This summer, a group of Cooperative Home Care athletes teamed up to achieve the lofty goal of completing a triathlon. Not just any triathlon, but the Big Shark New Town Triathlon which includes a .62-mile open swim, a 20-mile bike and a 4-mile run. Not for the beginner, as these sizable distances demand at least about an hour of grueling training sessions per day, for eight weeks.
The biggest challenge of completing this kind of event isn’t the event itself. It’s meeting your training milestones along the way. Tired or not, that swim needs to happen. Feeling good after biking? You’re only halfway done, because now you need to add a 3-mile run right after.
There are similarities between tri-training and caring for your aging parent. To be successful, you need to be smart and diligent. You need to build your endurance, and you need to know when to take a break and get help. Of course, the biggest difference in caring for your aging parent is that it’s a more uncertain and possibly heart-wrenching journey, with an unpredictable “end-point”. And it isn’t about arriving at the end of this journey, anyway.
While between us we racked up two torn calf muscles, a shoulder injury, a nearly-broken ankle and a nasty case of Achilles tendonosis, every member of our triathlon team finished the race. We’re proud and nervous in our “before” picture included here.
Our triathlon team and our entire company work hard to understand where you are in your unique journey with your aging parent. Let us help you in a big or small way, to make your experience the best that it can be. Schedule a free assessment here or call 1-800-HOMECARE (in MO) today.