Cheers to the chariot. I’m loving mine. Starting 2 weeks ago, I’ve been riding my 1.5 yo daughter 3 miles to school (daycare), dropping the trailer, and finishing 12 more miles commuting to work on gravel and single-track. Reverse on the way home. It’s been a great boost to my mental health and feeling of physical well-being.
She’s even started asking to sit in the chariot when we’re not riding, just like… when she sees it sitting there in the garage. We’re also making a point of having helmets on inside the trailer to normalize it’s use early and so far she’s taking to it.
So excited for the feet to come up on the balance bike! She’ll do it briefly while coasting down our (slightly) graded driveway, but it’s terrifying to watch. Again, helmet.
My kids loved theirs.
They are old enough now to ride their own bikes. Plus we dont go as far as we used to before so their bike speed is more than enough
Because I train during the day time, for an hour, my girls can watch TV. I don’t have a problem with that. It gives me my much needed Dad time. I’m a stay at home Dad. I need my own time for my mental health and also my physical. When the wife gets home sometimes I train again, depending on which day.
The leaps…I have one girl that is progressing quicker than the other, twins @4yrs. Faith now can write the alphabet. She is physically and mentally advanced but her emotions can’t keep up which is a real challenge. While the other twin, isn’t as advanced but she has more emotional control.
@Joelrivera Hell yes brother, my girls now are off training wheels and love riding their bikes. They still want to “train” with me (books under the training wheels) I had to explain they can’t :\
I’m interested to know other parents feel like after a hard workout. I’ve had to dial back my training considerably because otherwise I’m a grumpy tired non-patient dad and husband. I used to feel pretty invigorated after a workout - and I still do for about an hour - but then whoa - watch out. I’m feeling like a strung out junkie. I need to workout - I need my fix → but I think it’s doing more harm than good right now. I used to be able to get in 3 solid workouts a week, but now I can only do 2 x 30min at 60% + 1 x 60min at good gas. And for the 60 min - I have to time it a little before I go to bed - otherwise it’s no good with the fam.
I don’t know if it’s related, or solely related, to sleep, but as a father of three yes I’m short of patience after a workout.
But I don’t think this is unusual; fatigue, maybe low blood sugar, confronted by pandemonium when you walk in the door…patience is a virtue, but not all of us are saints.
Don’t be too hard on yourself, a 20min power nap helps if you can get it.
Perfectly normal in my experience… Frustrating if you can’t work out and when you do you end up massively fatigued and grumpy. You’re doing the right thing, find a way to fit in those workouts that you can but prioritise getting as much sleep as feasible.
I’ve always found that I get hugely irritable after a hard workout. I’m way less cranky though if I make sure I fuel properly both during and after a session.
For me it is worst during a workout when wife or kid interrupt the few minutes of complete focus, but after a workout it can be bad, too. It largely depends on overall training load and work stress. There are days where I am insufferable, especially when work stress coincides with high volume training and restricted diet. However, I am convinced that it wouldn’t be different if I didn’t work out, I’d just be stressed out for different reasons.
I’m the opposite after a workout. Typically bouncing around, particularly if I completed it. However, whenever I would do long hard efforts outside either road or especially mountain, I would often get irritable. I think maybe a blood sugar issue, perhaps mild hypoglycemia, which sounds like it can last up to a day after hard exercise.
As a parent of 3 (youngest is 20 mo) I’m guilty of training through poor sleep schedules. I’m not particularly grumpy after a workout, but I do notice that I get less patient and more irritable as fatigue mounts over the course of a training block. I have to be mindful of this.
I have this rule of thumb on whether or not I bail on a workout. Because I do my bike-work in the early morning, if I’m woken up more than twice over the course of a night I’ll generally bail on the workout and try to get more sleep.
I’ve also been guilty of prioritizing training over family and that didn’t work out. Family > Cycling. Because of that I only am able to do early-morning workouts and weekend rides that start well before the family is up.
Exactly. I’m good if I eat enough. If I don’t… look out. This has been a major focus for me this season. I’m not concerned about being a certain weight. I’m concerned about being rested and fed well enough to support training without being an a-hole to my family.
I train in the evening when both kids are asleep so no time for being a grumpy dad. And no reason to be grumoy housband since wife does so much with little ones. I am aware I cannot nail all workouts, thus have opted for low volume plan and I adjust the workout days based on how good the previous night sleep was… Some weeks I only manage to do two workous and some four.
Oh guys and gals, I recommend you to try dr. Estevill’s methods. We used it with both kids and nights have become sooo better for all of us. 6/7 nights per weeks we have calm nights with only one feeding time during night… . Only bad periods now are when they get sick.
For me i get more irritable if i don’t get the workout done. Usually i feel better and calmer after a workout provided i have refuel properly. Sleep is the key though. with young kids i do not expect sleep quality to be good and some how over the years i felt my body as adapted but there will be nights where it is pure chaos and the next morning it is better to listen to the body and skip that planned workout.
Stay at home father of twins, and yep its normal…and may take a long time before you can feel okay…its taken me three years, lots of broken sleep, low blood sugar, thats all normal. Being interrupted, you never get used to that but you do calm down, my kids have had their share of Dad being super grumpy during a interval. Eventually I could teach them a rule…“don’t interrupt Dad on the trainer”. If I am between intervals then I will see what they need.
There is no formulae. Sometime you just need to take it you aren’t going top get enough sleep and deal with it. Kids dont know any better. They are kids. And yep…sometimes they will get irritable Dad as he is bleeding through his eyes during an interval. You do what you can. Nap for 20 minutes given any opportunity. You would be surprised how a nap can help.
