I am married to a very driven man. Sometimes what drives him drives me insane. For most people running a marathon would be the ultimate. For him it has become predictable, 26.2 miles in roughly 3 hours. So now it’s time to raise the stakes and train for a triathlon, much to my dismay.

I am trying to be fair. For the past year he has not run a marathon and at times I have been a tyrant about how strenuous his activity could be because it could hurt our chances of conceiving. Both times we conceived came after he finished a marathon and was no longer training.

Telling him not to do something is the fastest way to ensure that he will do the opposite. “Just run for the love of it.” I tell him. For him the love of it is testing himself. He can not simply run up the hill, he has to time himself and then beat his previous time.  For him a hill is not simply an incline, but more Mt. Everest like.

At the gym, I had the pleasure of being one row behind him while he was on the elliptical machine. I strolled on the treadmill at a moderate pace content to let my mind wonder - until he caught my eye. I nearly flew off of the back of the treadmill when I looked up to see him punishing the machine. Most people have the settings at a moderate pace, he had the thing pegged and was stomping on the peddles like he was trying to teach them a lesson. I wondered what crazy goal he had set for himself. Will they ever invent a machine that will kick his @ss?

It is time for a marathon. I hate marathon training. Really I do, but he will not be content again until he has quenched his competitive spirit. This is one of the reasons I have decided to extend the baby making break. Expecting Jim to go for a nice easy run is like asking the wind not to blow.

So run your marathon and save the triathlon for another day. It can be your incentive to knock me up already!