BIT: Baby Interval Training

So you have a newborn baby. Congratulations! Super-cute! How's that sleep going? Oh for sure.

Just did BIT! Still napping!

Have everything all figured out? Diapers? Check. Feeding? Yup. You've set up routines and secured all the cute outfits and toys. Baby and kitty are BFFs. Perchance you've even figured out how to balance baby and work. Good on you, Slugger.

But wait. Can't run with baby until at least six months!? Noooooooooo!!

That's right, Mommy and Daddy: the medical consensus is that baby can start running with you around six-to-eight months. You know - lack of neck and head control.

Mommy and bubs ready for holiday BIT

What a bunch of nonsense! I bet those same quacks even recommend getting vaccines to protect against infectious disease! Ha!

Anyway...

But, but -- where do I put the stress!? I can't scream all of it out into the pillow, can I? Poor pillow... And how do I get that rockin' bod back? Oh, woe! Oh, fie!

For a baby under six months, it's even difficult for Mommy and Daddy to run separately, especially back-to-back. It takes so much time! And it's always better to have four hands available for snuggly munchkin business. Feeding and napping times fluctuate regularly even when you establish a decent schedule. That little wiggle monster might be predictable, but reliable? Not exactly.

We here at Globepouncing have the answer:

BIT: Baby Interval Training

BIT allows Mommy and Daddy to go out running together with baby before six months. It helps build speed while also getting that distance under your feet.

The Boss invented BIT by taking a standard speed-building program and inserting a training partner and a cute little wigglybubs.

"Wow! BIT is so fun!"

The long and short of BIT is this:

• BIT twice a week

  • Mommy and Daddy take the bubbula out for a 'super-fun adventure'

  • Mommy runs while Daddy walks the bubbula and vice versa

  • Sprint out, jog back

  • Start training at .25 km sprints and 1 hour of moving time (for 10K and half marathon training)

  • Work up to .5 km sprints and 1.5 hours of moving time (and keep pushing your speed in the sprints)

• No-walk runs twice a week to start (you'll probably have to work out a system that works for you for no-walk runs by the time you get to 5km, and you might have to do these separately)

  • Start at a 2.5 km no-walk long run and work up to your race distance in .5 and 1 km increments to fit your timeline

    • The longer no-walk run per week is at full distance (starting at 2.5 km) - doing this one in a respectable time is the goal each week

    • The other no-walk run per week - the 'pacer' - is 50-70% the distance of the long run (starting at 1.5 km)

    • Keep increasing unless you experience a significant regression or can't run the whole distance - if you have a setback, repeat the week

• Once your longer no-walk runs hit 5K, switch to two pacers and one BIT per week

• Get fast! Get fit! Get that baby a nap in the stroller!

Yes, that's right - if you have a wonderful chumbellina like we do, BIT will typically double as an hour-long nap. Everybody wins!

BIT for the win

BIT allows you to run before the bubs is 6-8 months, and all you need is a partner.

Enjoy!

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