supporting your partner’s sport (even if it isn’t running)

My running friends and I, like most people, are all very busy, most of us with families, careers and other responsibilities. But we make the effort to carve out time for at least our 40-minute run fix. We appreciate an hour to run and and hour and a half is simply indulgent! Of course we’re nothing if not accommodating and flexible, so if we have to squeeze in our runs while our kids are playing soccer or at 5 a.m. before anyone’s up, then we’ll do it.

Some busy people fitting it in

Some busy people fitting it in

That’s the nice thing about running. It so easily fits with being an accommodating and flexible person. Now being sporty people, many of us also married sporty people. Unfortunately, even if their chosen sport was running when we met them (ahem!) most of them now do sports which take up more time and are less accommodating and flexible than running. Of course we love the fact that our guys and gals are jocks and do sports! Of course we value the mental and physical benefits they get from it! Yes, we know they never begrudge our running, so we are equally cheerful and supportive of their sports. A few examples:

After waking up at 5 a.m. to run before a full day of work and then picking up her kids at 6 p.m., my friend replied when I asked if she’d like to hang out and chat, “I can’t. Bill* is going out mountain biking in the trails tonight.” That is her husband’s sport: he wears ski gear and a head-lamp and bikes the trails for hours in the dark and freezing cold after work. So she hurried home to make dinner and get her kids to bed while thinking wonderful thoughts of how nice it was that Bill was getting active.

When I was meeting with friends at the track the other day, one of them mentioned in a concerned tone, “I think Tom* might be taking up the triathlon. I got home from work and the T.V. was on cartoons for the kids and I found his bike set up on the trainer.” Of course at the mention of triathlon there was a silent hush followed by sympathetic words of support – we all knew what this meant: three sports. But of course, we were all happy for her and her sporty husband.

a suspicious clue of spousal triathlon training

a suspicious clue of spousal triathlon training

As for myself, my husband paddle-boards (yes, even in winter.) And to improve his paddle-boarding he lifts weights and swims. He may as well be a triathlete. There are the weekend 5-hour paddles supported by weekday evening gym and pool sessions. On a typical weekend morning, I’ll get up early for a long run and as soon as I get back I take over with the kids while he heads off to paddle in the lake for the next 2-5 hours. And the whole time I’m thinking how nice it is to be married to someone who values his physical and mental well-being.

Just a little quirky

Just a little quirky

I have one friend who, I won’t lie, I envy slightly. As we met for our run last Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m. I asked her what a typical distance her swimmer husband would train in a day. She replied, “Well, today he swam 5K”. I said, “You mean he’s going to swim 5K”. No. He was in the pool at 5 a.m. so she could head out for her run at 7:30. Again, we’re all happy, if slightly jealous of her.

The point is, regardless of your sport or your partner’s sport, it’s good to be supportive and happy for them, and grateful that they’re not just sitting down watching T.V. all day. So they may not all be runners, which is obviously the perfect ideal. At least they’re not golfers!

* Names have been changed to protect against judgement of non-runners

The Do’s and Don’ts of multi-tasking for busy runners

Like most runners, I have many obligations which I have to fit around my daily runs. I try to run in the early mornings so that I’m not taking from any other bucket, but that doesn’t seem to stop my unending need to multi-task in order to cram everything into my days. Through trial and error I’ve learned which tasks can be combined, and which cannot. I will share my list with you so that you too can be an efficient runner and don’t make the same errors I have in trying to combine the wrong activities.

Activities: Eating and showering.
Scenario: You’ve come in from a long run and need nourishment asap. You also have to be out the door to an event in 15 minutes. No time to re-fuel and shower, so why not combine them?
Result: Soggy food mixed with soap and hot water.
Status: Multi-tasking Don’t

Activities: Making dinner and doing squats and lunges.
Scenario: Everyone’s hungry but you haven’t done your strength training yet.
Result: Dinner is on time and you have thighs of steel.
Status: Multi-tasking Do

lunges in the kitchen

lunges in the kitchen

Activities: Blow-drying hair and talking on the phone.
Scenario: You’ve just taken over an hour of time to yourself by running and showering, and are about to head out to your next activity, but you owe a call to your friend/sister/aunt.
Result: One-way yelling conversation because you can’t hear and your hair ends up frizzy anyway because you couldn’t hold the brush and hairdryer and phone at the same time.
Status: Multi-tasking Don’t (you’ll have to text her from your event)

Activities: Going for a run and catching up with a friend.
Scenario: You’ve missed the last five group get-togethers with your girlfriends and you failed on catching up over the phone because you had to blow-dry your hair, so you schedule a run-chat date.
Result: Your run flies by and you have great one-on-one chatting time with your bud.
Status: Multi-tasking Do

running and bonding

running and bonding

Activities: Looking after kids and getting work done on a computer.
Scenario: The kids have a PA day but you have a deadline and think you may be able to get some work done while kids entertain themselves.
Result: You can’t focus because of shouting, unsupervised arts ‘n crafts has left you with a two-hour clean-up job and everyone’s climbing the walls.
Status: Multi-tasking Don’t

outcome after unsupervised arts 'n crafts

outcome after unsupervised arts ‘n crafts

Activities: Looking after kids and getting a workout in.
Scenario: You slept through your 5 a.m. alarm, it’s the same PA day and you have kids with you all day. This is the easiest one! Take them to a pool and sneak in some 30 second pool-run sprints, take them to a gym and do burpees while they throw balls, take them to an indoor court and play “chase” while doing wind-sprints.
Result: Kids are happy and tired out and you got some high-intensity cross-training in.
Status: Multi-tasking Do

running out all our beans in a contained space

running out all our beans in a contained space

With some creativity and an open mind, combining your to-do list really can allow you to fit everything in. Just make sure you get the combinations right – it can be either Win-Win or a giant fail!