It’s school holidays again here, which is always the toughest time to balance training with family life.
One obvious solution might be to schedule your easy/recovery/cut-back week to coincide with the kids being at home – or even just abandon hope of running altogether – but often it is not as simple as that.
For a start, the holidays may be too long. Here in France, for example, the schools are always closed for a fortnight at a time, and two whole months in the summer. Then there’s the fact that preparation schedules for big races do not always allow such flexibility. Not to forget the core truth, that it is often when parenting is most intense that we need our runs most desperately!
My kids are nine, eight and five and I’ve been at this mother-runner-juggle for a while now, so I’ve put together my top tips on maintaining your fitness (and your sanity) while your kids are at home.
- Run (very) early or (very) late: if there’s another adult in the house, of course. My best bet for running solo in the holidays is first thing in the morning before my other half leaves for work. The evenings are completely unpredictable as he’ll often not be home until 8-9pm, when I don’t have much energy left to run
and prefer to be drinking wine on the sofa, so if I’ve got an unmissable session on the schedule then an early start is best.
- Book a babysitter: who says childcare should be reserved for romantic date nights? My husband had a long work trip to Australia last year and I used our fantastic babysitter twice so I could nip out for daylight runs. Absolutely worth every penny and the kids loved it too.
- Invest in a treadmill: if you have the free space and spare cash! I’ve never owned one (nor do I have any plans to) but this past week, marooned at home with a sick son, I can certainly see where an indoor training option would be worth its weight in gold!
- Leave your kids at home: if you feel they are mature and responsible enough. Mine are not quite at this stage yet, but it is tantalisingly close, for the eldest at least. And do not even begin to feel guilty about nipping out for a sanity-saving run and leaving your tween- or teen-agers behind – a happy mother equals happy kids!
- Bring your kids: it will not surprise you to read that this is my number one tip. As you can see from this blog, I often run with my littlest one in the buggy and the older two on their bikes. We frequently cover 8 or 10km this way just for fun, but I’ve also involved them in my marathon training with outings of up to 30km! You’ll need to make sure they are well-equipped with decent (not too heavy) bikes, helmets and water bottles. Carry plenty of sweets and snacks to incentivise or reward as the need arises. Involve your little cyclists in the choice of route – we usually aim for a play area, where I can squeeze in a couple of extra kilometres running around in circles while they get a break from pedalling.
I absolutely love training this way and have some fantastic memories of the four of us gliding through the French countryside together. Just be aware that kids are usually hopeless at maintaining any kind of a steady pace, so you’ll need to be prepared for a very stop-start, fast-slow fartlek style work-out! Read my full post on running with your kids on bikes here.
Let me know if you find this helpful… and happy running!
