Staff Blog: The Balancing Act

There never seems to be enough time in the day to fit it all in. 

When I started running again after my injury healed I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to reinjure myself, but I also wanted to train enough to toe the start line of a half marathon just a few months later. I knew doing this on my own was risky after coming back from such a traumatic injury so I enrolled in a coach’s support. Brian Rosetti at Run SMART has been a tremendous help in recognizing my goals while also being considerate of my newly healthy hamstring.

In making my training plan he took into account everything from my goal time to my previous PR to how much I should be pushing after recovering from my injury. He even lowered some the times for my bigger workouts after I e-mailed him (head down in shame) to let him know some of the workouts were the hardest I have ever done and there were a few that were just so fast I wasn’t coming close to hitting my goal times. With a few adjustments I have been able to hit my workout goals and finish my runs feeling strong.

The new challenge has been finding the time to fit in my workouts. After nearly a year and a half of setting running to the side I had forgotten how much time running can require. Juggling my workouts with work and life has been a little crazy for the last few months, but doable nonetheless. I set my alarm clock a little bit earlier so I can beat the morning rush hour to work and squeeze in a run at lunch or in the evening. I’ve learned it’s hard to say no to happy hour, but sometimes it must be done. The satisfaction of completing my workouts and being able to let Brian know that everything is going great is more than worth the life/running balance.

But now there is an entirely new and completely foreign obstacle that hits most people in their 20s I need to factor into my training: wedding season. I must have forgotten to add that detail in when Brian and I were coming up with my training plan.

With some early wake-up calls and some shuffling around of workouts I’m sure I’ll be able to make it through wedding season, which for better or worse corresponds with marathon season.

But my question is: how do YOU do it? I don’t have kids or a family to take into account, and my biggest responsibility outside of showing up at work every day is making sure I remember to feed my roommate’s cats when she’s out of town. That is nothing compared to a mom or dad supporting their family or someone putting in the time to compete in a marathon or, even more time-consuming and insane, an Ironman.

How do you find the time to balance life, running and everything else that gets in the way? Share your story in the comments section below.