10 Strategies for Endurance Training & Racing for Parents with Young Kids
Transitioning to parenthood or adding on additional responsibilities and priorities in life such as raising kids, adds additional logistics, planning, and complexity for endurance athletes who want to continue training, racing, and going after their goals in all phases of life. Indeed, taking care of oneself and maintaining mental and physical health is important in order to help take care of others, and for lifelong endurance athletes or those looking to pursue an endurance goal, finding time and ways to train while prioritizing family time can take a little more creativity and grace.
Many have asked how they can be more strategic when it comes to training, as proactive planning, communication, prioritization, and support are even more important when athletes want to spend even more of their time with family and may have less time and flexibility as parents.
In this blog, Coaches Anthony and Deana share tips for training and racing as parents to a toddler, infant, and a baby on the way, while training and racing for events such as the American Birkebeiner cross country ski race, running events up to the marathon distance including the Boston Marathon, and triathlon events up to the Ironman distance including the Ironman World Championship, with less workout time and more family time. They’ve also coached and supported athletes who are part of dual parent athletes, and larger families. It can be done! But know it might look a little or a lot different than before.
Are you looking for extra support towards your endurance training and racing goals, want to limit the decision fatigue in your busy phase of life, identify a realistic goal, and maximize time with family by implementing quality sessions in limited time? We can help with our 1:1 Coaching program and Strength Program.
Strategies for Endurance Training & Racing for Parents
1. Implement Values-Based Prioritization
Determine all of your values and goals (e.g. family, relationships, training for your endurance goals, etc), and prioritize and schedule them into your week, in advance. Where do you have pockets of time, or time in the day that you could spend differently, in alignment with your goals and values?
Look at your week. Does your calendar reflect your values? What changes can you make to ensure you are making time for what is important to you? Do a time inventory of a typical day, week, or month, and pinpoint where you have more time available to spend according to your values. This could mean being strategic about when you workout, for how long, and if it includes family. Work together as a family to schedule the week, such as on Sunday evening for the upcoming week.
2. Reframe Your Mindset
Remember that showing up for yourself and what makes you, you, helps you show up as the best version for your family.
Going after your goals also demonstrates and models important qualities, habits, and values to your family. They may see your determination, perseverance, and hard work, and the many other qualities that come with challenging yourself and working towards a goal while also implementing healthy habits.
And remember! Each stage is a phase that can look very different for training. Women who are recovering from birth and early postpartum shouldn’t expect to be doing much more than simple diaphragmatic breathing exercises, for example, and if lack of sleep for new parents is impacting ability to recover, then going after shorter and less time-consuming goals might make more sense during that stage of life.
Things won’t always go to plan, so give yourself grace. Remember to practice gratitude for being able to do what you love to do while also being with family. Finding a rhythm can really be the best of both worlds.
3. Work with Your Partner or Support System
Each of you has your own needs and goals as individuals, whether that’s in sport, health, or something else. Work with a partner to determine what times or days are your time to get in a workout or get done what you need to, and vice versa for them.
For some families this could look like each parent getting to have flexibility to do what they want, such as a workout, until 8am three days of the week, and the other parent being on point to take care of the kids when they get up, eat, and get ready for the day. On weekends, these timeframes could look differently.
On a regular basis, check-ins and communication on what is working, and areas of opportunity, can help everyone towards getting their needs and goals met.
4. Workout at times that work for the entire family
Communication and creativity are key for finding training times that work for the entire family. Between work, date nights or intentional 1:1 time with each member of the family, kids activities’, time with friends, and spending time together as an entire family, there can be less options where training fits perfectly into everyone’s schedules.
Beyond scheduling training into the week at certain times, or working out when others are sleeping (After 7pm? Before 7am?) or napping, there are other ways you can be creative. Here are a few examples: If the family is making a run to the grocery store, can one person run there? If a child needs to be picked up from daycare, can a parent run there and run home with them in the stroller? Can a parent complete a workout during a lunch hour at work? Finding ways to stack workouts into everyday routines and errands can help minimize impact to the rest of the day or family.
