I knew that when I got pregnant with Little Ring, our lives would change huge. We would no longer be able to go out at the drop of a hat, traveling would become more challenging, $200 jean expenditures less frequent, etc., etc.. And that was okay. But the one thing we were both adamant we would not do was become gluttonous couch potatoes. We would not give up touring the outdoors via our sneakers, hikers and bicycles. We would not stop doing what we love.
Keeping that promise, however, has required some serious ingenuity.
We don’t have a babysitter. Big Ring’s family lives in Onterrible Ontario and mine live across the pond, and because most of our friends are outside the New West area, we don’t have a pool of trusted sitters to draw from. (Really hoping to change that soon!) But instead of throwing our arms up in defeat, we took it as an opportunity to try new things, learn to share our time, learn to love early mornings, and think outside the box.
Because I’m not a huge fan of running with BOB, and because it’s not always logistical to get my proper runs in with BOB, I’ve taken up running at 5 a.m. most days. And you know what? I’m actually really enjoying it. (Shocking, I know!) Seriously, there’s hardly anyone else on the road, which gives me the perfect opportunity to focus on form, pace, and breathing without distraction. And for hours after, I’ve got major endorphins shooting through me, which is super awesome! Big Ring then goes for rides in the evenings and on Sunday mornings with his cycling buddies. And Fridays, well, this past week, we developed a super awesome tag-team system 😀
I was scheduled to run 7 km. Big Ring wanted to ride a bunch of kilometres. We also wanted a day together. What, oh what to do? We headed to UBC! The university district is a beautiful area to run, ride and eat. And so, after mapping out a route, Big Ring dropped me off just outside the university, and while I went for a run, he and Little Ring hung out on the sands at Spanish Banks.
We designed the route to end at Mix Baker, one of our favourite post-ride/run lunch spots in the area. I highly recommend the Tuna Waldorf sandwich – it’s so good, it’s dream worthy! And when lunch was done, Big Ring pulled his Lapierre off the top of the car and tagged me in for Little Ring time.
It worked out so perfectly. We got me time, us time, Little Ring time – all of which we love. And while we’ll have to tweak it somewhat as our respective distances increase, I am sure this was the first of many more tag-team adventures to come!
TODAY’S SPEED INTERVALS:
- 5 a.m. BG before: 7.4
- Temp. basal: none
- Carbs: granola bar (14g) with bolus
- Distance: 6:30 km – 10′ warmup/10x 1′ fast 1’easy/8′ cool down
- Average speed pace: 4:35 min/km
- Time: 36:49
- 6 a.m. BG after: 8.1
- Temp. basal: +50 per cent 1/2 hour
If you have a child, how do you find ways to fit in endurance training?
You guys rock, power couple!
Fantastic way to come up with a solution that works for both of you
That is not very nice, Ontario is a beautiful place. I love discovering it’s natural beauty on my early, long Sunday runs.
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