Training with small kids...does it get better?

old shoe wrote:

Ipads.

5 and 3 year old. On weekends when I want to go out for an hour or two and then spouse goes out after, when im watching them ipads. And I nap after my breakfast.

I ask them to wake me up if they die.

Only once I woke up and nobody was in the house. I was a bit freaked out but they were playing down the street in a park. Works for me.

I'm relatively easy-going about parenting, but...you leave a 3 and 5 year old alone and go to sleep? Dunno about that...

I always chuckle when I see these families at the park with kids on their little tiny bikes. The parents think the kids are mobile now, I'll just run while they bike. That can eventually work when they're like 8 years old, but not when they're teeny-tiny. The kid won't go straight and within 5 minutes someone is crying, not always the kids.

We did the running stroller thing, watched the kids while the other one ran, etc. You can do something and we made it work, but it doesn't really get freer for a long time.

There's a time for mom to pull out all her feathers and do nothing but care for the babies and a time for dad to do nothing but care for mom and the babies. It won't last forever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=799VQ6HC90E

Dad to 3 here... 37 years old with a 6, 3, and 1 year old.

I make it work. Run about 70 miles a week. I consider myself pretty lucky though, with a job that is very flexible to my work hours and rarely requires a full 8 hours a day.

I run over a meeting I'm just listening to, or from 9-10am when I could be catching up on emails, and I do that at the end of the day instead. Days where I double, I get up before everyone (that's key as others have said) and get 30 mins before anyone is awake.

I've gotten to do Tuesday workouts on the track in the evenings and have my Mom come over and help the wife out with the kids on those days. It's on the schedule so it works. Wife tolerates my running, but we find time for her to take a break as well (though it tends to be less than I get, so I have to tread carefully sometimes). She has trouble turning off, so her finding an outlet that isn't work, house, or kids could really help.

It can be done. I'm running faster than I have in a long time and don't feel as though I sacrifice too much family time.

They’ll calm down eventually. At this age they basically feed off each other’s energy.

I said I asked them to wake me up if they're dying.

I'm guessing you don't have kids. Or are over protective. They can take care of themselves for a bit of time. This isn't all day. Most of my naps with them last about 15min max and they're watching ipads or playing together.

My kids don't do stupid sh;t like try to kill themselves or burn the house down.

It definitely gets easier! My kids are now 11, 14, and 17. It has been easy for a few years now. Once the older one or two are old enough to watch the younger one or two, you will have so much more flexibility.

Believe it or not someday not too soon you will miss the days you are currently in. My three are completely independent and it can be hard to rally them to do things whereas when they were little they were always on board.

Something I haven’t heard here yet that’s worked for me juggling parenting and running is to eliminate other hobbies and pastimes. I don’t golf or play tennis, I don’t ski or snowshoe, I don’t practice/play a musical instrument, I don’t watch sports or Netflix series. I’m not being cynical, I just prioritize my limited time. For me, running weekdays at 5am works for me, my wife and my family.

A treadmill solves everything.

I used to get all my training done when the kids went to bed. On weekends before they got up. It wasn't ideal but it's what I wanted for myself and I didn't miss a moment with them that I would not have had anyway.

Op, yes, things will settle down. Having three kids is obviously not easy. Posters who are only parents for 2-3 years only with 1 child don't realize that those exhausting first years will repeat themselves with every newborns and I think it can really build up to this general weariness you mentioned, especially it it pairs with an exhausting, annoying job. But when all those little things come to an end, like sleeping problems, changing diapers, answering those "I am ready daddy" calls from the toilet, "problems" with strapping them to car seats, handling the siblings never ending fights, playing with 24 pieces puzzles over and over again, etc, so when these normal daily exhausting things end, life becomes bit simpler. Both physically (more sleep), and mentally. It was also easier to let my wife alone with the kids for a bit, knowing that she won't have that difficult time. In the early years we did everything like 50%-50% because I knew how hard it is and only ran when the kids were sleeping. Now it is better. Of course raising children don't end with the toddler years and you will have new tasks but I do think things will settle down.

I am not saying I did not enjoy these first years, they were so cute - but they were exhausting:).

Trying to run 80 miles a week, work, etc. off of 4-5 hours of sleep a night is a recipe for disaster.

I appreciate the concern, but I have been doing it for some time, and it is possible. I do have a small nap in addition, or at least lie down, when I put my daughter to bed (there is a bed beside her cot), which is a little before my run time; this brief time to relax really refreshes me, typically.

I have an unconventional theory that running off less sleep is a bit like altitude training or training in heat; it is tough, but 'what does not kill you makes you stronger', and after a while one adapts. I realise that most people here will scorn this, as one of the few things people tend to agree on here is the necessity of lots of sleep when running a lot, but I think there is some truth to it. Certainly for myself, I am running 18-20 km per day typically in singles, usually with one day off per week and one or two longer runs, and I recover fine. I ease off if I need to for a day; I'll go for a brisk walk instead of a run, for example.

At the weekend, I do sometimes manage longer than 4-5 hours; I often look after the children early in the day at weekends as my wife struggles without quite a lot of sleep, and sometimes we both get up with them, but sometimes I do get a few hours extra.

[I am the same person as the earlier poster, from a different device].

Take your family to the track. Let them try some intervals or just play soccer on the infield.

They can jump into the long jump pit etc.

Do some relays. I passed off a fitbit with my two kids. They got into it and we did 5 miles just to run up the step count.

I’m really just not getting why this is so difficult honestly. There are lots of people that run 70 miles a week in singles with small kids and still manage to work, sleep etc. you literally just have to priorities running, family, job and basically nothing else.

Now 100+ miles a week, doubles etc... I can see how that would get tough but we are talking like 8-10 hours a week. Finding that amount of time isn’t that difficult as long as you are willing to sacrifice a bit.

highhoppingworm wrote:

I’m really just not getting why this is so difficult honestly. There are lots of people that run 70 miles a week in singles with small kids and still manage to work, sleep etc. you literally just have to priorities running, family, job and basically nothing else.

Now 100+ miles a week, doubles etc... I can see how that would get tough but we are talking like 8-10 hours a week. Finding that amount of time isn’t that difficult as long as you are willing to sacrifice a bit.

I agree. Like I said before, I run around 100mi/week and get in a lot of family time. I have basically paused all other hobbies, and don't work as much. I don't think I could make it work with a full-time job and a spouse that isn't as supportive. To me it feels like there are only a few things that would need to change in order for me to not be able to do this anymore, so I'll just enjoy it while it lasts.