Running After Children

by Kelly Kruell

How could I run regularly without someone else to watch her? I guess I expected that my husband, Chris, who runs at work, would always be there to watch her or that Cait would always love running with me. Well, life really isn't like that. It is very stressful relying on your partner to return home on time so you can run at a halfway normal hour, and running with a screaming baby makes you feel like a selfish parent.

I knew things would be different after one of my first 30-minute runs, a few months after Cait was born. I nursed Cait before handing her over to Chris, who anxiously inquired how long I would be gone. He asked me to run shorter, but off I went for a half-hour of blissful, stress-relieving exertion. I had just begun to relax as I headed toward our house. From the sidewalk, I could hear Cait screaming from inside the closed windows. I ran inside to meet a tense Chris, who glared at me: "Where have you been? She started screaming two minutes after you left. I think she's hungry." So much for stress relief! It made me realize that running needed to be fit into a child's schedule, not the other way around. Child care (or entertainment) is the most important thing parents need to consider in planning for post-parenthood training.

In an informal survey, I discovered that other creative parents have come up with a number of inventive solutions for combining running with family life: Parents working outside the home often squeeze a run in during lunch or on the way to or from work, freeing up precious evening time to spend with the children. In Minnesota, Chris and I finally both had jobs that allowed for a lunch run. It was wonderful except for days when I would miss a run for a court appearance and we would be back at square one.

Marathoning parent Dave Messman fits running into his busy schedule by supplementing his suburban Virginia train commute with a bike ride and run. After leaving his rusty single-speed bicycle locked up at the Vienna, Virginia, train station, he hops on the train for a short ride toward his office in Washington, D.C. The day's training plan determines his next stop. Partway, he disembarks and runs the remaining miles to his office, which contains a file cabinet stocked with a week's supply of work clothes and plenty of breakfast food. He takes his laundry home in the evening and once a week reverses his pattern to replenish his clean clothes. His wife, Betsy, who is expecting their third child, has continued her training by getting up early enough to run with the dog before Dave leaves for work.

Some parents hire babysitters specifically for their runs or barter an hour of running time for an hour of sitting with another family. Four-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier Bev Docherty and her friends Debbie Leyden and Susan Osterberg occasionally watch each other's children while one of them trains. Docherty, the athletic director at a private school and a mother of four, does the bulk of her training in the wee morning hours. She can be seen speeding along St. Paul's pathways before 6 a.m. in order to be finished in time to get herself and her family out the door.

In many two-runner/parent families, the parents alternate training times, which can mean very early morning runs for one and late night runs for the other. St. Paul running store owners Kari and Perry Bach share training time, one watching sons Jesse and Sam while the other runs. This often results in Perry's running after the store closes at 9 p.m., despite the cold Minnesota winters. Although both Bachs were competitive runners before children, Kari's training comes to nearly a standstill in the winter.

Frank and Kari Campbell, another very competitive racing couple, took sharing to an interesting level during a training session when their daughter was an infant: they ran alternating legs on a two-person relay, trading the baton for their daughter after each lap. Their system apparently works, as both have competed well after Morgan's arrival.

For many such parents, the running stroller is a life and relationship saver. Being able to take a child along for a run at whatever time is convenient is a blessing. It allows parents to run together or alone. Although pushing a stroller is not always easy, especially when there are two children, hills, or rough terrain, there is a special benefit in having a child's delightful company on a daily run. I love talking to my girls when I run and often scheduled "kiss the baby" breaks into my routine. Even when they would fall asleep, I just enjoyed having them with me.

Running with a stroller does have a downside, however; toddlers can be mighty independent and mischievous. Retrieving "accidentally" thrown toys is annoying, but the agony of pushing a screaming toddler home when she wants to get out now has embarrassed many a parent into speeding past astonished onlookers.

