[Closed] is it possible to be a parent and win races?

Nick Craig seems to manage..

Sorry, I thought you meant the Dad's race at School Sports Day. Winning that is definitely a faux pas.

whos nick craig and how much do we think he trains each week? do we assume because he's probably out on his bike all the time that he's not spending enough time with his kids? SO MANY QUESTIONS and assumptions.

Mrs S is a "winner"*, running previously, but now moving into triathlon over the next season or so. Has potential to rank nationally in her vet class.

Both of us being freelancers allows a certain amount of flexible use of time. We both have sufficient times during the weekdays to get out and about if we want. Mrs S is more of a day trainer, I prefer riding to the pub in the evenings. Hardcore me. And at weekends we give each other the chance to get away each day for some riding/swimming/running etc.

Running or riding with jr in the trailer is also good resistance training and doesnt require any babysitting.

* regular local/regional 1st/2nd place lady/vet at 10k/halfs etc. And has a 2nd and 5th place in the Snowdonia Marathon and a Championship start invitation for London.

[url= http://www.esciclismo.com/ampliada.asp?Id=7320 ]Julian Adrada[/url] seems to manage. 8)

Yes.
Excuses are the stories we use to make our lack of trying seem ok.

I'm not a parent and I still rarely win races. Number of winners to participants is always going to be low.

Plenty of good riders are parents though.

Crawford Carrick-Anderson seems to manage ok. Sam Hill is only getting top 5s at the moment though 🙁

Madame won more races after junior was born than before. I haven't won a race outright since he was born, the nearest being second in an off-road duathlon. Funny that.

will people please stop talking about people who i dont know. i want personal experiences like stoner!

i dont follow racing, i dont know who anybody who rides bike for a living is apart from jedi, that peatish bloke you lot go on about and that guy who can't sit on his saddle cos his balls are to big according to the commentry chap on youtube.

whos nick craig

Eh???

Really?? 😳

Julian Adrada used to race elite in Madrid and win, he has a young family and a full time job, yet trains and wins.
The link I provided was from 2008 where he was racing against elite riders and pros like Paco Mancebo, Hector Guerra and de Segovia and beating them.
As of last year 2011 he changed categories to M40, over 40s, and winning everything.
He used to do duathlons before concentrating onmtbing and was quite successful in the duathlon world.
He is also a thoroughly nice guy.
EDIT: He's also run in Spanish National cup races and up against the best in Spain in Ciclocross in the Copa España.
Next?

whos nick craig

and tells you off for not wearing a helmet on the pump track after you've crashed while a little halfcut 😆 😳

Sorry, I thought you meant the Dad's race at School Sports Day. Winning that is definitely a faux pas.

thank god for that..
I was in the top five for the first 10 yards this year (in a field of five) but it all went downhill after that..
People were packing up and going home by the time I limped over the line.. 😳

I was consistently near the bottom of the results sheets after the kids arrived, so that'll be the same as before they arrived then 🙂

I'm a parent of 3 and I have won a couple of (albiet very modest)races, however maybe you should have a look at a couple of the Team JMC Titus on-one riders for inspiration. They regularly podium. Phil won Strathpuffer and Jase 'Terrhawk' Miles has won several UK 24hr races and recently finished second in the 24hr Worlds in Italy. Both have young kids. And very understanding wives... As to training - they do shit loads. Hth.

as the father of an 8 week old boy, I would say "not at the moment".
with a newborn, you would have to be a ****, have a very understanding co-parent, or be a professional sportsman/woman.
I'm hoping to get back to some normal semblance of cycling as a hobby by early next year.

The bestest ever advice I got was from a mates dad when I was moaning about not having enough time to train.

He said:

[b]If you don't do it now, and keep on doing it, both as a mum and a dad, you'll get to 40 odd and wake up one day wondering why you wasted all those years.[/b]

Bradley Wiggins seems to be doing ok...

Yes.
Been there ,done that.

Everyone has a different parenting experience,not everyone can do all their training on a commute,or have a family that enjoys going to races as a day out.
It's as Crikey says,you fit it in around the important bits.
The first time you hear them shouting at the sidelines for you (regardless of what position you are in)is the best.

I think the question should be 'Are you capable of winning races?'.

I used to be, I won quite a few in years gone by, but I've not even been on a podium for probably 8 years now and that's nowt to do with being a parent.

I'd agree that now I am a Dad it's probably harder to find the hours to train but the point is that I never seemed to find those hours anyway.

Go to a race and look at the winners of the masters, vets and probably sport cats and I suspect that the majority of them are parents.

