How first child changed your running?

Certainly changes things. Sleep may or may not be an issue, depending on how the little one does through the night; if a good sleeper, easier to get up early and go run. If not, gets harder. Both my kids loved going out in the running strollers, starting around 6-9 months. My 6 year ols still wants to go along once in awhile. Best thing to do, get in a routine and stick to it. I'm able to run to and from work, so instead of 15 minutes driving I run 30 minutes each way, which only takes a little extra time but keeps my relatively fit. Enjoy being a dad, it's great.

We have 3 children, 5, 4 and 18 months.

I'm on the running comeback trail and also work upwards of 50 hrs a week or more. I've managed to fit up to 2 hrs of training in per day, but its all on the times when my kids are asleep. So, up by 5:15 am in the morning and my second work out usually doesn't get started until around 8:30 pm at night.

With a newborn, the scheduling will be a little tougher until you get the baby on a schedule. Yes, you can get a baby on a schedule and in fact some folks (including me) highly recommend it. I recommend the book "Baby Wise".

Good luck and congratulations.

I kept my regular schedule and had one of my best years ever running. You just learn to adhere to a schedule better. I found that running in the early morning worked best and then as our little boy grew older, after the first few months, we each took one evening to do what we want - I take one night to do track work, she took a night for yoga or to go out with friends.

Biggest change was once he went to daycare it was what seemed like a never-ending stream of colds. That was the hard part.

You'll get running done with a newborn and it should not affect your running that much. If you enjoy running you will find a way to make it work.

Thanks for the responses so far, dads. I've definitely heard of learning the baby's schedule and making sure your running is VERY flexible. Looking forward to taking this step in life!

Twins due in about 3 weeks for me. I'm hoping to get most running in at lunch at work.

I've a feeling it is going to be a tough year and if I get past this year I may take 2012 off the competitive schedule and just run for fitness until there a bit older.

Are you a woman or a man? If former, running is impossible. If latter, no change.

When my kids were young I backed off, but I'd still work out about 30-40 minutes every day.

Once they became old enough to stay at home by themselves for a few hours, it all got back to normal. I have to schedule my runs around family obligations, but that's OK. I also try to work out with my wife whenever possible.

A poster above mentioned working out when the kids are asleep, but I should remind you that your kids aren't the only ones who need your company. Your wife does too. The time your kids are asleep is the time you and your wife can have one on one time. Don't go run off and leave her alone every night. As the old saying goes, the most important thing you can do for those kids is to love their mother.

She kicked my ass at the age of 11!! Sh!t,' I'm old

First off, congrats...there's no better experience in life than being a first time father.

Second, Well... just gave you the best advice you're going to get when he said that the best thing you can do in this phase of life is take care of the mother of your children. Go overboard. The support of your wife will be key during this period for your running.

Third, you're going to have your sleep disrupted when you have a newborn, so hopefully that marathon comes before the birth...or at least a couple weeks after. The first few days after the birth of a newborn - particularly your first - are a sleepless, nervous, exhausting blur. Your world will be completely turned upside down.

But...like another poster above, I had a great running season following the birth of our firstborn. It's not all bad! I learned to get a run in when I could, and ended up getting more quality wotkouts when I had to be focused.

Once things settle down (when baby starts to get into a routine) it will get better. Much better.

But I cannot emphasize enough...make sure your wife is happy, rested, and gets some of her own "me" time.

I ran a 1/2 marathon PR (1:10) 6 months after 1'st child with coaching and teaching and making sure to spend time with child and give my wife time to herself. Squeezed a lot out of my days, but stayed in a routine. My wife is also a runner and when she started training again we worked out a schedule with both our running/work at the start of each week. I've since run a PR at every distance from 8K-Marathon. Having my son is one of the best things to happen to us. It is great, enjoy!

Your running will suffer the first 2-3 months because the wife will need some serious assistance from you. Then you can pick it back up until second grade when the kid joins cub scouts,t-ball, and the homework starts getting more complicated. Not until 11th grade when he can start driving himself to his activities will you have time to run as much as you want. But then you'll be so far past you're prime that the motivation will be gone. If you have two or more kids, well ......... what do YOU think?

Fifty to sixty miles a week is basically a 50-60 min. run every day. Everyone's circumstances are different, but I've (usually) never had a problem working in 50-60 minutes. Some days, if there is time and everybody is happy, I might get to help myself to a few bonus miles. This way I can at least be in shape for a few 5k's and take the family to a restaurant afterward. This is good enough for me.

I ran as much as I'd been doing before my first son was born, probably 80-90 miles in a typical week. I just had to do it at different times than I had done before.