Running can be hard. So can parenting. It's why we invented KidRunner. Now, we're inspired everyday by parents all over the world overcoming not only the challenges of staying fit, but also the challenges of balancing it all during a pandemic. It made the recommendations of the following, "NYTimes" article, "How I Tricked Myself Into Liking Running" even more relevant.
I was a late bloomer to running. I'd been a swimmer most of my life; pure surf and virtually no turf. A mentor of mine recommended that I start running. I was 32 at the time. He said if I stuck with it, it would change my life. He challenged me to run for 30 minutes, 3 times a week for 6 months and to report back to him on my experience. I thought, "Easy; I can do that". When I first tried, I couldn't sustain more than a ten minute run. I was shocked and...out of breath. I immediately started to think I'd made a big mistake. Just put me back in a pool.
But I persisted; a quirk of my personality that has helped us overcome countless KidRunner challenges along the path of innovation and start up! I kept running. And I hated it. But I'd made a promise to myself and my mentor. After a few months I started to be able to, "survive" my 30 minute runs but with very little pleasure. After 6 months I felt great but was not yet in love with running. After a year, I was hooked and never looked back. Running became my emotional and physical bedrock. It bonded me to my wife because she was a much more accomplished runner than I was. It's how we spent a lot of time together; usually with her well ahead of me; an experience that continues to manifest in many of aspects of our life together...
Running helped me manage the intellectual and physical stress of a then global corporate career that flew me around the world countless times. No matter where I landed from paved roads to dirt roads, the first thing I'd do in any country is start running. It reset my clock after + 25 hour plane flights and focused my attention on the work ahead. It also exposed me to the intimate beauty of small streets, alleys and neighborhoods all over the world.
My love and need to run nearly came to a crashing end after my first daughter was born. My wife and I purchased the best, "jogging stroller" available and thought we'd simply keep running like always. It was awful. It only took me 10 steps to realize that pushing was not running. I needed my upper body, arms and arm swing. Pushing a traditional jogging stroller was not much different from pushing a shopping cart; OK for walking around but not for running. Running is a sport. And there was no sports equipment designed for parents and their kids. KidRunner was born.
Running is hard. Parenting is hard. But they are both worth it!
Will Warne
CEO/Founder
KidRunner