My brother in law has three kids and wins races or at least comes in top 10 in mtb, cx and road

It's even better when you're shouting from the sidelines and junior has just created the decisive break up the climb.

[i]whos nick craig and how much do we think he trains each week? do we assume because he's probably out on his bike all the time that he's not spending enough time with his kids? SO MANY QUESTIONS and assumptions.

[/i]

His kids are quick too!

my buddy is a hope factory rider, and newly 2nd time dad, and won mayhem, his training consists of beasting himself on a (approx) 1 hour commute, each way, racing at the weekends and riding around the peak district on occasion

So we've established you can win races whilst being a parent. this pleases me 🙂

time to train has been mentioned a couple of times, i'm going to assume this is a pretty key factor....

so going back to the examples given, can you guys can say, with confidence if possible, that they manage to fit in a fair amount of training? Whether its a 1hr commute twice a day plus racing and the peak district (thats a good 10+ hours in the saddle a week) or whatever the other guys and gals do... that they, despite also having families and jobs in most cases, they squeeze in a decent amount of training each week?

for those with personal experience (cheers stoner for you're example already) can you give us exmaples of how much training you do each week and how you fit it in?

apologies to everyone for not knowing who all the famous riders are 😳

typical mrs S training week:

Mon/Tues at office
Wed am Swim
Wed pm 1-2hr run
Thur day 1-2hr ride
Fri day 1-2 hr run
Sat rest or short run.
Sun morning long (2hr) run
Sun 8:30-9:30 fast pool work

However, she has a fubarred foot at the moment so is only riding and swimming. So schedule is much the same but total intensity is down as she is only riding or swimming for the same time that she would have been running.

It's not about your family life or job ...it's about your motivation ....if it's there you have half a chance

We can both fit in as much activity/training as we want. 12 hours a week is typical rising to 20h before objectives. More is counter productive at our age unless it's very low intensity such as walking or cycle-touring.

Swim + bike on Friday
MTB with the club on Saturday
Mountain walk on Sunday
8h cycling on Monday
nothing on Tuesday
45min run today
Swimming, biking and dancing tomorrow.
etc.

Phil - can you win races? That's the question. The guys who win races aren't just fellas that fit in a bit of training. They're bloody great riders with bags of skill and huge amounts of motivation.

Just being able to set ten hours a week aside to train isn't even close to being enough.

Perhaps the correct question is: can you race and still be a winning parent?

Racing is part of being a winning parent.

Personally I think its impossible with 2 kids.

Maybe once Ive given birth I'll feel a little faster and hit some podiums.

Racing is part of being a winning parent.

Couldn't agree more. My sons 6 months old and already been to 4 mountain bike races and a road crit. He's surrounded by our friends, out in the fresh air and taking in new sights and sounds. I can only see it getting better as he gets older.

Course, if, somehow, I manage to win some races at the same time that would be even better 🙂

Yes. Reckon I could still podium at a national without training at all.

I've got 3 kids, but I'm prepared to commit to training properly for 24 hour races (5 or 6 of them a year) at silly times of the day - 5am starts, 4 hour rides after the kids have gone to bed, that sort of thing. I usually do pretty well.
Also, being creative at other times can help - going to grannie's? can you meet the wife and kids there?

Unlike some of the names already mentioned, I'm not a full-time pro. Despite having a few sponsors I've got a 9 to 5 job as well.
I've got a very understanding and supportive wife.
It can be done. Too many people have kids and practically give up IMO.

Junior pedalled from Paris to Berlin aged 7 and remembers being left with the time keepers at X-C ski races when he was just old enough to stand up on skis.

When Jens Voigt decided to start a family, Jens started a family.

Personal life: Voigt and his wife Stephanie have six children, the youngest being born January 2011.[4]

Yes, it's possible, but in my experience you have to pick your races more carefully...
I used to road race fairly seriously, and would love to keep doing that, but realistically it demands too much time with young kids. I try to get a racing and winning fix with short course TTs instead.
For training, you can keep a surprising amount of base with a good commute. For the rest, concentrate on quality rather than quantity. That means intervals. Something like the Time Crunch training programme is worth looking at.

as i said in my opening post, i'm not bothered by racing so this isnt an advice thread for me to go out and win anything 🙂 another thread went in the direction of winning races and available time mixed with being a parent, but there were no parents who enter races replying on the thread so i thought i'd start one specifically asking the question.

thanks everyone for the replies, its been pretty imformative!

confirms that my assumptions are true that its possible, but it takes good use of available time, true dedication and in most cases and understanding partner that allows you to make the most of any time you do have!

