This month my husband and I have been doing the Lazy Cougarathon, a wellness challenge sponsored by the BYU Wellness Department.
( It used to be named the Lazy Ironman but apparently the Ironman organization thought that was an infringement on their name. So, Lazy Cougarathon is the name. Not quite as exciting. Personally I still think of it as the Lazy Ironman (LI) because it sounds more challenging.)
I digress.
What is an Ironman you may ask? Well the Ironman is a 3-part race (swimming, biking and running) that is done in one day. Most Ironman races allow 17 hours to complete all 3 parts. The race usually starts at 7 am with the swimming and finishes up with the running by midnight with the biking in between. As a side note and shout out- Jan Frodeno of Germany currently holds the record with a winning time of 7 hours, 51 minutes and 13 seconds. AMAZING!!!
Remember I said I was doing the LAZY Cougarathon (Ironman- still thinking it- way cooler). It’s LAZY because you take the whole month and thankfully BYU chooses months with 31 days to complete the 3 parts (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and 26.2 mile run).
This is the second time my husband and I have completed all three parts together. This is the third time I am doing this challenge. My husband started with me the first time—but because of work he only completed the swimming.
In spite of sore body parts, we have had fun.
While doing these challenges together we have increased our connection, intimacy, built memories and met each other’s needs. And, because it is spread over the course of a month, we are spending extra time the whole month—31 days of more. I love it (and so does he).
A spouse is a lifelong accountability partner
I believe being married means that you have a built-in person to check you when you might be going off the rails. Like this challenge, there have been moments when I have not wanted to bike anymore. He reminds me of my goal. Having someone who knows your goals and checks in with you can be super helpful. Husband and wives can support each other in a positive way to achieve their goals. Plus, they can celebrate the successes along the way and wipe tears if needed.
Shared Experiences
Having shared experiences can build intimacy and connection, plus it can help you stay on task and get it done faster. Like I mentioned in my post Dishes and Success you can have a “shared memory of mutual suffering… or a happy memory of just being together and flirting.” We have definitely had both of these as we steadily work to complete all three parts of this challenge.
In the past we would do just the swimming part together. Then separately we would do the running and biking parts.
This time we have both needed the additional support and motivation from each other for the biking and running (walking in my world). We bought a stationary bike which sits next to the treadmill. In the evenings after our wee ones are in bed, we each take a machine. After our time on the machines, we hobble up the stairs together to bed.
Meeting each other’s needs
When I first was invited to do the LI. I thought the swimming would be the hardest part for me to do. I’m not a swimmer and I really hate to be wet.
My husband is a swimmer. He swam on his high school swim team. We’ve made sure that all of our kids swim. We may have a few fish in the family.
It turns out that swimming has been the best part. It has been the best because my husband and I have done it together. We’ve even used it as our “date night”.
My husband told me that we could use fins and a kick board to make it a little easier for me. No pun intended but it is smooth swimming. I found it to be relaxing and occasionally could even close my eyes.
Although my husband is a much better and stronger swimmer, he would keep pace with me in a shared pool lane. Occasionally he would give me some pointers but most the time we would swim up and down the lane talking.
This time together met his need of me doing an activity with him that he enjoys and my need of him talking with me.
Rewards
Having time together just the two of us is a reward in and of itself. Completing the “LI” has built muscles and endurance and helped us put off being immobile a little longer. However, the best reward for me was at the end of each of our swims. My husband would wait until I got back to the other end of the pool lane (starting point) and then he would do the butterfly move. (I will not go into further explanation here—it is a hot moment.) AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! I love to watch him do this. He still has it after all these years (ooh baby)!
What activities do you and your spouse do together? What is something new you could try?
Let’s talk about it…