How to Support Your Endurance Athlete

Deciding to compete in an endurance event is a big deal. When I first started contemplating the half-Iron distance, my coach made things very clear: Be prepared to sacrifice other aspects of your life for at least three or four months leading up to the race, or just don’t bother. And he was right — any less than that, and I wouldn’t have had an enjoyable experience.

But the other thing to keep in mind is that, when you commit to an endurance event (like long distance triathlon, marathons, ultras, etc.), you’re impacting the lives of the people you live with, too, and that impact goes well beyond race day. You’re going to have early morning training sessions that mean your partner may be handling breakfast duty more often, and the long hours you’ll spend training on the weekends not only impacts the time spent together on that day, but most likely, you’ll also be hitting the sack earlier the night before. And, let’s be honest — it’s really nice to see a friendly face on race day … even if race day is literally an entire day, which makes spectating a sport in and of itself.

So! If you’re the athlete, talk to your close friends, family or significant other before clicking “submit” on that race entry. And, if you’re the support crew, first of all, THANK YOU. You’re awesome. And second? Check out the video below featuring my top tips for supporting the endurance athlete in your life.

Are you the athlete or the, uhh, athletic supporter in the relationship? And what do you think about these tips? And yes, I’m totally aware of how lucky I am to have a spouse who’s got my Fit Bottomed back. —Kristen