has been for both of us... or perhaps you can't...

Apparently, all of the angst and fallout (for me - the spouse) is 'normal' so I guess I now know what I'm in for in the years to come... ;)


These Things I've learned:

There are apparently 2 alter egos at play here:  Misery Boots or Village Idiot.  There does not seem to be an in-between (ie. 'husband')... Seriously, I do joke about these things but it's true... it's impossible to get my usually helpful and kind partner motivated to do anything unless it involves IM.  Highly frustrating!  Most of the time he's just busy training, busy working or busy sleeping... the rest of the time he's complaining about training, working or lack of sleep... wow - what fun!!

We keep in touch via email.  Why?  Well, because whenever I do get a phone call, most often it's from Village Idiot... ie. completely unintelligible!!  This familiar sounding, yet nearly impossible to comprehend, voice on the other end invites me to dinner, or suggests an activity and then in the next breath or so, tells me why it's not possible... usually these phone calls occur while I'm busy at work or at home - trying to get in a nap or get my own training done...

The preferred responses I've developed consist of: 
'I'm busy'
'I'm going to bed'
'I'm going out now - see you later'

It might sound harsh but it's a heck of a lot better than letting loose my frustrations and then BOTH of us being miserable... Village Idiot is to 'out of it' to notice that I'm frustrated... Misery Boots - well, he just wants a fight!  LOL!!

My coach filled me in on a little secret:  There's IM Eric and then there's Eric... not the same thing... (no kidding...)

Luckily, I'm an only child and quite content to go about my own business and activities - for the most part.  I've learned that IM Eric won't help me clean the house, stock the fridge with groceries or help me store the furniture that I cannot put in the storage locker by myself... he will not allow me to quietly nap when he's home unless it falls within his daily routine... I will be SO glad when IM is over!!

Now, of course, the budding IM is on a taper pre-race and so he has a wee bit more energy and is excited about all of the 'spare' time he will have to spend with - ME!  Sounds nice except that... I'M TRAINING FOR MY HALF-IRON ON AUG. 22ND... Coach JJ tells me that I have to 'FOCUS' and put everything into this to prepare for my BIG RACE - so from now on, it's ME that will be living and breathing my H-IM training... I hope he enjoys himself keeping the house running smoothly while I have my own personal pre-race meltdown...


Payback's a bitch... ;)