My husband was 43 when he competed in his first Ironman event. I was 34. We had been married 9 years.

He began training a year earlier exactly. He was already in very good shape, however, IM was only the third triathlon he had ever competed it. He did a sprint distance tri in our area, then a Half IM in Florida the spring before and then IM that fall.

When he told me he wanted to compete in the IM event, I can't honestly tell you what I was thinking. He was already working out a lot. I told him I would support him 100% as long as it didn't take time away from our family.

My husband's schedule for work is pretty much 8am to 5pm. He works 5 minutes from our home.

To get in his swim he leaves the house a little after 5am to swim at our local rec center. He showers there and swings by the house around 7:30 to have coffee with me, pick up his lunch and throw his laundry in the washer... yes, he does his own laundry!

A couple days a week he bikes or runs after work and on Saturday, he always does a brick... Bike for around 2 or 3 hours followed by a run. He normally gets his brick in early so we are together as a family by noon.

I am going to be totally honest with you though... Triathlon is a lifestyle. You either embrace it, or you get out of the way! I embraced it and I couldn't be happier.

However, it was hard in the beginning finding balance. When your triathlete is training twice a day, that means they are going through 3 or more sets of clothing and this also means 2 or three showers a day. My husband was generating laundry faster than I could sort it. My advice to you here is SPEAK UP! Tell him/her about it if you're the one who does the laundry. If you're not, throw a load in every now and then to help them out.

As with any relationship, COMMUNICATION is the key! Your triathlete will respect you more and you will respect yourself more if you just communicate.

The other thing that is extremely important is you need to get yourself into a workout routine. So many of my friends ask me how I find time to work out... I'm telling you right now, if I don't work out, my day just gets away from me. I work out first thing in the morning and get it out of the way.

Leslie Burns, Editor