Thursday, July 26, 2012

Being a Triathlete Reminds Me of Something...

The stuff.  Oh my goodness, the stuff you accumulate as a triathlete.  Getting ready for the race I'm doing this weekend, well, you know what it reminds me of?  Having a baby.  No, not the actual laboring of having a baby, but all the stuff you "have to have" when a baby comes along and you have to go somewhere with said baby.  You spend an hour preparing and packing for it.  Here are my comparisons:

The Toys:
Sure, you can get the uber-expensive, top-of-the-line goodies, but what fun is that?  The bouncer, the excer-saucer, the fancy stroller, swing, teething toys, books, etc.  They practically take care of the baby themselves!  When it comes to triathlons, you have to have a bike.  The baby stuff may be optional (but  don't tell any "good" parent that!), but a bike is mandatory.  I experience bike-envy quite often, just as I would experience stroller-envy back in the day.  But Silver, my bike, does the job for me just like my little Graco stroller did the job for my kids.

So, here is Silver, ready to go this weekend.  Also necessary are the towels for the swim-to-bike transition, and the pump.  Reminds me of the burp clothes and other pump I would take with me in the diaper bag....


The Bag:  (aka: The Diaper Bag vs. The Tri Bag)
Every parent knows the sickening feeling when you forget to restock the diaper bag; whether it be the diapers, the wipes, the spare outfit, snacks, bottles, formula...the list goes on and on.  I used to have a doosey of a diaper bag.  I thought it better to over-prepare than to get stuck without something, so I had all sorts of stuff in there.  I even had snacks for myself in there.  And depending on how long we would be from home, I might even throw in an extra shirt for me (c'mon...if you've ever nursed or had a baby with a runny nose, you know...). 
Triathlons really aren't that different.  Fortunately my brother bought a very nice Tri-specific bag for me, full of special pockets and zippers.  It totally reminds me of a grown-up's diaper bag.  Because let's face it, triathletes can be really big babies sometimes.



The Food:
As a mother, I learned to never be without food or drink for my baby and/or toddler.  In particular were those outings when we would actually have to be around people and I wanted them all to think I had the most angelic child ever, and that I was a super mom.  Ok, that sounds awful, but honest.  I would have goldfish, graham crackers, those special little fluffy toddler snacks; as babies there would always be a spare bottle and formula; sippy cups with water and/or juice.  Nowadays I have scaled back to just a water bottle for short trips, because I am pretty sure everyone knows my children are as angelic as their mother is.  Which is, not very.
I was having flashbacks to the baby/toddler days as I was getting my "fuel" together.  This is just the stuff for during the race:


This is what is being packed for race-day breakfast:  (The PopTarts are for Ken, honest!)
And yes, I am bringing my own toaster!!!

You better believe I wouldn't forget the BOTTLES:

So, there you have it.  And in case you were in doubt as to whether or not I was a bag-toting mama, here is a flashback of me with my two oldest kids on an outing ten years ago.  They are now 13 and 11 years old!


Thank you for reading my snarky commentary. ;)  I'll be sure to let you know how the race goes, and if I forgot anything!

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