If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
I've probably said it a million times - so please excuse one more time. I'm
not a successful racer at all, but ski a lot and try to enter at least one or two ski marathons a year (for the past 4 years or so only). But I have friends and acquaintences that were, in previous lives, before kids, and serious careers, successful HS and collegiate racers. I've seen them pretty much GIVE UP the sport. My theory is that they have only one attitude towards skiing - to race and win. Any other level of effort or success is unaccepatable and if they can't "do it right" they don't do it. This is unfortunate. I often wonder what they think of us mid-packers who obviously spend way too much time and money on top notch gear, just for fun. My suggestion to new parents and those of you young in your career and family: take an entirely new attitude toward skiing. It's not "training". It's not preparing for a race. It's just skiing. It's just spending time for self R&R, and/or with your kids goofing in the snow. It's coaching the little kids. It's getting away for 30 minutes (or 3 hours) by yourself because every parent needs that. It's getting involved in organizing and running a fun-oriented program or school ski club. Picnics, bonfires, roasting marshmallows. Stopping in the woods and building a couple of seats to sit in to eat the snacks and hot cocoa. It's shuffling along with the kids not even worrying about technique except to teach "tricks" to get up and down the hills. Improptu games on skis. There is no need to carve out time, it's just your lifestyle, no different than pushing your kid on the swing in the park. My own kids vacillate between racing and being anti-racing - but at the very least they participate, goofing around on their skis doing teenage socializing on the snow. They could be in the mall doing the same thing - walking around gossiping, joking, being lazy, but they're doing it on skis at least and do occasionally exert themselves! This is all very vague, but reflects some things that have gone through my head over the past 10 or 15 years of parenthood. Camilo |
Ads |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
Bjorn A. Payne Diaz wrote: Well, you hit the nail on the head for me. It's doable, but a major disruption to drive 40-60 min one way to go ski. So in Dec, I usually did one 60 min local run and one 60 min local hill bounding per week with running....and I don' t like running. Weekends were skiing. I came out of Dec in poor shape compared to my competitors. I have the same driving problem with mt biking. I love it, but I road bike so I don't have to throw the bike on the car and drive. So when you hear me bitching about no snow, it's because no snow means more driving or get out of shape. Last night was a great workout, but I also cut out of work 2.5 hrs early. I've watched Brian and Abby combine workouts, so one babysits and the other goes for a workout and then they switch. If you could figure out a combined activity with your wife, it helps. My wife will ski if it's relatively flat, but otherwise snow-shoes, bikes, hot-tubs, reads, etc while I'm out skiing. A saint she is, and yes skiers are envious. Obviously, if you can get out of bed at 4 am and do your workout while others are sleeping, that works....for about two weeks. Early morning workouts are really hard on the entire system. I've done it, but man it takes motivation and saps energy reserves, so beware of getting sick, burnt out, or becoming a real *******. I also found the benefits of coffee are over-rated and shortlived. Jay Wener Jay, You hit it right on the head for me as well. This year I have skied only two nights a week when I have to drive to Troll or Elm. It takes a total committment to take 3.5 to 4 hrs to ski, that includes the drive to either of these places, plus the ski. I also am with you on the Mtn Biking front. It is easier to road bike out the door vs driving 25 to 30 minutes to get to Lebanon, etc. As far as the work, family, ski, church balance for my self. My wife doesn't ski, but she has her own hobbies (writing, beading). She know that skiing/biking is important to me so she has her nights alone with the girls/ladies and I have my nights for skiing. The bigger issue for me is my second grade and seventh grade sons, and their homework. For some reason they have become very accustomed to having Dad help them with their Homework. They know the minute I walk in the door that it is time to get to the Homework. Last night I got Home @ 8:00 and helped with homework for 1 1/2 hours. I think the real answer is there is no correct answer on how to balance your life. You need to look what is important for you and figure out how to fit it all in. It may mean your not as competitive as you were when you were 25, but at least you are out there enjoying yourself. Bruce Fiedler |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Isn't that *mandatory* maternity leave?
