blarf wrote:
I have 2 kids under 2 and a crazy job/life.
I try to explain to people what a toll marriage and children have on one's running excellence.
It's not easy to throw down 8+ miles at 5am, tough to get that quality in when it's pitch black outside and it's likely you'll roll an ankle if you don't have a good head lamp. And some gyms aren't even open yet.
Remember that you'll need to help get the kids off the school at that time, as well as driving them to school everyday depending on the situation.
Then it's off to work from 8:00am to 5pm. If you are lucky, you can run on your lunch breaks, but only for 45 minutes or so as you need to shower and still eat something. Also, forget about that lunch time run if you have a job that demands a lot out of you.
Then you are home at 5:30pm, and dinner starts at 6pm...and sometimes you need to assist with dinner. Days that you don't, you may able to get 20 minutes of running in. Uh, wait, you need to assist with homework. Or, your kid needs comfort because they had a rough day. Or your wife is also working late so you need hold things down for a bit. So, no running today.
Oh, wait, kids have practice at 6:30pm. You'll need to drive them there, pick them up, so you can't run or if you do it needs to be close by.
The weekend finally arrives and you can finally get in that 10 miler on Saturday and Sunday starting at 6:30am, but you better be home quick because your kids have sports now at 8:00am, so you probably won't be able to run for 90 minutes...and a birthday party to attend from 12pm to 3pm for one of their friends. You're other child has games at 4pm on Saturday and Sunday. The kids want to get ice cream after the game. Add another 40 minutes. So, no running then either.
Wait for a second, your daughter wants TWO of her friends over at 3pm on Saturday? So now, you are watching three kids. My man, you are not leaving the house to go for that 50 minute run without going to jail.
Hold on, your wife wants to start working out at 5am? So, now you might get to run every other day during the weekdays.
Do you have other hobbies, like reading or maybe playing an instrument? Tell me how you actually get those in? Do you now have sick/old parents? Surely running is more important that spending time with them, right? Or, do you have ANY friends?
I'm always more impressed at the married father/mother of two breaking 90 minutes for the half than I am the single people of the same age running sub-80. With a fraction of the obligations, you should be throwing down some sick times.
I was laughing at some 41-year old's Strava account the other day. The guy runs great times, but he is married to runner and they have no kids. That all said, he has the time, recovery, and schedule control that most runners my age simply don’t. No kids means fewer interruptions, better sleep, and consistent training. Being married to a runner removes friction and adds built-in support, making it easier to stay disciplined and motivated year-round. And yet, I'm not impressed at all with his running for those very same reasons.