Triathlon Becomes Decathlon - Sock Bun Breakdown

Sometimes triathlon is more than three sports.  It is three sports, a job, two young kids with all the associated homework and activities, a mortgage, the weather, injuries, bills, and two cats that, despite my multiple attempts to convince otherwise, still feel that the bed is their territory and that their food bowls need filling at 5 am.

Triathlon becomes Decathlon.

Who set this bar so darn high????

In actuality, the word decathlon refers to a 10-part track and field event originating in the Olympics.  Your daily Wiki trivia.  But I think that it should also apply to a working parent / aspiring triathlete as well.  Because there are days... ok there are weeks and months, where it feel like the daily juggling act pushes me to the very limits of my mental, emotional, and physical endurance.

I'm in one of those sets of days.  

In addition to the usual, we're heading toward the end of the school year, with all the various assemblies and reminders.  The kids schedules aren't that nutty for each of them individually, but adding their schedules into the family's schedule and my work/training schedule.... it all starts to look like this:

I used to get frustrated at my husband for calling me at work to verify their various appointments and practices.  After all, he is the stay at home parent, and I have my own work schedule and training schedule to contend with.  I have recently come to the realization that it is simply more than any human mind can comprehend and keep straight.  This is clearly why man invented the IPhone.  On any given day I have at least ten different email and pop-up reminders for tasks, appointments (both mine and the family's), and which workouts I'm supposed to do when.  My google calendar is no less than 4 calendars merged together.  Side note - I've changed my workout schedule so furiously the last few days that I'm pretty sure my coach is just hunkering down and wait for the storm to pass.  He's good like that).  

Introducing disruption into this particular vat of insanity can have dire consequences.  I felt like I was teetering on the edge yesterday, and then I got the email from my daughter's dance studio detailing what each girl was to wear for accessories (the expensive outfit already having been purchased) and how to do their hair.  There are about 20+ classes in her studio, so I scrolled down the list through "High ponytail", "Two pigtails","Braided bun", "Side ponytail"..... then down to my daughter's class.

Sock bun.

What?  What IS that??  How did my kid end up in the complicated hair style class?  I spent a few minutes googling and watching YouTube tutorials.  I decided that there was no way my husband could conquer this hairstyle solo in time for her pictures.  Heck, I'm not sure I can.  I went through several mental scenarios involving him taking her over to a [more hairstyle competent] friend's house to be coiffed before practice, doing her hair in the parking lot (what if there is wind?), asking to leave work early to do it myself (even my boss isn't that tolerant!).  Furious texting with another dance mom friend (her kid is in the ponytail class.  Lucky duck).  Finally figured out pictures aren't until later in the evening.  Thank god.

They gang up on me

Exhausted from this and many other mental battles, I decided the best way to de-stress would be to go to bed after drinking far too much wine.  But my coach and my husband weren't behind that approach, so I took second best.  Excessive exercise.   Since there was only so much time I could spend obsessing about sock buns and career paths, I looked up the courses and previous times from my upcoming Oly and obsessed about that instead.  (Triathlon is so good for transference....)  I decided it was imperative that I utterly exhaust myself with a 1000 meter time trial in the pool.

Actually, I decided to do 1500 meters, but my coach told me 1000 would be fine.  Phew.  At least someone has some sense.  I've never done a time trial and really didn't know what to expect in terms of how fast (or horribly slow) I am since finishing Total Immersion class.  I hit the pool at a quiet time of day, warmed up, and had a nice conversation with my lane-mate, an older woman who told me I was "a beautiful swimmer".  Oh heck yeah, I'm beautiful.  I will crush this!  21:40 later my trial was over and I was feeling pretty darn good about my swimming and my prospects for my Oly.  At least one part of my life is in order....

Safe zone

Headed home to wage the Sock Bun Battle Part II: Implementation.  

Which consisted of the Jedi and I cutting up 3 different socks, rolling them, watching several more videos, and a few attempts with my very patient little girl sitting on the bathroom stool while I brushed and rolled and pinned, swore unrolled brushed again and repeated the process.  With her golden thick straight hair down to the middle of her back, my little girl is dead ringer for Rapunzel.  She is actually growing it out to her ankles to see if it will turn magic (I'll cross that bridge when we get there).  My husband helped by holding sections of her hair.  Every so often she'd ask, "Mommy do you know what you are doing?"  No honey, Mommy does not know what she is doing.  Really at anything in life, so if you haven't figured that out in your six years of life, you're in for some more disappointments down the road....  "Is this supposed to be a two person job?"  Yes lovey, all of parenting is a two-person job.  Even dance recitals...

The result.  Sock bun achieved.  Good enough....

For all reasons related to sock buns, time trials, work stress, and a full brain... the alarm went off this morning at 5:15 and I just did not have it in me to get up.  I've been tracking my resting heart rate for the last 2 weeks with my Sleep Cycle app.  On a good day it's in the mid 60s when I wake up.  A regular day, the low 70s.  Yesterday it was 80 bpm and this morning was 85 bpm.  Your resting heart rate can be a good monitor of how well your body is recovering between workouts (or other stress).  Anything over an increase of 5 bpm or so might indicate overtraining or some other stress. Clearly a resting heart rate more than ten beats higher is a sign I'm burning out a bit.....

I think today will be a full rest day.  I'm also trying to look through my various lists and to-dos and decide which I can safely ignore for a while.  Or at least a day or so.  Prioritize.  Triage.  Wine now?

Have you ever had something silly push you over the edge?  I want to hear about it!