Last Saturday, The Legend (a ten-mile trail race) was contested in Sleepy Hollow State Park. This is a race I’ve done a few times. It’s a lot of fun, and I really like the literary reference to the headless horseman. The Legend is the first race where I placed in my age group, so I like to return to it as often as possible. It’s very challenging and a great chance to run on some trails. Due to family conficts, I could not race it this year, though.

Last Tuesday, New Holland Brewery sponsored a “beer run” in East Grand Rapids. I had planned on running this fun run and enjoying some brews. These types of runs are a fun way to meet other runners in the area. It’s very low stress and high fun. Alas, RunnerGirl and my two boys were calling for some quality family time, so I also chose to sit out this run.

Balancing family time and marathon training is often difficult. I want to be a good role model for my kids by living a healthy life style and staying in shape. I love pushing myself to run farther and faster. However, both of these goals take a back seat to being there for my boys. I know that nothing I do will have any significance if I’m not really there for them.

Being there for them means more than just being around. Being there means playing trucks and going for walks and pushing them on the swings. These are the things I did with the boys on Tuesday instead of running. We pushed the Tonka trucks around the play room and put out all the imaginary fires we could find. Then we leashed up the dogs and walked up the road to our favorite park. Mr. Three-year-old ran more than a quarter of a mile, and that was the funnest run of the week. Once we were at the park, both boys had to swing. Of course, I push them higher than anyone else, so I got a small arm workout complete with optional underdogs. I squeezed in a few pull-ups on the monkey bars, too. At bed time, we hustled back home and grabbed some pajamas. I did my best to be fully there instead of dwelling on the missed opportunity for a race/group run. Being there also means reading the same fireman story 10 or even 12 times in an evening, so we did that, too.

A Literary Masterpiece

Now, I’m not perfect. I still carve out time for training runs. I rarely skip a workout to read Fire Fighters to the Rescue. However, I do structure my workouts to allow as much time for being with my family as possible. For example, I try to wake up as early as I can to run. If that doesn’t work (competing with a one-year old to see who can wake up earliest is a losing proposition), then I will often run during the boys’ naps. This leads to some runs being done in the hottest part of the August sun, but the sacrifice pays dividends. I’ll also run with the boys in the double-jogger. Sometimes, on a day with two runs scheduled, I save a run for after the boys’ bed time.

I make choices daily about how I can best reach my running goals while trying to remember that those aren’t my top priority goals. My wife and two boys are the top of my list. I am lucky, though. They love to encourage me on the running goals. They each have their own cowbell for cheering. They’ll also be cheering me on during a race this Saturday. My oldest boy will be doing his first race, too.