Rackham's Rules for Triathlon training with 5 year olds, a list of suggested methods
1. Have an extremely flexible schedule. I fit training in at weird times all day long because I have commitments that can't move (like work, sleep, and the kids' school). When I first started training, I'd go to the gym late at night - because that was the time that I had. I'll do strength training at any time in the day; I'll do it at home at night. I'll run early, I'll swim before dawn, I'll spin before the birds get up. My spouse, also a full-time worker person, runs at night - he puts in 50 mile weeks doing lunchtime runs and late night urban runs. If I want it, it can be done.
2. Be willing to do early morning training. Some of the best training is the stuff that happens when it's dark - I have energy to work hard. My calories are still available from dinner, I can go and come back before anybody is awake if I need to. Or, better still, I can get a good workout in, and then get a full day of work in, then go spend quality time with the little ones.
3. Have accountability. To me, coaching is pretty high level accountability. I wouldn't be motivated to do nearly half the stuff I do if I didn't have a coach feeding me a training schedule. It's not like he yells at me, abuses me, or any of that. He says jump, I say how high? Why would I pay someone to tell me what to do, and not do it? It's written down, it gets done. It's a beautiful thing.
4. Teach your children to swim. More than once, I've dropped the kiddos into the lane next to me for their swim lesson. Other parents opt to watch their children from the deck, I choose to drop mine in the pool and start swimming. When they're done and mommy still has 11 more laps to go, they share a lane with me. I taught them to stay on their half of the lane (or mommy will swim over them) and they quite happily kick up and down the lane while I finish my workout.
5. Be sneaky about fostering a love for athletics. I have signed my kids up for more than one race or event without really discussing it with them. It wasn't about what they wanted to do, it was about Mommy and Daddy wanting to race, and I just want them to be there (or maybe I didn't have any babysitting options). Their first kid run totally freaked them out - the distance (one lap of the track) was overwhelming. I had no expectations. I didn't tell them anything much other than "walk, run, do your best - have fun." And they did. Now they pester me about when their next race is.
6. Find races that are kid friendly. The Quad is a perfect example - a race that provides daycare. We've done other runs in town that provide kid races or kid activities during the race. They are out there, I'm not the only one with a young family. I once asked a race director if he could provide daycare - and he did (for my kids plus about a dozen others).
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