Balance can be a tricky thing. In yoga, lose sight of your drishti and a wobble can sneak into tree pose. In cycling, lose your balance, and bam!, road rash (ask Nick, he crashed last Sunday going 30mph… serious road rash aside, he’s ok, thank goodness).
And, in life… well, is there any balance?
There certainly hasn’t been much during ironman training. No one said all this swimbikerunning would be easy, but I certainly didn’t expect normal life – you know, dinner at 7p, wine on Wednesday, lingering Sunday brunch, seeing friends – to all but disappear.
Some days I feel like I’m in the movie Groundhog Day. Alarm at 5a… double shot espresso… morning swimbikerun… eat… shower… work… eat… work… eat… afternoon swimbikerun… eat… collapse into bed… sleep… alarm at 5a… double shot espresso…morning swimbikerun… repeat…
That said, I think balance – ironman training or not – is all relative. For me, right now, 30 days out from #IMCanada, balance is this:
- Seven-hour Sundays of swimbikerun love
- Quality time with Nick (two years ago TODAY we met at a stoplight on our bicycles!)
- Quality time with my sister and niece (auntiehood is the BEST!)
- Good real food, even if it means a trip to the co-op at 8:30p and eating dinner at 9:45p
- Finding some #joblove
- Time to recharge at the end of a long day, mindlessly watching the Bachelorette or reading The Gifts of Imperfection (yes, quite a contrast there… balance, right?!)
And, those other things… vacuuming the wood floors, painting the vintage sofa table glossy turquoise, changing the oil in my car, weeding through stacks of unread books, making curtains for the office, a Sephora run for eyebrow pencils and NARS liquid eyeliner, a PO run to mail my Garmin rebate, coffee catch-ups with my non-triathlete friends… yeah, those things. They’ll get done in due time (well, except for the eyebrow pencils; those are absolutely necessary…!).
And, in September, when all this ironman craziness is done (for now anyway), my scale will adjust, priorities will shift, and once again the wood floors with be spotless, I will find a lot of space on my yoga mat, and I just may have time to bust out the sewing machine to create a few projects.
Ebb and flow… try and let go… find your balance…
I don’t know enough
about balance to tell you
how to do it
i think, though,
it’s in the trying
and the letting gothat the scales measuring
right and wrong – quiver
and stand still
Saint Paul sidewalk poetry… this gem found on Lexington near West 7th.
17 Comments
30 days out is a hard time to squeeze in any extras. But you’ve got your head on right: balance is an ebb and flow over time, extended, and those “extras” will come back into your life. Then, over time, you’ll be missing Ironman training and that will come back to your life. Ebb and flow indeed!
Happy “meeting” anniversary to you and Nick!
Erin, I love the reminder about balance in everything we do!! I am a very driven and determined individual, who sometimes loses focus of maintaining balance. Thanks for the reminder…because of this post, I’m going to look at how to better balance my life…starting today!!
This was a lovely post to read, Sis!! Finley and I feel so blessed that we are part of your current balance!! 🙂 You’re doing a wonderful job… 30 days to go!! So hard to believe. And happy anniversary to you and Nick! xoxoxo.
friend! i’m holding you to a september coffee and yoga date. i’ve been waiting to ask knowing how insane your life is these days:)
this is a must read: http://motaylor.com/life-balance if you love what you are doing, who you are doing it with, and you are happy, you’ve got balance.
I completely get where you are coming from, but it will be so worth it! I hope you continue to enjoy the ride, almost there!
Really beautifully written, Erin!
Love this post Erin!
you know the 4-5 weeks before the “reward” is nuts! Just get thru it, dont overanalyze, just DO and you will all the sudden be in taper wondering why your bike is only 2 hours long ( yes balance in the month prior doesnt exist!) You are doing great and you wont regret a minute of this, you may actually miss it!
Loved this Erin such a beautiful post!
Great post Erin! swim,bike,run on repeat! I admire you lady and cannot wait to spend more time with you soon.
I have to get a new phone so I lost all of my numbers 🙁 I will need your again.
Have a great weekend.
x to the o
Personally, the longer and harder I tried to achieve this “balance,” the more I realized it wasn’t what I really searching for in the first place. I understand that under certain circumstances, and for some people, having equal allocation of time and energy to the different things that make up a whole “you” might be great. But in the end, if you’re not passionate and excited about what you’re doing along the way, having “balance” really wouldn’t matter.
From what I can tell, YOU are clearly passionate, excited, ambitious, sure maybe tired some times, but having a great deal of fun!! It’s this one – http://pinterest.com/pin/283375001523660288/ – that gets me every time. 🙂
-Erika
Happy Anniversary! Balance is so tricky with all that training for sure. Don’t know how you do it all girl. I found it hard with just cycling lol. Definitely have to find balance and what works best for a person. For me, I went too hard for too too long without re-charging and my body definitely let me know! It is important to listen to the bodies subtle messages. I’ve decided to take it easy and finally listening to my body 🙂 You are so going to rock this race! You won’t know what to do with all the time after!
I had no idea that you guys met on our bikes. That is too cute! I loved reading this post. As you know balance is always a struggle of mine as well. I am just getting into marathon training and already feel my eyelids heavy by 7pm. I miss wine and brunch. I am considering a half ironman next year and like to hear what the reality is before i dive into the swimbikerunning! Hang in there girl! 30 days to go!
I LOVE this post Erin! Especially that quote. It is REALLY hard to balance much besides training when you’re in your heaviest training months. It is SO worth it when you finally reach your goal! One of my favorite parts is when it’s over, and you are able to find more balance again… Rekindling the non-triathlon friend relationships, more family, more time to cook, house projects, and errands. 🙂 I cannot wait to follow you online on IM Canada day!!!
Also, happy two years to you and Nick!
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