Working out at times that work for the entire family takes extra planning and communication. When you’re looking at your week, your priorities, and all of your time with others, find what times work best to get in your training, towards your larger goals.
5. Involve the Kids
Involving the kids in workouts can look different depending on the age of the children, but examples could include stroller runs, lifting next to them while they play, going to a beach as a family to first do an open water swim and then play together, have them bike next to you while you run, kayak with one parent while you swim, etc.
The kids will get to see you working towards your goal & maintaining healthy lifestyle habits, and they can be a great motivator to help you keep the end goal in mind. There’s no other feeling like seeing them out on the race course and at the finish line!
6. Limit Decision Fatigue
Parents take on increased decisions and mental load. There are many more decisions to make, and there are regular redirections and focus on what the kids are doing. All of this extra focus can result in mental fatigue, and decision fatigue happens when we are making a lot of decisions.
In training, one way to limit decision fatigue is to take the decisions and guess work out of the equation. Instead of asking “What do I want to do today? When? What workout makes most sense?” etc and then changing your mind several times, working with a coach, team, or plan can help you minimize any extra decisions you need to make, because the training (or location, and time) are already set for you! All you have to do is execute.
7. Surround Yourself with Community of Others
There are benefits to surrounding yourself with others who are also going after their goals while prioritizing family. Finding a training group, a team, or a training buddy can help you stack things like social time and friendships with being active. A training group can be there with you on the journey towards your goal, and even on race day.
See what others have had to say about being on a team! Benefits include fun, friendships, and accountability, among others.
8. Prioritize Quality over Quantity
Time is more limited than ever, from both quantity and flexibility standpoints. Now’s the time to be implementing high quality sessions and ways to optimize your time, for there is likely to be a lot less training time available compared to pre-kids. Sometimes in this stage of life, less is truly more, and people train for more hours than they actually need to! Knowing how much to do, when, and how the workouts can impact recovery and ability to play with family, etc., is game-changing in this season of life.
The same goes for consistency over all-or-nothing. Something is better than nothing, and small incremental steps towards your overall goal will be more beneficial in the long run, compared to complete stops and starts in your endurance journey.
Need help with quality sessions and deciding what workouts to do, when? Check out our 1:1 Coaching program.
9. The little things matter even more - Rest, Recover, and Fuel!
Gone are the days where you could workout and then lay on the couch :) Being able to play with young kids requires a lot of energy, so it’s even more critical that you are prioritizing rest and sleep, good recovery habits, and fueling really well. Just like toddlers, who will need a lot of snacks too ;) So be sure you are finding days that work to get more sleep and are focusing on quality nutrition and fueling strategies like fueling during workouts, eating around a 4:1 carb to protein ratio within 30-45 minutes of finishing a workout, and then eating a well-balanced meal with protein, veggies, and carbs within 2-3 hours.
If you have family commitments that are heavier on one week or weekend compared to another, prioritize more rest time during that period, and quality sessions during another week when there is more time.
When an “A” race or goal has been completed, be sure to enjoy some extra time with everyone during an off-season period, spending time together, focusing on rest and nutrition, and giving yourself a break mentally and physically.
10. Celebrate as a Family
A goal achieved by one person was made possible with the support of the entire family. Celebrate together! Figure out how you can you show your appreciation during the training cycle, and on race weekend. Perhaps if a race is out of town, there are fun things you can find to do as a family (e.g. museum, park, hike, etc). Make it a fun family weekend of racing and spending time together! You all earned this together.
While each family situation may look differently, training and racing with young kids or a parenting season of life takes continuous communication, prioritization, assessment, and pivots.
Do you have any other tips or strategies that work well for you and your family? Drop them in the comments section below.
Cheering for you!