The TriDad Life

Since this is going to be a blog that focuses on fatherhood and racing in triathlons, I thought that before we get too far into this journey together, I’d set some expectations for the reader.

Truth is, I don’t know much about either of these things – fatherhood and triathlons, that is. As of this writing, my child has not even been born yet. And when it comes to triathlons – sheesh, I’m just glad there weren’t any cameras capturing me out there flopping around like a fish caught on a hook in my last tri in Brighton last month. (If the official photographer had some, he didn’t post them on the race site – thank you, patron saint of the swimmer wannabe).

When I’m really honest and take stock, it’s actually pretty comical to think about all of the things I need to do on a daily basis that I DON’T KNOW HOW THE HECK TO DO.

I’m a city rat that fell in love with a gal that bought a 1) house 2) in the country. I wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of what was required for homeownership and husband-ing.

From lawn mowers doing weird stuff, to swapping out the string on a dual-string weed eater (Had to Google that terminology), to changing a duvet cover, often times I feel like I am one more “YouTube Tutorial Session” from completely losing it.

And now we’re about 2 months away from adding a baby into the mix… (I am probably going to laugh when I look at this post later after the beanpod decides to come way early). I can’t imagine all the things that I don’t know how to do yet that I’ll have to stumble through with that on top of everything else.

I think what this blog is going to mostly be about is discovery. It is going to be vulnerable. I’m prepared to bare it all, folks. It might not always be pretty, but I’m guessing that there is more solidarity than judgement out there in that.

I know that because I’ve experienced it. All those things I’ve confronted over the last several years that I didn’t know how to do, and that Youtube couldn’t quite cut it for me, a caring (conveniently local) human being typically emerges to get in the trenches and help me out. These heroes are not superhumans – they are neighbors and fathers-in-law and Dads and Moms and friends. They are people just like me who usually will tell me “they’ve been there.”

At the end of the day, I think I’ve been getting better at not beating myself up so much. I’m trying to set the expectation in the morning that I’ll probably confront something I don’t know how to do today, and to be grateful for the opportunity to learn. I believe that this in and of itself is going to be one of the most important skills I’ll need to lean into as I enter fatherhood – a mindset for embracing the journey of learning, and knowing that you can always get help.

So, in closing, I don’t have any hard and fast tips about being a Dad. And I certainly can’t tell you much about knocking time off your swim or bike splits.

Yet, anyways…

I hope through this blog, I can just start a conversation that will help me get better at these things. And in a few years, it will be fun to see all the things you’ve helped me learn so that I can be the best TriDad I can be – and hopefully I can help you along the way, too.

Thanks for reading!

The Tridad