Just One Minute

(drawing by Thomas Wilder)

Have you fathers noticed how your racing times diminish as your family grows? In my circle of friends it seems that the dads tend to add one minute to their 10K time for each kid they have. Granted, this was tested on only two people (me being one of them) but it makes sense.

Jimmy, my younger cousin by marriage, and a great example of a good family man, competitor, and all-around good guy asked me to write about how I find time to train while balancing the demands of my job, marriage, and son. This is a good question as it is a complicated act.

First, it helps if you begin your mid-life crisis like I did. The thought of your upcoming demise is a great motivator. I also need to have a reason to train. A post on my blog JustRegularRunner talks about how runners should put an event on the calendar to stay focused. These are my main motivating factors that keep me training hard all year.

Second, I have to treat my body a little differently than I did just five years ago. I take vitamins, rest more between run days, drink more water, choose bagels over donuts, you know…the basics. The main difference between the single guys and the married dads is the need for us dads to give up something in order to have time to exercise. There is no way around this. There are only so many hours in the day so do what you enjoy, but make sure some of that time is devoted to exercising. There is family time, and there is everything else; work, eating, traffic, and a little time left to sleep. Where does the running fit in? I run before the kid gets up or during my lunch break so as not to interfere with the daily schedule. This is just my way to stay healthy while still being present at home, but it also explains why I walk around sleepy all the time. Now that I think of it I’ve never met a runner that did not drink coffee!

Finally, I could be successful only with my wife being on board. She and I are supportive of each other’s goals. This means we may need to take on additional responsibilities managing the house at times while the other is training or competing. Keep this understanding balanced and you will see how flexible your partner will be when it is your turn. My son sees his mom playing tennis and his dad running so he associates having fun with playing sports. He used to love sitting in the stroller while I ran, but now he wants to run too! I take him to the track (or to the Olympics as he calls it) and we race a few laps. He even started doing some long jumping in the sand pit. I’d give up a chance to run anytime in order to see him at the “Olympics”, and you bet I am happy to add that minute to my next 10K. What you give up is your choice, but I feel that I receive so much more than I sacrifice.