It is darn hard getting these miles in. I can see why some top runners just give up and come back when they are retired.
It is darn hard getting these miles in. I can see why some top runners just give up and come back when they are retired.
Only 4 miles today after a day off. It felt like I was starting over again.
I'm sure most letsrunners can't relate since they all have nearly 40 hours of free time a week.
working man wrote:
It is darn hard getting these miles in. I can see why some top runners just give up and come back when they are retired.
struggling to get into routine:
Only 4 miles today after a day off. It felt like I was starting over again.
I'm sure most letsrunners can't relate since they all have nearly 40 hours of free time a week.
I work 40 hours per week in a high-stress job. During marathon training (Mid January to May) I average 90-100 miles at my peak.
Rest of the year, it's 35-50 depending on if I'm training for a race or not.
For what it's worth, I'm in my mid-30s.
I run outside every day. Tonight winds were at 20mph making 19 degrees Fahrenheit feel like 3. Still got my miles in. I can't relate to either of you.
To state the obvious, it's a matter of keeping a certain state of mind going. Training hard every day is not hard when the motivation is there, so keeping that fact in mind as a frame of reference, it's a matter of realizing the perceived difficulty (or lack of) is in the head. It's your job to get that sense of urgency back in there.
It's not difficult to train hard if you want to, compared to 'hope to'. When it becomes a burden rather than a privilege for too long, you end up searching for the reasons you wanted to do all this in the first place.
What do you do with your time that you can't find 60-90 minutes to run every day? Just get in 15 miles before the wife and kids get up. Not that hard.
it's hard when you start at 6-7am. After work, have commitments right away with family.
Lots of time after 7:30pm and then it is dark out and motivation is zero.
Tough love guy is right. Need to make it more urgent.
I have to be at work at 7am. I run during the week and get up at 4:30, run about an hour, shower, and then 20-25 minute commute.
You have to prioritize. During the week my prioritization is: family, work, and running. TV, internet, and drinking are not compatible with my priorities. On weekends, running usually gets both its share and works share (racing or long runs just take longer).
I'm an old hobby jogger with minimal talent, so doubles aren't in my plan anyway. It also is tough to run "pace specific" runs because I always run in the dark and I'm not getting up even earlier to get to the track. So my training will not be optimal, but given my priorities, I'm fine with that. Maybe I'll be able to change it up a bit when my kids are older or I can run by "feel" better (I'm relatively new to distance running). With the really bad weather sometimes I resort to the treadmill and I can occasionally do a pace workout there.
If running isn't worth prioritizing high on your list, that's OK, but don't be upset about lack of progress if that is the case.
I second what others said: get your runs before work. It is harder to come back home and choose going out again when the sofa looks so cosy.
working man wrote:
it's hard when you start at 6-7am. After work, have commitments right away with family.
Lots of time after 7:30pm and then it is dark out and motivation is zero.
Tough love guy is right. Need to make it more urgent.
It is difficult, for sure. But how much do you want it? Just sounds like you're making excuses. If you have a goal you really want, you'll find a way to make it work. I'm 41 and have a wife who is a competitive athlete, as are both of my children (who are 11 and 14.) I peak at 100+ miles for marathon build up twice a year. It can be done. If you're not that hungry, then you will find excuses and become a victim of your own doing.
There's cyclists out there who train 15-20 hours a week in addition to having a 40+ hour job, family and kids.
And I can't even think of how triathletes manage to get their weekly hours done.
Zev wrote:
working man wrote:It is darn hard getting these miles in. I can see why some top runners just give up and come back when they are retired.
struggling to get into routine:
Only 4 miles today after a day off. It felt like I was starting over again.
I'm sure most letsrunners can't relate since they all have nearly 40 hours of free time a week.
I work 40 hours per week in a high-stress job.
If you work forty hours per week, it's not a high stress job.
Nope nope nope wrote:
Zev wrote:I work 40 hours per week in a high-stress job.
If you work forty hours per week, it's not a high stress job.
I've worked high stress jobs at 40 hours per week and low stress at 70. The duration has nothing to do with the level of stress within the hours.
Annie Bersagel works full time as an investment advisor/attorney and lives is Oslo. It is funny because back in the day, almost all the elite runners worked full time jobs. It was seen as a big deal when guys like Bill Rodgers, Al Sal and Dick Beardsley were training full time and did not have to work to pay the bills.
I get up at 4:30-5 am and get all my running done before my family gets out of bed. I have plenty of time for breakfast and get to work by 8:00 am. I am in bed by 10 pm and usually dozing off in front of the TV @9:30. Running is really my only "me" time that I get. So, even when I am beat up from a long run or race, I am happy to slog it out at 10 min miles.
It's not that hard.
Up at 6:30. 5 mile run. Home and showered by 7:20. Breakfast and coffee, then on the bus to work at 7:50. Arrive by 8:15. Work until 5, on the bus home at 5:15. Home at 5:40-50. Out the door for 10 mile run by 6. Done running by 7:30. Cook dinner, eat around 8:30. Done with eating/cleanup by 9:15. Relax for an hour - read, watch TV, internet, etc., go to bed. Rinse and repeat, Monday through Friday.
On occasion, if there's a work happy hour or some other event after work, I get up at 6 instead of 6:30, do my longer run in the morning, and skip my five mile run for the day. I do this pretty regularly on Fridays, especially since my long run is usually Saturday so Friday's a good day to only run once.
I'm with the others here. It's not that hard. I work 7-4 each day, and need to leave the house by 6:30 to get my sons to daycare. After work, I pick up my sons from daycare, get home and cook dinner, then my wife gets home with my other 2 kids. I help with bedtime stuff, and am usually out the door for my run by 7:30. I can easily get 60-90 minutes in the evening if I plan my time accordingly. I still find it easy to get 7 hours of sleep at least.
I like being up and about, especially since I have a desk job, so thats more motivation for me to get out the door.
Juggling work, family and marathons here. Some days I'm up at 3am. I almost always get my miles in before my wife and son are even awake. If you want to get the runs in, you will. Being a good runner, especially a marathoner, is about doing the runs you don't want to do, not about doing the ones you do.
"I help with bedtime stuff, and am usually out the door for my run by 7:30"
Whoa . . . . what?!! Your kids go to bed at 7:30?
Saladbar wrote:
"I help with bedtime stuff, and am usually out the door for my run by 7:30"
Whoa . . . . what?!! Your kids go to bed at 7:30?
Yes. Granted, my kids are all younger than 7, and they have no problem going to be at 7:30. They only go to bed at 7:30 on school nights, on the weekends it's closer to 8:30 - 9:00.
run to work and home and then you minimize your total run+commute time, in fact, depending on the commute, you might not really add that much to it and you can sleep in more and spend more time with your family.