Bonnie Sons and Chris Celichowski, both talented racers, found that a treadmill was a useful addition to the standard childhood items of crib, diapers, and baby blankets. Bonnie is a former All-American who has rebounded quickly from all three of her pregnancies. She used the treadmill to train while her children were sleeping or playing nearby, so she was always a few steps away. The treadmill gave them the luxury of extra training hours after dark, especially welcome since Chris's partnership in his law firm requires some hefty work weeks.

Top masters runner Diane Stoneking's youngest children accompanied her to the track for interval sessions. The children (admittedly well behaved) made sand castles in the long jump pit while Mom ran. Another mother, with a high tolerance for boredom, ran small circles (less than 1/8 of a mile) around a neighborhood park while her daughter slept in a stroller.

With any system, however, it pays to be flexible. Unforeseeable events always happen, and I've learned that it's not productive to get upset when your plans fall through. So tonight the girls and I will head to the track, sans Chris, for a workout. We'll go with plenty of food and sand toys, and with any luck I'll get a run in, too!

The Ingrid myth

Every running mom has heard it: the dreaded "So, now that you've had the baby, I bet you're going to really run fast." For many women, however, it doesn't happen that way. Especially me. Despite being fit when I conceived and training through my pregnancies, I am still trying to return to my pre-motherhood level of fitness and my youngest is already two!

I call it "the Ingrid myth." When former marathon world-record holder Ingrid Kristiansen was pregnant with her first child (but unaware of it), she won a marathon. The next year, she returned and set a course record. Journalists immediately pounced upon this as motherhood assisting her training and making her faster. Liz McColgan and Lisa Ondieki are among the elites who fed the myth by making speedy returns.

The reports on elite runners usually did not, however, focus on the amount of hard work these women put in to make competitive returns after motherhood. Kristiansen kept training hard and did not know she was pregnant until the second trimester. She returned to her pre-pregnancy training levels only a month after birth. One magazine reported that McColgan was running 90 miles a week just a month after her daughter was born.

Motherhood alone will not physically make you faster. One doctor, when asked by a running publication about pregnancy's effect on the body, stated that any benefits a woman receives regarding increased bloodflow or lung power diminish almost immediately after the baby is born. So if you ease yourself back into exercising, as most doctors advise, you don't get any added physical benefit from pregnancy. And unless you kept training at roughly the same intensity during pregnancy as before, it is unlikely that you will be able to start running where you left off. Elite runner Gwyn Coogan managed to rebound quickly after her daughter's birth, but she noted that interrupting her training to have a child was not a good way to improve her times.

Lack of sleep, breastfeeding, and healing stitches can drain your energy and make it difficult to return to running at your former level. These combined with a lack of time have slowed many runners' returns to competition. For me, an additional difficulty was my rapid return to work. After spending nearly nine hours away from my baby, it was very difficult to justify leaving her again for my training run. It seemed that if I resumed my former training, I would never see my daughter. Guilt about working and missing my girls made it hard for me to be as diligent about my training.

But pregnancy does not have to mean the end of your improvement as a runner. With strong motivation and hard training, you can return to a higher level. Quite a few moms have found that their desire to train is much stronger and that the pain of racing pales in comparison to labor. Marathon mom Bev Docherty of St. Paul has qualified for four Olympic trials and given birth to four children. Bev's pregnancies haven't been easy, and she hasn't been able to run all the way through them. But after several very long labors followed by cesarean sections, her marathon efforts must seem like a breeze.

Runners who improve after pregnancy often increase the intensity and length of their training, which results in better times. Others find that in order to run at all, they need to focus their attention on getting quality from their running time, which makes for better workouts. And, some women with older children find that they perform better in competition to set a good example for their children.

My training has finally improved because I am now home with the girls, compliments of our relocation to another state. It is amazing how guilt-free my running has become. They don't cry when I leave any more, and I don't mind leaving them for an hour when they've had me around all day. I have also discovered that I really must try to put forth a good effort and be satisfied with every race, since I want to show my daughters how to do their best and be happy with the result, win or lose.

