How Training For an IRONMAN is Exactly Like Being Pregnant

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well it had to be done. eventually i would allow a man to be a guest contributor on the new wifestyle! figured i might as well let the first guy be the one who has made me a wife so get ready! ravery is here to share with you how training for an IRONMAN is ‘exactly’ like being pregnant. he wrote this during my last month of pregnancy so see for yourself if you think they are similar…


mr. wifestyle here! i have been instructed to type in all lowercase and make sure i relate to the audience at hand! this is my first post for the new wifestyle and i am for sure adding this to my resume as being the first male to guest post for thenewwifestyle.com! #ohyesiam

about nine months ago when we found out chelsea was pregnant, i realized i was never going to get to experience that feeling of growing a human inside me and it made me a little bit sad. i thought about what the male version of being pregnant/giving birth would be and decided for me… at that time… it would be to complete an ironman.

ironman-and-pregnancy

as someone who had never run a marathon (shoot i had never even ran a half marathon), someone who had never even biked more than around the block and someone who competitively swam in high-school but never crossed the two mile mark… i figured i should give this one a go and i found my male birthing option!

so i decided to start training and get to it. i found that we have a full ironman right in our very own backyard in august which was perfect timing as our new little one is expected the same month. turns out she came september first but still…

during training, during the race and after i realized doing an ironman is pretty much exactly like being pregnant and here are ten reasons why:

  1. you drink a lot of water: we both have to constantly drink water to stay hydrated because of how much we are moving, sweating and growing.
  2. your joints always hurt: her hips hurt. my hip hurt. her feet are swollen from walking. my feet are swollen from running. i have pain. she has pain.
  3. your body changes: we are both gaining weight at a rapid pace!
  4. your workouts look different: we are doing different workouts than we are used to! she is doing these weird birthing inversions and i have to go for a 7 hour bike ride.
  5. you have to get new clothes: no one told us about the money we would need for the clothes we would have to get.
  6. you are always tired: she is getting up at 4:30am because “of the baby” she claims and i am getting up at 4:30am because of the bodybuilding workout i have to do before my keynote!
  7. you are always seeing medical professionals: we are always seeing specialists and doctors to help us with our new pain, planning and getting us in optimal shape for “race day!”
  8. your nutrition changes: we are eating a ton of calories because either i am burning them or she has someone stealing them.
  9. you can plan as much as you want: on “race day” no matter how much you plan, prepare or strategize there are things that come up that you have to be and remain flexible with, as you didn’t prepare for it to happen! things outside of your control will happen.
  10. you get something cool after you finish: she pushes out a baby and i get a really big medal! i mean it’s pretty much really similar!

funny-signs-for-races-6

i guess the one little itty bitty thing that is different between being an IRONMAN and being pregnant is i had off Mondays 🙂

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thank y’all (yes i am from texas) for reading and letting me guest post on the new wifestyle! chelsea loves to blog for y’all and reads your comments and we talk about y’all a lot!

thank you for being part of our family dinner talks and creating a community of strong, smart women who care about choices and not outdated expectations! as always…

dream BIG,

mr. wifestyle

curious how the actual race day went? here is chelsea’s recap (warning – it will probably make you cry)

5 Comments

  1. jenniferhastonsays

    October 19, 2016 at 7:25 am

    Nice job, Ryan! I love that you wanted to experience something similar to “feel the pain” with her. It’s a testament to how much you love each other and how committed you are to experiencing things together!

  2. Audrey

    October 19, 2016 at 7:47 am

    Hahahaha- Mr. WS better be careful with #6… I’m sure Chelsea was getting up at 4:30am because she liked it 😉

    Still giggling about your little calorie thief! It definitely paid off, though! Now Atlas is healthy with a badass mom and an IronMan dad! 😀
    Audrey recently posted…Silly Songs with Audrey

  3. Elyse @ Just Murrayed

    October 19, 2016 at 8:17 am

    Way to go, Ryan! It’s so awesome that you wanted to have a similar experience to Chelsea. It definitely shows how much you want to ‘walk in each others shoes’ which is so awesome to do in marriage. Not to mention, you get an awesome story to tell Atlas when she’s older.
    Elyse @ Just Murrayed recently posted…Tea Time With Friends

  4. Jo

    October 19, 2016 at 8:40 am

    Chelsea and Ryan, Thank you for my smile of the day. So proud of both of you! Hope you are both enjoying parenthood. Your little one is awfully lucky!! I absolutely love seeing the young ones I knew grow into amazing adults and leading the way for the next generation. Go get’em.

  5. Paula Howley

    October 19, 2016 at 4:18 pm

    You are freakin’ hilarious Ravery. Nice job for your first post- it was worthy of the New Wifestyle I’d say.
    I also loved that you were trying in your own cute little male way (sorry, I HAD to do that) to parallel your wife’s journey.
    Seriously, I though it was thoughtful and I appreciated the sentiment. I’m sure Chelsea did too and so will little Atlas when she understands what her dad did. 🙂
    Now, on behalf of all women in the universe I have make sure that you understand that birthing is WAY harder than Iron Mans. 🙂
    Paula Howley recently posted…What’s So Funny?