Now that it is very unlikely that I will be able to train for my secret goal, I can safely reveal what it was! :-D I wanted to race on a Ragnar Relay team. To do this, you get a team of 12 people, and each of you races three relatively short legs of a 188-mile course. Each leg ranges from 3 to 8 miles. I felt that this would be a goal that would stretch me quite a bit, but would still be do-able.
Now with my husband gone to work in another state, I don't think there's any way I can train for this. In order for me to run, I have to take all three kids -- one in the crappiest jogging stroller ever, and two on bikes or scooters. The training schedule is 20 weeks long. By the 8th week, you are up to three 30-minute runs and one 50-minute run each week, and they only get longer after that. I think 30 minutes is about the limit my kids would be able to do on their scooters/bikes. They are only 5 and 7 years old. Also, the jogging stroller slows me down SO much and I hate it SO much.
We have zero money to pay for babysitters, especially not 4 times per week. Same goes for running at a gym. I suppose maybe if I found another mom to trade babysitting with, it might work. But that's quite a commitment. It's one thing to leave your kids sleeping at home with Daddy. It's quite another to haul them off to someone's house 4 times per week, likely requiring them to miss out on sleep.
But maybe I can still do it by taking the kids with me. Maybe the kids will get stronger as I do and will be able to do the longer times. Maybe I will be able to use the jogging stroller effectively and not have it make my shoulders/arms kill. Or maybe I am just looking for an easy way out of this goal!
5 comments:
I can't imagine trying to do anything at all resembling exercise with kids, out of the house. Even in the house, when I want to do the Shred or some yoga, it's really hard to get it done (if only because I'm laughing - have you ever seen a 4-year-old lift weights or a 2-year-old do a push-up?). Maybe you could start with a smaller goal? Personally, my goal is just to feel and look a little less crappy. :)
No kidding -- when I Shred, I am spending most of the time trying not to smack the baby in the head with the weights. He SCREAMED the ENTIRE TIME I did it the first couple of times. But then he figured out that I wasn't going to stop for his tantrum, and now he's fine. But still underfoot!
I have a friend who just did Ragnar. Here is her blog, maybe you can get some ideas on how to train with/without the kids
http://bittenbytherunningbug.blogspot.com/
Ooh, thanks Norma!
Hi Katie! I'm Norma's friend Becca. I think it's great that you have a goal to train for the Ragnar. It is such an amazing and fun race, I HIGHLY recommend it and think it will be worth the kid juggling to get the training in. One thing that I did was I set up a babysitting swap with another girl who was running on my team. We both had to do the same training schedule so she needed me as much as I needed her! One week I'd bring my kids to her house and we'd take turns running, the next week she would come to mine. The nice thing about that is your kids can sleep in on the days it's at your house. Plus, my kids liked it because they felt like they were getting a playdate! On the days I went to her house I would just throw a bag with all my kids clothes, food, etc in the car... So I could just pull them out of bed, put them in the car, and then get them all fed and ready for the day at her house while she ran. Anyway, it worked out really well for us so hopefully you can make something like that work! Best of luck!
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