Family Ironman

History Lesson

Every family is different.  They each have different traditions and ideals that contribute to this world in numerous ways.  Some families even have the good fortune of impacting the world as a whole.  Take Alexander III of Macedon as an example.  You think Alexander the Great just randomly decided one day that he was going to try and take over all much of the Middle East and beyond?  Heck no!  His father and family before him set him up in a way that made all of his accomplishments possible.  It was Philip II of Macedon, Alexander's father, not Alexander who built up an army that was nearly unstoppable.  He was also the one, along with his predecessors, who got Alexander into an environment where he was able to receive the necessary training to command an army and run a government.  

Now I'm not belittling what Alexander did, because he was clearly a brilliant commander who knew how to wield the weapon he had been handed.  What I am trying to do is point out how critical our family situation is in deciding what we do in our lives and how successful we may become.  Yes, occasionally there are those success stories of people rising up from the ashes of a broken life, but those stories are often romanticized or are rare in most cases.  Genghis Khan may be one of the few truly "great" people in history who were given nothing and obtained everything upon their own merits.  I mean, he was born in poverty in the harsh climate of the Mongolian steps.  Later on he may have employed some of the most brilliant military minds in history but that just shows how smart he was himself.  He was a brutal, efficient, and magnificent ruler.  No wonder Mongolians today revere him.  His sons were more like Alexander in that they each inherited a piece of an enormous empire with a seasoned military, and that is why they continued to expand long after Genghis Khan was gone.

So your family culture is typically a good indicator of what your life will be like.  Some other great examples of this come from the book "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell.  In it he describes how Bill Gates was born in the right place at exactly the right time and also into a family that could cultivate the environment necessary for him to become an expert programmer and technologist.  Malcolm also talks about his own family history and how because his mother was "a lighter skinned black woman," living in Jamaica, she was given opportunities that others weren't.  So because of her mixed race and a grandmother who pushed her to get a good education, Malcolm was brought up in a completely different situation than the one his mother grew up in.  This was largely due to the example and influence of his great grandma.  She taught her family to respect others and use their strengths to succeed.

So What?

What do we learn from this?  Simply put, we learn that cultivating a healthy, educative, and productive environment for families provides the best opportunities for each member of that family.  That is why the triathlon lifestyle is so appealing to me.  Its centered around exercise, healthy eating, dedication, and hard work.  All of these things contribute to a good foundation for any family and they are core elements that I want to have when I eventually start my own family.

So after all of that, we get to the whole reason for this post.  The Whitmore Family Ironman!  Collin came up with the idea that each member of our family would complete the full distance in each discipline of an Ironman during the month of March.  This means that each of us will be swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, and running 26.2 miles over the course of one month.  This will be harder for some members of the family than it will be for others, but it's manageable for everyone and in the end we will all be better off and closer for having suffered together.

Here is what our training logs look like:

This is what our cumulative goals and results look like:

Join In

If a family Ironman isn't the thing for your family then find something that is.  You could do a monthly or weekly Temple trip, study different topics together on a certain night, or even do something with a musical performance.  I heard of one father who would pay each child $10 if they exercised more days than he did that week.  He has seven children, so needless to say it was a great motivator for everyone.  Whatever you choose to do, just make it something that will benefit everyone and bring you all closer together.  After all, families are forever.

Wish us luck!  If you have any other family relationship building ideas please leave them in the comments!