Triathlon Changes Our Lives- In Strange Ways

Jeep packed for 100 mile ride.

I am sure it is true of any athlete or fanatic of any type that living with us is difficult, but it seems that since we became tri-athletes things have changed some in our lives.  Also having two of us in one house is at times a challenge.   
When our journey first began we took up running.  We ran in cotton shorts and t-shirts, so laundry was easy, everything in the washer, then dryer, then done. As we ran longer we got "special clothes" that could no longer with stand the dryer, so like any normal person we installed a drying bar in the laundry room (this kept things from being set out in different places in the house to dry).  As the running increased so did the laundry, but again is wasn't too bad, it mostly fit in one basket.  It seemed at this point that laundry was really the only life change (other than the running).

Why do we have so many?

Then swimming started and the laundry details go even more, well, detailed.  There was now an extra towel load along with the "sports" load of laundry.  The drying bar was a maze of run and swim items carefully balanaced.  But as one sport grew into two sports we noticed something else, we started to need a few things.  Like bags to carry swim gear or race gear, different goggles, better shoes, real swim suits.  We also started running longer distances which meant better clothes and water bottles (oh the first water bottles).  It also meant we were running in different seasons which required different gear yet again.

Tri gear lay out.

Then it happened like a switch being flipped from low and subtle to high intensity, strobe.  We were tri athletes.  Bikes were being brought home.  Gear was increasing rapidly.  Water bottles were acting like Gremlins being fed after midnight or dunked in tubs of water.  This was not a slippery slop it was a cliff and we had jumped!!!
As we grew in to the sport so did our lifestyle.  Laundry now consist of two loads of exercise gear plus towels.  A mixture of laundry detergent, downy smell good stuff, and old fashion baking soda was found to be the best to maintain freshness.  Doing dishes means stacking and re-stacking water bottles and lids as to limit there ability to fall from the counter top or come crashing down from the cabinets.  And the little storage bench we purchased for running stuff has been moved to biking stuff and a new one purchased for "other" stuff.  Not to worry going from three bins to nine bins was just a realization of the amount of stuff accumulated.  In addition there were the bins in the garage on the diving rig to hold extra bike gear, like seats, bags, shoes, weird things purchased to try once and hate.  A hanging system was created in the garage for the bikes but they rarely live there.  They are more comfortable in the bar room (except for the mountain bike, she likes it out in the heat).

RAGBRAI Packing.

Other changes occur during tri season- the lawn gets mowed late on Sundays and only if the dog can not be seen when playing out back; we purchased an automatic vacuum cleaner which is set for certain times each day to clean; dusting is done only if the dog touches her noes to the dusty table of the cats leave prints across the shelving; clean sheets are a must (for me) each week; our friends know we can hang out but only after 11am and we have to be home by 9pm; coworkers judge having conversations with us based on our morning workout occurring; once bills are paid, races are evaluated as possibility.
But even with these changes and inconveniences to our lives being a triathlete is something well worth the aggravation.  That's why we do the extra laundry, balance the water bottles, strategically plan cleaning and mowing days, plan for races, and through it all lean on each other.

One Event- All will be used!