I'm with you there. When I entered the workforce I quit running and took up quilting with some of the fat old ladies in the neighborhood. Put on about 50 lbs, but what the hell. Cookie Butter Cheesecake is my favorite.
Lol, it amazes me how soft some ex-collegiate runners are. These are usually the types that were D1, pampered for four years in college and likely put minimal effort into their education. This resulted in them not acquiring the most important skill for life after college: time management.
I am a private practice radiologist. I work 45-50 hours per week, and its all grinding. I also have a family with two kids, and I actively participate in bringing them to activities/events. I still make time as an amateur triathlete to train 15-20 hours per week. Basically this means that I only have time in life outside of work for my training and family.
Weekdays with work:
Wake up at 5, start first training session by 5:30. This can be between 75 minutes and 2 hours depending on if I have to commute or work from home.
Second session usually starting at 5:30 to 6 p.m. This can be between 30 minutes and 90 minutes depending on kids activities.
In bed by 8:30, asleep by 9.
Weekends: Between 2 to 5 hours each day. I start my long bike sessions very early, so I can be done by 10 or 11 and have the rest of the day for family.
I do most of my biking on my trainer in my basement, and I do a few sessions per week on my treadmill, also in my basement. This saves huge amounts of time.
Other tips include eliminating TV during the week, making large batches of food at one time, and having an automatic coffee maker for your early morning sessions.
Lol, it amazes me how soft some ex-collegiate runners are. These are usually the types that were D1, pampered for four years in college and likely put minimal effort into their education. This resulted in them not acquiring the most important skill for life after college: time management.
I am a private practice radiologist. I work 45-50 hours per week, and its all grinding. I also have a family with two kids, and I actively participate in bringing them to activities/events. I still make time as an amateur triathlete to train 15-20 hours per week. Basically this means that I only have time in life outside of work for my training and family.
Weekdays with work:
Wake up at 5, start first training session by 5:30. This can be between 75 minutes and 2 hours depending on if I have to commute or work from home.
Second session usually starting at 5:30 to 6 p.m. This can be between 30 minutes and 90 minutes depending on kids activities.
In bed by 8:30, asleep by 9.
Weekends: Between 2 to 5 hours each day. I start my long bike sessions very early, so I can be done by 10 or 11 and have the rest of the day for family.
I do most of my biking on my trainer in my basement, and I do a few sessions per week on my treadmill, also in my basement. This saves huge amounts of time.
Other tips include eliminating TV during the week, making large batches of food at one time, and having an automatic coffee maker for your early morning sessions.
So you live a privileged life and we're likely brought up in privilage. Try doing all of that on a low wage physical job.
How does anyone have time for this crap after college?
I didn’t even run in college but in my Mid 20’s and upper 20’s. I lost everything I had and I bought a bike. I would bike 10 miles through a busy city to work everyday as a landscaper, work 12 to 14 hour days 6 days a week. And still put in 120 miles a week. I went from a 3:45 marathon guy to a 2:23 guy. I worked my ass off day in and day out. I won 12 marathons during this time as well and didn’t even own a car. I biked to all my races as well. Quit complaining and just get out there and do it you pus$y
Peter Elliott, a great British middle distance legend, worked full time as a brick mason. Whenever asked how he found time to train, he would reply “It’s five o’clock two times a day.”.
If you want it badly enough, you will find the time.
I work 6a-230p M-F and have two elementary schoolers that play club soccer. I spend more time driving to and from soccer practices and games (10+ hours last week). I utilize all the hacks that others have listed but here’s where I find time to run:
- I live a 7 mile run away from work, can take pub transport to work and run home to meet the kids bus at 4pm (7-13miles easy running)
-hour and a half soccer practice… usually there’s a track nearby, but this is a great time to run a workout (again choose your own length and intensity)
-as a shift worker, my benevolent employer give us an extra 15 min lunch on Thursdays. 45 mins is perfect for an easy 5-6 - and there are plenty of fartlek workouts designed for this specific amount of time. - Saturday and Sunday can be for your artwork (two easy long runs; LR and a progression run; however you want to do it and you’ll be getting plenty of recover after these longer efforts.) I did 24 total this weekend, 60 for the week.
I have two elementary schoolers that play club soccer..
Well, consider this is your future self telling you that you have a problem. I have three that went through club soccer. Newsflash: they are not playing college soccer, and they will probably hate soccer by the time they're 15. My oldest is a D1 athlete, but not soccer. The crap you're going to have to go through - not to mention the money - is not worth it. I know that my post will have zero impact on your decision to let them play club because I told myself that my kids were different, that we weren't doing it for a potential college spot, that it was just fun for them, but I was wrong. There is something fundamentally wrong with the US soccer club system. If they show even a glimpse of promise, they start pushing you into OD and ECNL leagues. More money, more time, less time for friends and school sports. Weekends at college showcases with schools you wouldn't even want your kid to attend. Just look up the roster of any P4 school right now. One kid from in-state who doesn't play, one kid from a private soccer academy in CA, and 15 kids from Europe.
But everything else you posted is correct. I used to get in my 2nd run of the day near their practice facility and it was super convenient. I loved the opportunity to run and my wife and kids' teammates parents loved that I was willing to drive out their 3 nights a week.