I reckon that I'd be a lot faster if I didn't have kids due to time spent riding (currently about 4-8hr a week in summer, 2ish in winter)

... except I'm actually faster now than I was 15 years ago because I'm not on the piss and I actually ride at least as much now as I did then.

I haven't "ever" raced

and so, in summary:

No idea, soz

If you don't do it now, and keep on doing it, both as a mum and a dad, you'll get to 40 odd and wake up one day wondering why you wasted all those years.

What a load of BS.

Why?

Not for me.
Actual working hours 7am to 6pm. plus traveling time.
Couldn't commute.
Work most Saturdays.
First child premature.
Tried to keep racing, collapsed on the toilet, was rescued by the fire service. Proper exhaustion.
Just nabbed a 6th place in a road race prior to that.

Some mates have no problems and continue to win whilst being parents.
IME it's been down to hours, my mates trained 7 to 9am most mornings as well as Saturdays and Sundays.

Bradley wiggins ? He has won a race or 2

10-14 hrs a week here during the summer. I win as many races now as I did before being a parent (admittedly that's still not many but I'm generally a top 5 regional XC and CX rider in a very strong area), if anything I'm stronger and train smarter now because of the lack of time. For e.g. I was up at 5.30 this morning to do a 64 mile ride in to work to get some extra miles in, as I know I'll only manage to squeeze in an hour on the rollers tomorrow.

I can't claim to have won. 18th in a 10k is my best effort off a total of 8-10 hrs a week training. You have to be creative and diciplined even to achive that with 2 young kids and a wife that works, lots of commuting and running at lunch time / after kids in bed / before they get up

Not bike racing, but I did win a big national level event as a parent - though that was when we only had 1, haven't won anything nearly comparable since the second came along (though to be honest I was on the verge of retiring from competing seriously at that level at that point anyway). Though still occasionally win lower level localish events.

I'm sure I would be faster and win more if I didn't have kids - though age also comes into it (my big issue recently has been injury - partly down to age in terms of propensity to injury and time to recover, but more sporadic training due to kids has I'm sure also been a factor).

cheers guys 🙂

I'm not a parent and have only ever managed to get top 20% in mtb races and top 10% in 10k runs. I could've pushed that a little bit further with real serious commitment but would never have been able to get further than the top 5%, they're just too far in front. I knew I'd never win a race but I certainly used to enjoy participating and beating my own PBs. It's the taking part that counts, not racing round on you're own pretending.

Phil,

Did I miss an announcement where you told us all that the lovely Mrsphilconsequence was in the family way? 🙂

If so, congratulations 8)

Cheers, Rich

nope, she aint preggers... well we hope not!

to clarify again, this thread is definitely not about me being interested in racing and trying to balance it against a family 🙂

OK, I will defer my congratulations to when she is 😆

Cheers, Rich

I think you also need to throw into the mix what job people have.
Its Ride/Work/Kids/Wife balance that needs to be considered.

definitely.... for example working a strict 9-5 would give you a structure to work around, working away from home or travelling for work owuld make it much harder i imagine. although, take my dad when i was growing up as an example... he spent about 5-6 days on average away from home and that would mean that he would've had his evenings completely free (providing his managed his time at work well enough not to need to spend all evening working too i guess) to train as he was away from home and didnt need to worry about spending time with us kids or my mum.

Sorry, haven't read the above - tired from an early start... 😉

The answer is yes. The problem is that it won't be yes for everyone. 'Being a parent' is not some standard situation that's the same for everyone. Some kids are brilliant, sleep well, are easy to look after while others are the complete opposite and some change from one mode to the other from month to month, day to day, etc. Add to that that parents aren't all the same - some mums love nothing more to spend every waking moment with their kids, having no life other than that while others feel totally trapped and desperately need some time to themselves.

So really it depends on your ability to be motivated to train when you're tired and don't feel like it, your need for sleep, your partner's willingness to look after the child for x hours while you're out training and so on. It can be done but not for everyone (at least not while maintaining some semblance of harmony at home!)

I found last year (before the birth of child 2 in Feb) that riding before work (up at 5am, out of the door asap, back in at 7am) was a brilliant way to get some riding/training in without impacting time I could spend with my son or leaving my wife to do all the work but then I'm lucky enough not to need lots of sleep.

Commuting seems to be another method that works for many though obviously this depends very much on circumstances and where you live.

