Kids Are Back to School - Better for your workout?
I love that old OfficeMax commercial for school supplies, where the Dad is sailing happily back and forth through the aisles of the store on the back of a shopping cart to the tune “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”. Two obviously depresssed children trudge slowly behind him.
That’s me. Doing a happy dance as I drop my kids off today for the first day of school. And in more ways than one. Not just because I will get some quiet work time or my little girl gets to talk some kids’ ears off instead of just mine. No, I love the schedule. My whole house is back on a schedule: school hours, teams, afterschool activities, etc. And I get to blame school. See, family it’s not just me being dictator for your own good, we need to be organized so school goes well!
Seriously, with more structured schedules we with families must create in the fall, this is a good opportunity to schedule your workout time in there too. Many women with kids start schedules fresh and anew in September. If you have been working out, make sure your times are working with the new schedules. If you have not seriously started your workout plan yet, start now by blocking in at least 4 sessions for yourself. Because this is now off-season for many in the US and Canada, you can pare down the number of workout sessions, at least for a few months, without damage to your overall triathlon training plan. If you can only work with 4 sessions a week, start there.
Make your workout time a priority–to you and your family–as much as football practice and girls scouts. For now, I’m fitting a couple of runs in during daughter’s soccer practice, weights during son’s swim practice, and swim early in the morning 2 days and bike or spinning on the weekend.
And if you don’t have kids–take advantage too! If you workout out at neighborhood centers or YMCAs, take advantage of those times kids aren’t there (as they were for summer camps).
Whether getting ready for your first triathlon or your tenth,