I still don't like the Ingrid myth, but I have resolved the issue for myself. I may not have returned better than ever, but I am making the effort. After all, the process of training is what is ultimately important to me. I'm still hoping that there are some personal records in my future, but if it doesn't happen, so be it. At least I am out there running and enjoying myself, and with any luck my daughters will pick up on my enjoyment and decide that an active life is fun.

Kelly Kruell currently chases two young daughters as well as Prs.

All that changed when we became parents of Becca in January 1994 and, just like all new parents, discovered that our lifestyle must change. But we pledged to each other that our competitive racing careers would continue. New technologies, careful planning, and a willingness to sacrifice would be the keys. So far we have met with success.

The first four months were easy because Mary and I both needed to get used to our life with Becca. The weather was cold and icy, a good time to be off the roads. Running was not a high priority. But when the lovely spring weather kicked in, we knew it was time to train. We made a great investment, a Baby Jogger. The aluminum-framed racing stroller with bike-tire wheels allowed us to keep in top shape.

Mary and I work opposite shifts, leaving each of us alone with Becca during part of the day. The stroller gives us the opportunity to get outside when our partner is at work. It gives Becca a chance to get out once or twice a day, for seven to 20 miles of fresh air and sightseeing that she seems to enjoy. We usually run at a pace where we can converse with her (as much as you can converse with a toddler). Stroller accessories ranging from a sun visor to a rain shield allow us to get out in most weather conditions, and Becca gets in about 70 miles a week.

We do draw some attention, though. We can't count the number of odd looks we have received from motorists and fellow pedestrians as we put in our daily miles. When not running, we often field questions from folks who have seen us out with Becca in the jogger. "Saw your wife and baby out joggin' " is a greeting I hear almost daily.

Occasionally we can combine activities so that all three of us can enjoy some fun. On Tuesday evenings this summer we jogged with Becca to a 5:30 p.m. playgroup for her and followed that with our weekly club fun run. We have run to area parks and watched Becca play while we cool off and then make the trip back home. Mary recently took Becca to her favorite park on the other side of town (14 miles there and back). Mary's long run for the week was fulfilled.

Because of the extra effort needed while pushing the stroller, running without Becca is a treat. We do track workouts when Becca will nap at the track, or we take turns doing the intervals. On weekends we take turns doing longer runs or strength runs. When we are racing, Becca's grandparents have been wonderful about watching her. One race director even found a volunteer to watch Bucca in the stroller while we both raced a mile.

Of course, we've had to adjust schedules and miss workouts, but generally Bucca seems to understand our love of running and can't wait to get into the stroller and out onto the roads.

Before Bucca arrived, Mary's goal was to qualify for the 1996 U.S. Trials in the marathon. Her times at shorter distances indicated that she had a good shot. Pregnancy and childbirth didn't hurt her progress toward her goal. In 1994, after Becca's birth, Mary set personal and/or course records in 16 of the 20 races she entered, including running the second fastest 10K in Illinois for the year. Her 10K time dropped 2 minutes and 30 seconds (to 34:26) from May to November. Her times gained her invitations to run as an "elite" at most races and secured her an October trip to Japan to compete on an Ekiden relay. I also set numerous PRs, including one at the marathon distance.

So did having a child help Mary drop her racing times? We may never know. Maybe she would have run these times regardless. She certainly began her improvements before becoming pregnant. But her results were dramatic after Bucca came along.

Mary's training has become more structured and more consistent since Bucca was born, and 80% of her mileage has been pushing the stroller. It is possible that the time off from serious training during the pregnancy gave Mary's legs and mind a refreshing break that some women racers don't take.

It seems that we have had success in continuing our racing careers in the year and a half since Bucca was born. We are thankful that Bucca has seemed to enjoy the running experience.

Mary will attempt to qualify for the Olympic Trials in October. Both of us have already gained much more than we expected two years ago. We've got a wonderful, growing child, and we've been running and racing all over the country, meeting great runners and people, and enjoying being parents. Who could ask for more?

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