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Running With Children: But When?
May 17th, 2011 | 
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It’ official: I am running a marathon in October. I am registered for it.
Now it’s time to train.
I don’t have to start hardcore training now, thank goodness, as my hamstring is still a bit tweaky. It seems to have a seven-mile cutoff. My postsurgical knee is, shall we say, not responding well to Ultimate Frisbee. (But it’s our date night, and it’s a really fun game, so I have to stay on the team for the rest of the season, right? Even if it leaves me limping?)
My injuries are minor considerations compared to my problems creating a regular running schedule with two young children at home.
In a typical day, the preschooler climbs into bed with me at dawn. If I try to sneak out of bed for a run or some quiet time, he insists on coming with me (“No! Mommy! I want to get up with you!”).
We stumble around drinking coffee (me) and playing with fire trucks (both of us) and checking email (me, surreptitiously) and trying not to wake anyone else up. He refuses to get dressed. He wants to eat. Taking him out for a run is not an option.
Then the baby wakes up. I wake my husband up. We attempt to feed both kids and ourselves. Somehow everything takes forever and our kitchen is a mess. My husband hits the shower and gets ready for work. The baby goes down for a nap as my husband is leaving. When he wakes up, I have just enough time to get the kids to the park, as the preschooler is very antsy to get outside to play and he’s been wonderfully patient about being stuck home all morning.
We come home for lunch by 12:30, and then it’s time for the baby to nap again. The preschooler may or may not nap, but it doesn’t matter; it’s not like I can take him out for a run and leave the baby home sleeping. Hmmm….how old does he have to be to babysit his baby brother?
Post-nap(s), it’s outside or possibly back to the playground. We head home around 5 p.m. or so to start dinner and the whole evening routine. My husband arrives home just in time for bedtime, possibly a little earlier, by which time I am beat and ready to sit quietly with my computer or a book.
In any case, there never seems to be any big windows in which to go running. I often try to go while my husband feeds the kids breakfast, but somehow I get sucked into the chaos and find it hard to get out the door.
If I do manage to find an appropriate time to run during the day, I haul the double jogger out of our basement. This involves plopping the baby on the lawn, instructing the preschooler to watch him instead of wandering off down the street, and then wrestling the jogger up and out of the basement without falling down the stairs or hitting my head on the low ceiling. Then I can put both kids in it and go for a run.
The problem, of course, is that I think it is really important for them to run around and get some exercise. It seems unfair that in their short activity windows I trap them in a stroller for an hour and deprive them of time to develop their gross motor skills. The preschooler would rather be riding his bike or chasing his friends around the playground than sitting in the stroller. The baby would rather be crawling or else climbing on whatever he can master at the playground.
But now, no more excuses. Today I ran errands with the preschooler: I put him in the jogger and we ran to the pharmacy, library, bakery, and coffee shop. I am trying to run every day, now, even if it is just a short run. I at least have to get back in the habit before I start training for real. I can’t just run once or twice a week and hope to do as well as I’d like to at the marathon.
So. Let the training begin. Sorry, kids.
How do you find time to exercise with children at home, especially if you have more than one? How do you work around the small windows of time in between naps (or between naptime and bedtime)?
By Julia M. – a hiking, running, cloth diapering mom of two. Finding herself happiest in the woods, she shares her many trials of being a mom and balancing her busy schedules. For more of Julia you can find her at It’s Not Like A Cat.
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Good attitude! I like how you plan to take advantage of any time run, now matter how small. I am also impressed with how you are concerned about your kids getting enough of a “workout” too. I don’t know how old your preschooler is, but when he is able to ride a bike on his own he can ride with you while you run and push the jogger. When my youngest was in the baby stage I would actually put him in the jogger sometimes at naptime and he would just sleep while I ran. The other option is to get out for a run before your kids wake up, and when you get back you can jump in and help your hubby with the breakfast routine with the kids. Good luck with your training!
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Thanks for your comment! I ran a lot with my firstborn when he was a baby, because it was the only way I could get him to nap (my running-mom friend and I would run miles and miles and miles–one time 13–just so our babyies would fall asleep and stay asleep!). But my youngest likes to sleep in his crib. He refuses to sleep in the stroller, and if he does fall asleep it’s never for long. So sadly, I cannot run with him.
I do try to get up and out early to meet my trail-running group, but the snuggling preschooler raises such a ruckus when I get out of bed that he wakes everyone up and then everyone’s all grouchy and mad at me for trying to go running.
So I’m working on it! Thanks for the tips and the well-wishes–if you can think of any other solutions to my running schedule problems, please let me know!!
It’s Not Like a Cat´s last blog ..What I Do While Youre Playing Frisbee
I also admire your concern for your children. I feel the same way, I try to train when it has the least impact on my two boys. During the week, I go out and train when my boys have been fed and bathed; I kiss them goodnight and head out while they have story time with mom and then go to bed. On weekends, I go out at 4 pm, when the day is essentially done; after a long day of running around, they’re happy to play with each other around the house for the hour before dinner, and mom is free to get dinner prepped. I get home in time for bath or story time and get to put them to bed.
Thanks for your comment! It’s hard, isn’t it, to find time to do things? It’s great that your partner is willing to take care of dinner and bedtime while you train. That makes a big difference. I try to run in the morning and let my husband deal with breakfast, but it’s not always possible.
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I have 4 little ones. It’s not easy. My older ones ride scooters or bikes while I run and the little ones ride in the stroller. We always hit a playground after or during as a reward. My problem is that 4 or 5 miles is a lot to ask a 4 year old to scoote every day and they get sick of it. I had to cut back.
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You manage to run with FOUR kids?? Impressive!
4 miles IS a lot for a kid to scoot every day, I suppose. We’re about to get our oldest (just turning 3) a scooter, so maybe he can scoot beside me, but I’d still have to push the stroller. He can bike, but he can’t brake, so he’s not ready tor bike alongside me.
Thanks for your comment!
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