That THING we do

We did someTHING great this weekend.  It was so satisfying, and left me exhausted.

No, it wasn’t sex, although we might have done that too…..not that that is any secret, given I chart and the entire internet is privy to that info.

No, that THING we did made me feel like jody2ms again. 

But, I must give just a bit of history before I continue with that THING we did. 

My marriage is, and always has been, a blast.  It has always been an outdoorsy kind of marriage, because of my husband.  He was an athlete.  I was outdoorsy in a different sort of way.  When I met him, I was a dolphin/sea lion/bird trainer, and spent most of my days outdoors.  Dolphin training is great fun, but it is not just swimming with Flipper.  They are huge animals, and require LOTS of food each day.  Being an animal trainer involves all their care, including feeding and cleaning up after them.  It is hauling Flippers big ass box of frozen herring and smelt out of the freezer, filling 15 buckets with said fish, hauling the buckets, each weighing around 10lbs,  to the show side fridge, and hauling them all over the stage, as you plunge your hand into the icy fish brew each time you reward a behavior.

We did water behaviors with the animals, so we did get into a wet suit 2x each day, summer or winter.  Winter was especially fun, as the water in the iced fish bucket was warmer than the temp outside.

Okay, okay, in spite of this, working with dolphins and sea lions was a BLAST!!  It was amazing and I loved it.  But, given the hard work it entailed, I could not consider myself a physically fit person.  I was basically a partying, Yaga frequenting (you could say I almost lived there on my days off, and it is where I met Bill), get two hours sleep then head to work kind of girl.  I had no time for endurance sports and such……until I met Bill.

Bill was a triathlete. He also raced sailboats, dirt bikes and surfed.  I was infatuated immediately.  He was very kind, fit, blond, and so much fun.  He made me want to be a better person. 

So, I learned everything there was to know about sailing.  I crewed on boats with him every weekend, and I loved it.  Those guys we sailed with became our family, and it was extreme sailing for sure.  We raced in tropical storms, in the icy cold, and once even as a hurricane approached the coast.  Totally insane!!  I also started running for the first time in my life.  Surfing became my love.  Bill bought me my first board, and we would go out together when the surf was up.

When infatuation grew into love, and we moved in together, well, Bill got me addicted to extreme sports.  Running became an obsession. 5, 10, 15+ mile runs were the norm.  I got a road bike, and we started riding together…..which developed into a little sexy competition.  We would ride 30, 40, 50, 100 miles, racing all the way, and when we got home, would shower and collapse in front of the T.V. together to watch the Ironman triathlon or the Tour de France. 

After we got married, I started competitive swimming for the first time in my life.  I got stronger on my bike, so, this led to buying a faster bike, which, in turn, led to my first triathlon.  I am a slow runner (my fastest mile being 8min 30sec), but I kick rear on the bike.  I could do a 30K in 51 minutes after 1 month of training.  My swim is okay, but my bike rocks.  Doing a triathlon and finishing it was such a rush.  Having my husband there, shouting me on from the sidelines was amazing.

I am rambling, but, I guess my point is, our marriage had this competitive edge that was sooooooo much fun, and well, he was my best friend in the whole world.

Fast forward 15 years, 4 kids and 4 miscarriages later, and what you have is a jody2ms that rarely gets any exercise, and a marriage that has very little time to in fact, be a marriage.  We are parents first, and any remaining time we can squeeze in to be just us, alone, together, is rare. 

What we have in common now is our amazing family, and that is by far the most incredible thing we have done together.  Our kids are everything to us.  We do everything as a family now, which is great, don’t get me wrong.  I wouldn’t trade the life we have now for the life we had before kids for anything.  NOT ANYTHING. 

But, there is that missing element.  That THING.  That sexy competition.  That common ground that was just ours. 

So, a couple weeks ago Bill placed an order here for lots of stuff.  Stuff that, this weekend, he installed on the long forgotten road bikes.  He even waxed the frames on the bikes! 

And, we did that THING we do……we rode our bikes.  13 miles on Saturday, and 20 miles on Sunday.  We took turns, so no babysitters were involved…..and we timed ourselves……and, people, we compared our times in that sexy competitive way we used to.  I loved it.  20 miles kicked my rear, and after wards, we sat on the kitchen floor, sweating and drinking water, talking about the ride and how great it felt.  Talking.  Together.  About each other.  With each other. 

And we are going to do it again…..that THING…..and the next time, we might even get a sitter.