For the past several months I have been training for an upcoming race. Like almost any adult orientated activity this is not always easy to do with small children. However we have settled into a comfortable groove with running where I feel good about my weekly mileage and training schedule. Furthermore I have realized running with small children has some incredible advantages…I will get to those in a minute. First let me share what running with three small children and a dog actually looks like.

My oldest, age 5, rides his bike. My youngest, age 10 months, sits in the double jogging stroller. My middle, age 3, wants to ride his bike but cannot maintain the speed, distance, or attention for that. Our compromise is that he runs with me the first several blocks and then sits in the stroller. My dog’s leash is attached to the stroller. Okay so now you hopefully have a visual of the five of us running together. 🙂

Initially I spent a great deal of effort trying to run without my kids; waking up early, succumbing to the treadmill, or going for late evening runs. For various reasons these options just didn’t work and I was dissatisfied with my running. I decided I needed to somehow make it work that I could run during the day with my kids. I will be honest that I initially viewed this as a burden, but slowly over time I actually started to really enjoy having them as running partners. Additionally I quickly realized during races the benefits of having done most of my training with the kids. Here’s how:

Preparedness – Pre-kid days I could just grab my shoes and go for a long run. Now getting us ready for a run is almost more work than the run itself. Like most outings with small children, I pack water, snacks, and little toys to occupy them in the stroller. I nurse my youngest and change his diaper so that (hopefully, fingers crossed) he will be content to sit in the stroller  for the duration of the run. I always bring my ERGObaby carrier with just in case. I make sure kids are dressed comfortably; not too warm and not too cold. I have learned little things like this can make or break a run. I also briefly inspect the tires on the bike and stroller. We’ve done way too many runs only to discover half way through the run there was a slow leak in a tire that eventually becomes flat  (desert terrain = lots of unfriendly thorns). Not a fun experience by any means! However the need to physically prepare for a run has translated into feeling more mentally prepared to handle any surprises a race throws at me.

Accountability – My oldest son really enjoys riding his bike on our runs. Often he will ask me “are we going for a run today”. His spirits keep me motivated and on track with training. We do between 15-20 miles together during the week and I largely attribute that to my oldest son’s enthusiasm for our runs. Maintaining a consistent running schedule is much easier when you have a five your old nagging you about it.

Resistance Training – Pushing 50lbs of kids definitely adds to the running experience. However the real challenge is the 70lb frisky dog pulling the stroller off center or at a different pace. So while I am pushing the stroller, I am also often pulling it. Whenever I get to run without having this added upper body workout, it’s tons easier to simply just run.

Focusing inward– We get a lot (a lot is a kind of an understatement here) of looks and comments when we run together. Add occasionally talking on the cell phone while I run or running in barefeet and the stares and comments multiply. It’s really forced me to turn inward and not be distracted by the energy of others. During a race there are so many distractions both visually and auditorily that sometimes it can be difficult to just simply focus on running. Running with the kids brings a lot of unwanted attention that I have learned to easily tune out extraneous stimuli and maintain a positive space.

Increased Speed– Running with kids and a dog make it incredibly difficult to pace myself. If there is another dog ahead of us on the trail, my dog significantly speeds up. My 5 year old often rides his bike faster than my comfortable running pace which means I am sometimes running rather fast to catch up to him. Also sometimes my little ones are simply just done with being in the stroller (ie-lots of whining and fussing) in which case I pick up the pace to get us home quickly. During a race when I am stripped of the need to care for anyone else, it’s quite liberating and my running feels so smooth.

I used to run away from my kids…both literally and figuratively. The act of running was completely mine. It was my escape from motherhood and I felt really resitant to including my children depsite running being one of my favorite activities. Once I opened up myself to sharing this activity with them, my running changed for the better. I really believe they truly are among the best training partners one could ask for!

 

rah

Tags: Breastfeeding, ERGObaby Carrier, jogging stroller, marathons, running partners

This entry was posted on Friday, January 6th, 2012 at 11:25 am and is filed under New Mothers, Parenting, Sarah. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.