I’ve never trained for or participated in a triathlon, but I have always been intrigued by brick workouts: typically going from biking to running or biking to running to biking. They are an attempt to mimic race conditions, whether that is dealing with legs that feel like bricks or practicing bike-run-in-combination (BRIC).
As a runner with little kids, I’ve recently coined a new term that is more about finding the time to fit things in than about effective training: the family brick. It’s our solution for balancing running with family life here in Vermont.
How Our Family Brick Works
The family brick is an ingenious, if slightly chaotic, method to ensure both parents get in their much-needed miles without forgoing family time. Here’s the typical routine in our household:
- Run Out: Parent 1 (that’s usually me—I like having a destination and a firm plan) leaves the house on foot and runs to a predetermined location. This is my uninterrupted solo running training.
- The Schlep: Parent 2 deals with house chaos for a bit and then piles all of the kids, bikes, snacks, water bottles, changes of clothing, cups of coffee, etc. into the truck and schleps everything to the predetermined location.
- Transition: Parent 1 is retrieved, usually from the side of the road, and everyone heads to the trails.
- Family Time & Bike: Everyone bikes together for one to infinity minutes, eats all the snacks, and gets ready to head home.
- Run Home: Parent 2 either leaves on foot or gets dropped off somewhere to run home. (Usually, in the case of my husband, with no real plan or route in mind, which is why he has to be Parent 2.)
We did a family brick a few weeks ago that perfectly demonstrates this balancing act. I ran 10 miles from home to a turnoff on the way to Saxon Hill. We then went for a family bike ride with friends (four adults, five kids, seven bikes, two shotgun seats, and 752 snacks) and then I dropped my husband off at Cochran’s on our way home. He arrived home several hours later, right on schedule, possibly with some burrs in his hair.
Enjoying the Trails at Saxon
It was a total win: we each had some alone time, some solo time with our kids, and some quality family time. Everyone had fun, and our kids got to witness us prioritizing our health and spending time enjoying this beautiful place that we get to live in. It was a fun way to manage competing interests and needs in an effort to try and “fit it all in.”
Post-Run Bike (in combination)
Follow along for other obscure parenting advice, like having your kids be your bicycle escorts when you want to go for a run and everyone is home with hand, foot, and mouth disease or piling everyone into jogging strollers to turkey trot through a rainstorm because doing a turkey trot is a family tradition.
Vermont Running Events Designed for Parents
Joking aside, one of the awesome things about some of RunVermont’s events is that they allow for a seamless tradeoff between parents, making balancing running and everything else possible.
- Freezy Cheeks 5K Series: With the one hour open-start window for these races, one parent can run while the other watches the kids. Then, the parents can trade places. Each parent gets to race and have a net time for the 5K, and everyone gets to participate in the festivities after.
- Half Marathon Unplugged Relay: The choose-your-own-exchange option is perfect. The kids can literally be the stationary baton that is passed between relaying parents anywhere safe—including the Perkins Pier Playground that is on course at approximately mile 10 in Burlington!
- M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon & Relay: While exchanges need to take place in designated zones for the relays presented by Darn Tough Vermont, the relay format itself easily allows for the juggling that is required to run without getting a babysitter.
How have you found a way to balance running and having little kids? Drop us a line with your best tips and funny anecdotes, and we’ll plan to share them in a future blog post!