Gary Jacobson Rosendale, NY "Terje Mathisen" wrote in message ... John Forrest Tomlinson wrote: I wouldn't be able to balance all these things and as a consequence don't have children. You probably live in the wrong country. :-) With regular 8-hour workdays, 5+ vacation weeks and a year of paternity/maternity leave, it is _much_ easier to combine work+family+sports in Scandinavia. Terje |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Thanks to all for the extremely helpful and inspirational comments! I'm traveling for work today (although on the drive from Boston to Montreal I did get in a two-hour ski at Waterville Valley) so this will be brief for now. To be clear I don't really care about results or performance but would like to do the odd race/loppet and treat some of my skiing as 'training' because for me the real enjoyment of the sport happens when you put at least some effort into technique and fitness. Cheers and see you at Keski! Last time I did it it was the 'Gatineau 55' and still had the deadly McClosky climb... I must be a parent now, because I'm starting with 'in my day...' (spoken with croaky grandpa simpson voice). er Last edited by eraas : February 10th 05 at 04:42 AM. |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
Gary Jacobson wrote:
Isn't that *mandatory* maternity leave? Nothing mandatory about it except that a few weeks are reserved for the father: I.e. if the father doesn't stay at home for those weeks, but the mom does, then they don't get any benefits (i.e. paid leave) for those particular weeks. If both mom & dad want to work normally the entire year, and pay for someone else to babysit etc, that's perfectly legal, just very, _very_, unusual. Terje -- - "almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching" |
#16
|
|||
|
|||
Hi Eraas,
Welcome to the world of sleep deprivation. I have a 15-month-old daughter, my own business as a computer consultant, and I'm a member of the Subaru Factory Team. It has been a big challenge to find balance, but what I've found in my own experience as well as coaching others, is that the most important thing is to plan, the next most important thing is to be flexible, and finally, it is important to find ways to combine workouts with family time. Baby joggers and pulks are great ways to fit in a little training in with some fathering time. Especially when your baby is young, don't expect to get out more than 45 minutes. I remember getting out a few times for 2-hour runs with my daughter when she was napping a lot, but these days when it is cold and she is more active, 45 minutes or an hour is about max time before she gets bored. We often run for 20-45 minutes, stop at a park and play for a while, and then run home. She also likes to dance around and play when I do a short circuit at home. Neither of these is exactly an ideal workout, but at least I'm getting something in, and I think these short workouts help. It also teaches her that being active is an important part of life. My wife and I have found that it is good to take turns doing our activity - I'll go out and ski early morning, she'll go out and ski or run when I take over. That seems to work pretty well, but we have always tended to do our workout stuff separately. We have also figured out that it is not a bad thing to have someone else take care of the little one while both of us do our activity - alone or together. It is very hard to manage all of this, and I've found that athletic activity tends to take a back seat to other endeavors if you don't have a plan in mind. Once you have a specific workout planned and a time set, it becomes much easier to perform because you and your wife expect it. If you just wake up every day and think, "I will ski some time today", some time won't come along until 8PM.... There is no magic solution. It is balance. But it is worth it, and if training is one of your priorities, you can make it work with a happy family life as well as a successful career. Good Luck, Nathan www.nsavage.com "eraas" wrote in message ... I raced in the 80's and early 90's (can remember the advent of skating) but have been out of it for the last few years due to finishing school, starting new jobs, getting married, and moving to a region (Boston) without a lot of snow (but an excellent nearby XC facility with snow-making!) My wife has not been a skiier and I've enjoyed doing lots of other stuff and not living the nomadic lifestyle that my various sports (cycling, XC skiing) used to entail. Now that we have a four month old baby, however, it's become a lot more important to me to create a place for these great activities in our household and also, as an older first-time parent (40yrs - 50 when our little boy will be 10) I really want to stay as active as possible. I've heard a lot of people say that all their sports stopped when they had a kid but for me it just got a lot more important (hmmm. just when you start to have *no* spare time, wouldn't it be great to re-start a time-consuming and expensive hobby? ) Right now with a demanding (but somewhat flexible and self-paced) job, a newborn, and a wife who wants do lot of other stuff than ski I am trying to figure out how I can schedule some kind of regular skiing regimen. I'm lucky in that, although Boston is unreliable in terms of snow, the Westin ski track makes snow and does an excellent job of providing winter-round skiing. It's about a 20 min drive from us so a 1hr ski is about a two hour commitment. The must be other forum dwellers who have dealt with this challenge, and I would very much appreciate any tips or strategies that have worked well for others. Do you go at night? Do you get up very early in the morning? How do you schedule weekends? I think my wife will get more into skiing as it becomes something our child can participate in. I really miss the sport and also feel like it is a great way to stay healthy through middle age -- eraas |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Questions from a new skiing family | Rich Heimlich | General | 11 | March 2nd 04 02:46 PM |
Near fatal ski incident | Me | Nordic Skiing | 22 | February 27th 04 01:47 PM |
Questions from a new skiing family | Wai Chan | Alpine Skiing | 5 | February 22nd 04 06:06 AM |
Skiing with Tommy | Rob Bradlee | Nordic Skiing | 7 | December 2nd 03 08:03 PM |