New born baby and marathon training (or lack of!)

sideswipe

Hi all, just a question for those who have young kids..................................... How the hell do you manage to get out training?!?
We have a 3 week old in the house (our first) and because my wife had a c-section I have been extra extra busy. I had tentative plans to run Cork as my second my second marathon (did DCM last year in 4:19, and was hoping to break the 4:00 mark) I was doing about 30-35 miles a week with a longest LSR of 18 miles. But since the new arrival I have ditched plans for cork and am left wondering if I'll ever be able to make time for training again! I went out for a 7 mile run on saturday and was wrecked after it! I was just wondering how others found it mixing the two?
I should also say I'm not really complaining as our little bundle has been brilliant but I'm just not used to sleep deprivation, and motivation to train seems hard to find!

eliwallach

I feel your pain.
It's a tough time to be leaving the house and "deserting" your wife & baby. Some people put all running plans on hold on the arrival of a new baby until such time that sleep deprivation and guilt have become minor issues.
I'm lucky (our two are a little more grown-up now) in that I have a generous lunch time and a flexi-time system at work (that & the boss works off site!), only for lunch time running and one LSR early at the weekends, I'd have no marathon plans.
Good luck.

huskerdu

You are at that stage of parenthood that you doubt whether you will ever have time, ever again, to train, sleep, read, socialise, have a coherent conversation with an adult, or shower.

Go with the flow, enjoy it, keep up a bit of training so you don't lose too much fitness and it'll all sort itself out.

Dont worry about the sleep deprivation, you get used to it after a while.

If you are used to being able to decide when the train at no notice, you will find that you have to timetable training more than you are used to.

happy_73

Did my first marathon in 08 (Cork), the Friday before the big day we had an even bigger day in the form of a positive pregnancy test!

I put my marathon plans on hold for a year as I was only able to run at lunchtimes (when I was up to it) and found it hard to motivate myself to run at the weekends. Feck it some days with the lack of sleep I found it hard to motivate myself to go to work!!!

Now the little one is 15 months old and I’m running my second marathon in a few weeks (again Cork). It does get easier to find a balance, just remember to cut yourself some slack.

S

Rebelrunner

I was in same boat as you last year when I started running although little one was 8 months old at that stage. I did my runs during the week in evening when she was asleep and at the weekend early in the morning before she awoke. Worked most times and got easier as she got older and her sleep patterns got more regular.

Now this year its a different story. We had our 2nd so I had to stop training for around a month around the birth. I find the only time I can fit in runs is at lunch during the week or when all are asleep in the evenings at the weekend. I'd prefer mornings but 1st born wakes around 6.45, so running before then isn't an option .

In the evenings I do try and do a ~2mile loop near house so if I'm needed wife turns on yard light for me to get ass back asap .

jaymack75

Hi sideswipe, congrats on the new arrival, our little one is now 5months, so I know where you're coming from!

It's definitely possible to keep the training going, but you need to be organised and maybe align your expectations with the time available

Have your running gear ready, so you can literally head out the door at a moments notice when the opportunity arises. Timing is everything

A short run is better than no run - so even if you can get 15 or 20 mins when the little one nods off, it will keep your fitness ticking over.

Have a few different length routes already lined up, so you don't have to be thinking about where to go and how long you will be away.

If it's possible, try to get the training done as part of the commute to work, or at lunchtime

Best of luck with it

sideswipe

Thanks for the tips everyone. Think I'll just roll with it for now and try to get out now and again to maintain fitness before making a decision on an autumn marathon in a few weeks.
I definatley have a new found appreciation for those with 2 or 3 kids, long working hours and fast Pb's!!

In the evenings I do try and do a ~2mile loop near house so if I'm needed wife turns on yard light for me to get ass back asap

Excellent!

Woddle

Congrats, my youngest is now 4 months and it hasn't been easy but I think at 4 months I'm just being lazy and still using the baby as an excuse. I'm not saying thats what your doing by any means as the baby is only 3 weeks old, just sth to keep an eye out for. Maybe use the early morning feed, give the baby a bottle and that should get you at least a couple of hours and remember daddy needs his own alone time, not just the wife, again though its a bit tougher for you given that your wife had a c section, see how your fixed after 6 weeks, hope my wife doesn't read this

TFBubendorfer

I've had that problem twice since I started running. My solution was to run early in the morning and be home by the time the rest of the family wakes up.

Granted, with a new baby that's a bit more challenging due to the unpredictable waking hours, but it definitely can be done without neglecting either the mother or the baby.

jailhouse_dave

sideswipe, congrats. Been through your situation, all i can say is that it gets easier after 3 months, then easier after 6 months, by 1 year things will be flying. The real problems start with the second

maybe concentrate on shorter distances 5/10k half-marathon until things ease off a little, this would have the added advantage of increasing you speed. If you are looking for inspiration check out TF Bubendorfer's blog, think he has 4 kids and is a model on how not to let long distance running get in the way of family life.

TFBubendorfer

jailhouse_dave wrote: »

he has 4 kids and is a model on how not to let long distance running get in the way of family life.

Ha! Or how not to let a family get in the way of running - it works both ways!

Actually, I just remembered what happened after the last baby was born. It's amazing how quickly you forget.

My wife was perfectly happy with me running in the morning but asked me to be back home at 6am, just in case, which meant getting up at 4am more often than I care to remember. All this during a wet and cold winter, which in all likelihood was a major factor to me developing pneumonia a few months later. That wasn't a lot of fun, neither for me nor for my wife who had a sick husband, a still fairly new baby and 3 other children to look after at the same time.

Things settled down quickly after that though, and the rest of my statement still stands. In fact I can't see how I could possibly manage both a family and my training if I didn't run early in the morning every day.

kit3

Congrats sideswipe - don't worry it will all settle down, you just have to grab your chances. I have 3 kids and most of my runs are done during lunchtime - only way I can get out most of the time. Just be thankful you're not the one who had the c-section - I had 3 and it takes a while to get going from those

TFBubendorfer

kit3 wrote: »

most of my runs are done during lunchtime - only way I can get out most of the time.

That's all well and good but won't do for marathon training, unless your lunchtime is a lot longer than usual.

kit3

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

That's all well and good but won't do for marathon training, unless your lunchtime is a lot longer than usual.

That's true - it's better than nothing at the moment ! No hope of me doing a marathon anytime soon. Lunchtime runs will help you keep it ticking over until you have the early morning ones sussed though

Ryder

Congrats on the new arrival, have a 2 month old so can only give 2 months of advice. It helps if youre an asshole. You have to be single minded about time management. For me, im a cyclist aiming for the etape. Train for an hour on the turbo 2/3 nights a week and long distance at the weekends. You need time for yourself, so use this to train and not watch tv etc.....likewise youll need to reciprocate and give your wife back the time. Sleep wise.....soon 4/5 hourse seems like luxury...honestly

buck65

Like a lot here had a similar situation with a new arrival in Nov 08. I kept my runs to 30 mins a day usually in the evening or early morning for the first month or so, after 2 or 3 months things settled a bit and every Saturday got out early for an hour til eventually I trained for the marathon in Dublin 09. At this stage most of my running was in the early morning and since then all my running is done before the boy wakes at 7 or 7.30.
Brighter mornings especially gets him up early:mad:
Still hoping to run DCM10!