I’ve been looking for ways to make Ironman training a family affair. It’s not easy. No one wants to do 1.5 hour brick workouts with me! Yet, I’m trying to get creative…

It started with the idea of going swimming with McKenzie on Sundays. She’s a strong swimmer. I figured we could go to the lap pool (our gym has a 4th floor family pool and a 1st floor lap pool – the serious folks are on floor 1). I was hoping we could fly under the radar and not attract anyone’s attention. We are an 8-year-old girl and a woman in a boy short bikini (because I can’t find any one pieces that I like and I continue to look like a vacationer, rather than an athlete.) So, we do not look like the others!

McKenzie and I did really well with this swim routine together. It’s a nice chunk of time with her, where we change in the locker room together, sneak down the back steps, do our workout, she critiques me on my kick (she says I need work, she is not wrong), we sneak back up and take side-by-side warm showers. I love this time with her.

Then Jake wanted in on the swimming action. Oh boy! He’s younger and less focused, I wasn’t sure how this would go. But he and I braved the more complicated logistics of going to the family changing room, of him waiting while I locked up our stuff in the women’s locker room, of sneaking down 4 flights of stairs, of staying in the same lane in the pool — He did really well! At times he just got out to walk along and critique my kick. He gave me a zero out of 100. 🙁 — of sneaking back upstairs to shower in the stuffy family changing room.

I then took on taking them both to swim at the same time! I’m proud to admit, even with a swim instructor by the pool the whole time, we did not get asked to leave!!

And this week, 2 things came together. During the Girls on the Run (GOTR) session on Thursday, McKenzie and I talked about running 3 miles together outside of the GOTR session. Then…when my Coach said I could have an easy half hour run after my 1 hour on the bike, I thought it was a great time to do that 3 mile run with my daughter.

We went ahead and made it 3.1 miles, her first 5k training run!

I’m also hoping to do some cycling training with my husband… and I’ll see what else we can dream up.

I’m open to ideas!!

My first 2 hour solo lakefront cycling workout. 20 mph winds and waves kicking up on the path. Is this a good idea??

Maybe not.

I rode through a foot of water 3 times. I actually timed it right the first time to miss the waves. Coming up on the bend before Oak St. beach, I jumped off the bike, waited for the waves to crash against the wall, then I ran all awkward in my cycling shoes past the curve and got back on. Then I got cocky… Chanced it on the way back and my timing was way off, just watched the wave crash half way up the bike and felt my feet get soaked. Awesome. That makes your brakes wet too. Also got soaked twice at the narrow path just north of Navy Pier. Ugh!

My feet were pretty cold after that. You can cycle with cold toes, but I was worried about the dismount. I don’t have a perfect dismounting history (understatement!!) and I worried about trying to unclip and step off the bike with numb feet. So every once in a while I’d squeeze one set of toes 20 times and then do the other one.

I also had an emergency unclipping situation. I rounded a curve and there was a mound of sand on the path. Could I power through this? I really had no idea. I was thinking it was unlikely… yet maybe possible?! I stopped the panic enough momentarily to unclip and hopefully be ready either way. Yeah, turns out there was no way I was going to power through and I had enough where-with-all to lean the right way and one footed flintstone my way through the sand. (Sand + wet foot is a bit of a mess, but I didn’t fall so I declared it a success and went about my merry way).

2 almost emergency unclipping situations when 2 guys (yes, they were both guys) almost stepped into the path without looking both ways, without looking my way. I yelled at them. Just FYI, if you risk your safety or mine out on the bike path, I will yell at you.

Was this a ride good idea?? Maybe not. But, I did it.

It wasn’t the “steady state” ride my coach wanted it to be. Yet, it was a mental victory! I handled a lot out there (for an inexperienced cyclist!!) And I did not fall (that’s a bigger deal than you know… :-))