MBE: Fitting in Training

Monday Brain Exchange is brought to you by Jill.


This Weeks Question: Regardless of the distance you train for, or whether it be road racing or triathlon, training is time consuming. What are your tricks for fitting all your training into your schedule? How do you balance family, friends, work and training?

Fitting in training for a half marathon or triathlon is hard enough, but the challenge is compounded when you opt to live without a car (mosts of the time) and bike or bus everywhere. While I love this lifestyle change, it does cut into my training time, so I have to get creative:

• I do my long runs on the weekends, usually Saturday mornings, when I can get up early to run with my group and still have time to have a life afterwards. 
• For my mid-week runs, I usually get off the bus early on my way to work or home and run the rest of the way. 
• I bike 15 miles to work (each way) 1-2 times a week, so those double as cross training or even a long ride if I am training for a sprint triathlon. 
• I get up super early most days during the week to do other cross training before heading out to work, such as yoga and core/strength using fitdecks. 
• On days when I take the bus to work, I walk a total of 2-3 miles to and from the bus stop, so I'm always active. While waiting for the bus, I take the chance to sneak in some stretching and have even been known to do yoga on the bus :) 
• I also sneak in stretches while waiting for my lunch to heat up.

As far as balance, it helps that Jason trains just as hard as me, and that my parents also run, so we understand when the other is busy or tired. We still try to make time for each other to have some fun outside of training, and sometime we can combine the too :)