Invisible Training by Michael Wardian

June 4, 2013

michael-wardian

Invisible Training: Balancing being a father with racing/training

My name is Michael Wardian and I am a 39 year-old father, husband, international ship broker, coach, inspirational speaker, little league baseball coach, and endurance athlete from Arlington, VA.  I am hoping that I can provide some guidance with this blog on how I try to make it all work.  It doesn’t come easy, but to be cliché, nothing worthwhile ever does and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The way I try to make all this work is to do what I call “Invisible Training” and by that I mean I try to make my training as low/no impact on my family and work as possible.

So how do I do that? Well, I wake up early, by that I mean anywhere from 4:30am to 6:00am and I get my first workout of the day in.  That can be anything from running on the treadmill, to getting out a headlamp and running trails, to going to the track for repeats.  I love being out there and doing what I can to keep getting faster, stronger and better.

After my first workout, I help to get our boys (6 & 4 years old) ready for school. My wife, Jennifer, does the bulk of it but I do what I can make lunches, help with breakfast, getting them dressed; normal parent stuff.

Then, I change into my cycling clothes and I bike to work.  I looked at how I was spending my time and I was driving a few years ago and I figured that I could bike almost as fast and I would be getting in another quality effort so I switched to bike commuting and I love it.

Once I get to the office, I start working and around lunch time, I change into my running clothes and I head out for a 45-60 min run around the local area.  I hit roads, trails, hills, flats, stairs and I love it all. Upon completion of my run, I try to catch up on what I missed and then I keep working till the end of the day.  I then change into my biking gear and bike home.

Once I am home, that is usually the end of my workouts for the day.  Sometimes I might do an extra little something but I don’t count on it because when I get home that is family time. We have dinner and Jennifer and I work on getting the boys ready for bed. After the guys are in bed, Jennifer and usually hang out and if need, I do a little more work.

I do this Monday-Friday. On the weekend, if I am not racing then I am home to help with baseball practice, going to birthday parties, play dates, mowing the lawn, etc…all the normal stuff that parents do. I love being involved in as many things as possible and I hope to stay active and busy for years to come!

I think it’s important to do as much as you can every day and to try and push yourself to do more than you think you can.

I try to do that and I hope you might consider it too.