The other thing is that the parents I know who do race successfully have had to make considered changes/compromises to their training - typically fewer long, steady rides, more high intensity sessions.

exactly, a 9-5 would help. 9-5ers also tend to get lunch breaks where a crafty session could be had.
Forgive my generalisation, but it still tends to be mostly white collar workers that turn up at my evening races. I'm still envious of how clean and refreshed they look.
So yes basically it's a combination of having a suitable job and understanding partner. If you only have ten hours to wash, eat and sleep as well as spend a moment with the family it will go pear shaped...as it did for me.

being a perant and even compeating your already a winner
i try and get most of my riding done on my commute,running and swimming i do when she goes to bed when not doing stupid shifts.
The last 6 months has got harder with her now being out of sleep pants so have to break sleep 3 times a night to put her on toilet which really dousent help getting motivated to train as to tierd after work and dealing with the misses/dinner/bedtime routines.

but iv just done a triathlon and oktoberfest round the corner
just have to accept the fact u have to lower your targets a little untill more time apears but still taking part for me is a big deal.

Depends who and what you're racing.

I've got kids of 1 and nearly 3. I'm not winning races but I'm coming closeish - top 20 in Leeds Half Marathon, a few 2nds and thirds in road and fell races.

Being a parent has made me think much more about how to make my training more effective given limited time - even though I'm not motivated/ selfish/ talented (delete as appropriate!) enough to do enough training to win things, I'm actually by far the fittest I've ever been which, for me, is a pretty good result.

I think in some ways its a blessing. My ex had a kid and it forced me to use my time constructively. Being a single bloke now, I tend to sleep in on a weekend thinking I'll go training in the afternoon, which nine times out of ten doesn't happen.

Being forced to have a structured day isn't a bad thing when you're training.

I only started winning races after I became a parent, but you do have to pick the small events.

So far:
Guernsey Mountain Bike race (veterans)
3 times Big Bike Bash Night Race winner. Seeing my boy so proud of his Dad that he had to tell EVERYBODY was both touching and a little embarrassing.

No specific training, just ride when I can because I enjoy it.

I won my first race (beginner's gorrick) whilst waiting for my son to finish the junior event 😳 . So yes you can. Mid-placed since this rare first win.

Saw some guy, Wiggins, I think his name is, on the podium and I believe he has kids.

Its Ride/Work/Kids/Wife balance

I definately think you can win races being a Parent. Whether you can be good Mum/Dad or Husband/Wife is a different matter all together.

IMO you cant do the training to be good without sacrificing some thing else.

Edit:

Saw some guy, Wiggins, I think his name is, on the podium and I believe he has kids.

That Wiggins fella doesnt have to do a job too though does he, so he can go out getting fir 9-5 Monday to Friday riding a bike. I could get pretty dam fast on a bike if I didnt have to go to work...

I could get pretty dam fast on a bike if I didnt have to go to work...

Yes it is!

Not for Cancellara it's not...

yes it is definately possible - just depends how much you :

a - want to win races
b - want to spend time with your kids

Ive got a 4 year old boy and a 2 year old girl because I work all week I see them in the morning for about an hour and then again just over an hour before they go to bed so my weekends I spend all day with the kids, and when Im racing it's usually a family job with picnics their bikes etc...

Regards to training most sundays Im up at 5am and then approx 90 minutes at race pace on the turbo, (tacx Fortious - so I can actually 'race' against people) and thats all year round, and other than that its commuting, or saturday rides with the littluns with LOCT seats...

I've just remembered. Smurf Mat was a Dad IIRC and he was AWESOMZ! 😀

Steve Peat, Sam Hill...

Steve Peat, Sam Hill...

Who are both professional riders. Bit different when you have to fit riding in around work that isn't sport related. Hats of to people like Terrahawk who have families, work a 9-5 and still turn up and rinse people at races.

I remember John Tanner winning most Crits and road races he turned up to in the late 90's/early 00's and he was still working full time at Woolworths.

Podium place at Mayhem last year. It was father's day. cards were ready at the finish line. ace 🙂
[img] [/img]

terra, as much as i appreciate its worth stopping racing for a quick crotch grab from the missus (as indicated by the photo above)... maybe not in front of the kids 😆

She was stopping my bike falling over by grabbing the handlebars! you filthy swine 😉

is that what you kids call it nowadays 😉

I need something to motivate me to the finish 😉

Sorry, but that does look like you are receiving happy time in public!

Terrahawk - awesome photo

Not for the crotch grab bit tho

for the avoidance of any doubt and hopefully an end to the preoccupation with my undercarriage..
[img] [/img]