5 Secrets to Balancing Running and Family
I strongly believe in the value of high mileage, and as such spend a lot of time on the road.
Running 80 miles or more per week at my usual training pace of roughly 8 minutes per mile sees me racking up somewhere between 11 and 12 hours each and every week during peak training. Nonetheless, I am convinced that despite all the time I spend on my favourite hobby, this does not negatively affect my family. The secret? Minimising the impact on family time.
- I do run in the morning. If that means getting up at 5am in the morning (or even earlier for 20 milers), so be it. Believe it or not, you get used to that very quickly.
- I time my runs so that I finish them at 7:45 a.m. every weekday, no matter how long the run was. That way we can all have a family breakfast together, and I can share the work of getting everybody ready for school or crèche.
- Run from home. A lot of runners drive to the nearest park of trail to commence their run. For most of us, this is unnecessary. Just lace up your runners at home and head out of the door.
- I run the long runs during the week. Most people run their long ones on the weekend. I don’t, my usual long run day is Friday. That way I can still have a lie-in during the weekend, but minimise the impact on family time by running only for an hour on Saturday and Sunday.
- Involve the family in races. I try to combine family outings with race weekends. That can mean a family day out where I disappear for an hour to run a short race before spending the rest of the day in the park, playground or cinema, or it can mean a longer trip. When I ran my first ultra two weeks ago, we combined that with a long four-day weekend in Connemara, one of the most scenic regions in Ireland.
My evenings are the most affected. Once the kids are put to bed, I usually follow soon after (getting up at 5 a.m. requires an early bedtime). However, since that time of the day is usually spent in front of the telly, I really don’t miss it. As far as family time is concerned, this is the one I can miss easily.
My wife is very supportive, and she said numerous times that she would not want me to give up running. According to her I am a much happier person since I found that outlet. And I think an active parent is a much better role model to the next generation than a couch potato.
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My wife has already told me that if I want to run an ultramarathon that I’d better get it out of my system before we start having kids, preferably before she’s out of law school and doesn’t have a lot of spare time to spend with me anyway. Even though it is just the two of us right now, we have already started discussing how to fit the running in around having the children because it is an important part of our lives.
Hi Thomas,
This is something I’ve wanted to write for quite a while so I’m glad you’ve done it. Good job.
Nice article… and why to make it all work! I dont’ have a family, but a friend wants me to join her at a 5am master’s swim class. The thought of getting up that early is daunting, but I’ll give it a go.
agreed 100% … the only problem is that my wife complains that WE do not spend time together in the evening, watching TV or chatting, after the kids are in bed.
Usually I fall asleep on the sofa, but I try to stay awake more to make her happy …
I would like to sleep 8 hours at least once a week !!!!
This is a great article. I have three kids too and I’ve found that morning runs work best, while everyone is sleeping. When I use to try to run at night, something always came up, a school project, a ballgame, homework, etc…. Lucky for me, my kids are teenagers now and they sleep really, really late.
Very well written and so relevant for so many runners, nice to see running isn’t your only strong point.
Nice article. Our interests and our family needs to be balanced ineed. I believe that in everything we do, balance is important. Too much attention on one side may lead to some problems with the other side. Our interests and our family needs to be balanced ineed.
Thomas – this is great stuff. Thanks.