Beautifully prepared by my exceptionally wonderful wife is my coffee to get me going and every piece of nutrition I need to get me through the day at work, along with a charged cellphone, and - if I'm really good! - there might be a coupla extra dollahs in the wallet for my allowance! Angie's constantly in tune with the nutritional needs for my training and always asking questions. "Do you want extra grapes tomorrow? Remember, Tuesdays are a big training day for you! Is this enough chicken for your salad?"
Then there's the pre-work breakfast of cereal with fresh blueberries and strawberries, beautifully wrapped in Saran wrap to keep it fresh in those precious minutes between when she heads out for work and I get up and ready to eat.....
I mean, this is a work of art!
And this is really just a small picture of the support and sacrifices that Angie makes for me. I could take a picture of the clothes that have already been ironed and laid out for me for work. Or the dinners that she prepares perfectly executed to be ready to eat right after I've had my evening workout, recovery drink and shower. How about a picture of Angie taking my core temperature with an anal thermometer after a long run in the heat? Once, I was on a particularly brutal run in the middle of the sweltering heat of summer and, by some miracle, she happened to be around a corner in the middle of nowhere with a bucket of ice and a thermos of cold water. I don't even know how she knew where I was, miles from the house!
She does all the hard work. All I gotta do is concentrate on moving forward, one foot in front of the other. She makes it that simple.
Maybe just one more little story to drive this point home. I honestly don't know how I landed the wife of the century. Our story of how we met isn't something that makes for an unusually great story. But the moment I knew she was the one does......at the risk of telling on myself. Back when we were dating, I stayed overnight at her apartment since I had an extremely early flight out of Atlanta and she was closer to the airport than my place. At the crack of dawn, I eased out of her bed and went to get ready. After the shower I took my usual seat on the pot. All went well til I flushed, at which point the contents of the toilet overflowed, gushed out all over the floor, sinkers became floaters and floaters became swimmers, with me standing on the bathtub ledge as if one of them was going to jump up and smear itself all over me. What to do?! I was running late for my flight and there was no way I could clean this up and make it to the airport on time! I did my best Carl Lewis long jump over the cesspool and crept my way back to the bedroom, where Angie was peacefully enjoying the comfort of a sound sleep. "Sweetie? Hey, sweetie?" I said, waking her up. "Hey, baby. Look, I gotta head out and catch this flight, but I had a little accident in your bathroom. I shit all over the place. I'm really sorry. Well, I gotta go. Love you!" I gave her a kiss and was outta there. Any girl that would stay with me after that was a keeper.
Ironman is tough enough on your own. It must be hell to train for one without the support of your spouse. I am so lucky to have such a loving and supportive wife in Angie and she really is the brains behind this whole operation. I owe her sumpin' fierce! Thanks, Pea, for being the best wife in the whole wide world!
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