Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Options
How do you fit it all in?
Coco-Cat
✭✭✭
This week has been a disaster for running for me and I was reflecting on how I've not managed to fit it in with everything else I have to do: I have a demanding full-time career based in London, am finishing a part-time PhD in the evenings and at weekends and have a husband, house and two cats which all demand attention. BUT I know that I'm not the busiest forumite (I don't have children yet!) so I could really use hints and tips from you lot about how you still manage to fit running into your lives along with everything else.
How do you fit it all in? (and remain relatively sane!)
How do you fit it all in? (and remain relatively sane!)
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist Runners's World, Part of the Hearst UK well-being network © Copyright 2017
Comments
Sometimes life gets in the way, even so.
Best thing I ever did.
Nah, sorry Coco-cat. You've lost me there.
Seriously though, even a full week without running is not a disaster by any definition of the word so unless you've actually injured yourself I wouldnt beat yoursef up too much about it.
What I would suggest is to have a look and see what races you want to enter, have a look at a few schedules and see how you can work them in. Cant run at night? run in the morning. Apart from getting a run in, it sets you up perfectly for the day ahead and will help with all the other stuff in your life.
Can you run to or from work? One forumite I know is currently running 40 miles per week mainly by running to work.
Do you have showers at work and a flexible, understanding boss? If so, try a lunch-time run. If you cant run, can you swim at lunch-time?
Can you join a running club? If so the chances are you'll get good quality training even if the quantity isn't to your liking.
Can I say "think outside the box"??
Thought not :-)))
It does seem that there arent enough hours in the day alot of the time, but if you want to do it bad enough you can make time. Juggling running, with work, entertaining my son, getting to the pub for a few beers, spending time with the misses is hard work. I have had to sacrifice a few things e.g I enjoy cooking - I find it very relaxing but I almost never have the time to do it anymore...so my misses does it and she is a truly terrible cook.
Treat running as a priority and you can fit it in - its important that you have the support of the rest of your family mind.
To me running is a solitary thing - I hate doing it with others unless Im competing against them in a race. Its my one time that I truly get time to myself.
I've been working 60-80 hour weeks in the City for the past 5 months and I'm in the 4th year of a part-time PhD (tho admittedly haven't done an awful lot on it recently!) and although I don't have cats, I do have a boyfriend and what feels like live-in builders in the house... so I know how you feel!
The only answer I've come up with recently is to get up earlier and go to bed later. Not sure if that helps though.
The other answer is get yourself some good friends!
Like you, I won't run in the dark by myself - the route from the City to Greenwich goes through Deptford and Bermondsey.
I suspect I may have been the forumite Chimp was talking about (am I right, Chimpy??) - but I do depend on friends - particularly other forumites. The Greenwich Park thread has been fab - if you take a look at it, you'll see what I mean. On Tuesday, for example, there were five of us running from home to work.
The trick is to multitask as much as possible - replace travel with running, or combine travel with studying, or instead of trying to meet 3 friends individually in a week, have an informal party on a Saturday evening and invite them all (and tell them to bring food!). Internet shopping's also good - particularly for repeat lists, so you have a basic list that you just click on every Thursday and lo and behold, all your essentials turn up on Friday evening when you get in, ready for the weekend.
At the moment, my schedule is pretty much:
Monday - rest
Tuesday - run to work
Wednesday - club run
Thursday - run to work
Friday - run home from work
Saturday - longish run
Sunday - long run with other GPers 9am/ race
However, I'm a complete tart - if anyone phones up offering to run home with me on any other day, I'll accept, even if it means running twice, as I know there's a high chance something won't happen. Also, I started a Running in the City thread and manage to squeeze in an occasional lunchtime run with other forumites too.
It's not easy, and occasionally everything goes pear-shaped and you want to scream - and that's where your friends come in very useful - ditch the run and go for a drink!
Good luck!
You've probably made Coco-cat feel totally inadequate now. I'm knackered just reading it :-))
So tell me, when did you become a complete tart and when do you fit THAT in? Dont tell me, before work, after work and at lunchtime.
What a gal!
should've anticipated that though.
No time for THAT! well, you can't have everything, can you?! ;-)
Oh I forgot you southern types liked to talk a bit first.
<snail glares reprovingly>
Have you taken notice of nothing I've said over the past 10 months?
I'm not sure I'd be as motivated as you if I didn't have a clear block of time to run on a regular basis.
I'm a mum, work 30 hrs a week (which is why I can run mostly every day if I want)and I'm studying part time for an OU degree. However, life does still get in the way sometimes making me have to miss training or rushing to fit everything in.
I think all of you who have to get up early to run to or before work and brilliant. Keep up the good work!
Actually, nobody would give me such credit for running to work if they knew the alternative was South Eastern Rail, formerly known as Connex South East. Believe me, running's more comfortable, more reliable and often faster...
Says he, a fellow Dover line sufferer. Although thank goodness I don't work in London!
Thanks for the advice guys. Running to and from work would certainly help to fit it all in. I go on the tube each day so I guess I must be able to find a route from an earlier tube stop but I suspect that will take me through some dodgy parts of east London!
Start a thread - sooner or later someone will come forward. Then you get company on the run, and reassurance... it's a much more pleasant way to start the day than stuffing yourself into a LU sardine can.
Where do you live, and where do you work? I do the first mile of my run by myself, but it's along a busy main road in a relatively safe area. I'd be happy to run the last bit by myself too, it's the middle bit I don't want to do. I started a "Running in the City" thread on Training - I have a feeling there are a couple of East Londoners on there, so you could always have a quick look at that. Depending on where you live, you may find there are people coming in from further out who could get the tube to you and then run in the last bit of the journey...
The only thing is being very very organised at weekends, and having at least 2 of everything, otherwise you discover you've got no running shoes at home, or all your coats/jackets are in the office! You need to make sure that you run home from work as many times as you run in each week and vice versa, or else you have a very big bag!! And you need to take in clothes/towel for the week on a Monday morning. Little things like keeping your essentials (wallet, keys, etc) in a plastic bag in your handbag, so when you run home, you just dump the plastic bag in your rucksack and leave your handbag in the office - you'd be amazed at the difference the bag makes to the weight of your backpack!
I've seen quite a few people mentioning that they run in Victoria Park - why don't you start a thread called "Victoria Park"? If you look at the GP thread, you'll find that we have regular Sunday long runs, the runs into work twice a week, a monthly social, we generally do the same races, so have socials round them too, about 8 of us are amongst the forumites going to The Hague in March... and there's a wide pool of runners all living close by so there's a good chance that if any of us post asking for company on a run, somebody will be able to make it. And all because Crafty started a thread saying "who runs in Greenwich Park?". If he hadn't, there's no way I'd be able to fit everything in...
Anyway, good luck, I'm sure you'll be able to find at least one other person on this forum who'd like to do part of your run with you...
Give it a go, C-c. You might be surprised at the response.
Snail, I live near Epping (end of Central Line) and I work in Mile End. If you know of any 10-min-milers already in either of those areas, please ask them to email me or post here. For now, I'm off to start another thread.....