Before we can really answer this question, we need to know some more details:
How fast to you want to run?
How fast are you now?
How many miles a week do you think you need to do to reach your goals?
How many hard sessions will you need per week?
What kind of 9-5 job do you have?
How long are your commutes?
Do you have a training group you can meet up with?
Do you have coach who can support you with some of the planning?
Do you have a wife and kids who deserve your time after work?
Are you financially stable or should you be hustling/studying to take it up a notch?
I can see this going over well. Tell the kids, if they‘re not faster than you were at their age, then they don‘t deserve a dad.
Nice! Of course, I was implying that all wives and children deserve to have dad at home. But that is a interesting semantic difference in the way that could be read. Sort as if a "ghost comma" could have been used. Or I could have rewritten it:
If you have kids,who deserve their dad, you should be there for them.
If you have kids who deserve their dad, you should be there for them.
I have two elementary schoolers that play club soccer..
Well, consider this is your future self telling you that you have a problem. I have three that went through club soccer. Newsflash: they are not playing college soccer, and they will probably hate soccer by the time they're 15. My oldest is a D1 athlete, but not soccer. The crap you're going to have to go through - not to mention the money - is not worth it. I know that my post will have zero impact on your decision to let them play club because I told myself that my kids were different, that we weren't doing it for a potential college spot, that it was just fun for them, but I was wrong. There is something fundamentally wrong with the US soccer club system. If they show even a glimpse of promise, they start pushing you into OD and ECNL leagues. More money, more time, less time for friends and school sports. Weekends at college showcases with schools you wouldn't even want your kid to attend. Just look up the roster of any P4 school right now. One kid from in-state who doesn't play, one kid from a private soccer academy in CA, and 15 kids from Europe.
But everything else you posted is correct. I used to get in my 2nd run of the day near their practice facility and it was super convenient. I loved the opportunity to run and my wife and kids' teammates parents loved that I was willing to drive out their 3 nights a week.
This guy's post is spot on. Unless you are loving it, soccer is a corporate-style machine with a million kids as both the product and the customers.
But back to running, if you can get your run in while you kids are at practice, great. We all did that. When I had an hour and a half, that was time enough to change and run ten miles and show up sweaty (but on time) to pick them up.
But a lot of us love running. So quitting entirely is out of the question.
The thing you have to come to terms with is that yes, you could be slightly better if you moved to altitude and didn't have a job, wife, or kids. But that is the part that obviously isn't worth the trade off. If you have 14:08 potential but only end up running 14:48, nobody on Earth will know the difference or care. And you need to think about your priorities.
Embrace your life and your family and win a lot of road races with your 14:48. That is great!
And being a man with people who depend on you (and running 14:48) is better than a 14:08 without a wife, job, or kids.
Yesterday I went to bed at 10pm. Our youngest child (9 months old) decided he needed someone to hold him from 12:30am until almost 4am. My wife and I were absolutely exhausted. Woke up for work at 630am. At work until 330pm. Dinner, kids' activities, stuff around the house after that. Still doing a 45 minute easy jog on the treadmill around 830pm once things start to wind down.
Seriously, people who are single, working a white collar M-F 9-5 job... how the hell do you not find an hour a day to run. Weekends totally free, not just to run, but to actually recover as well. Laying around all day after a 20-miler is a lot easier than being busy af afterwards and getting less-than-optimal sleep.
There are several working dads in my running group that are 2:25-2:45 marathoners. They all work 40-50 hours/week, most have at least 2 kids, spouses that work, houses to upkeep, family/friend relationships to maintain, and other hobbies aside from running. If they can make it happen, what tf is your excuse.
Well, consider this is your future self telling you that you have a problem. I have three that went through club soccer. Newsflash: they are not playing college soccer, and they will probably hate soccer by the time they're 15. My oldest is a D1 athlete, but not soccer. The crap you're going to have to go through - not to mention the money - is not worth it. I know that my post will have zero impact on your decision to let them play club because I told myself that my kids were different, that we weren't doing it for a potential college spot, that it was just fun for them, but I was wrong. There is something fundamentally wrong with the US soccer club system. If they show even a glimpse of promise, they start pushing you into OD and ECNL leagues. More money, more time, less time for friends and school sports. Weekends at college showcases with schools you wouldn't even want your kid to attend. Just look up the roster of any P4 school right now. One kid from in-state who doesn't play, one kid from a private soccer academy in CA, and 15 kids from Europe.
But everything else you posted is correct. I used to get in my 2nd run of the day near their practice facility and it was super convenient. I loved the opportunity to run and my wife and kids' teammates parents loved that I was willing to drive out their 3 nights a week.
This guy's post is spot on. Unless you are loving it, soccer is a corporate-style machine with a million kids as both the product and the customers.
But back to running, if you can get your run in while you kids are at practice, great. We all did that. When I had an hour and a half, that was time enough to change and run ten miles and show up sweaty (but on time) to pick them up.
I live in MN and while I'm not familiar with club soccer, it's scary how this post reminds me of Hockey around here, except replace the Europeans with Canadians. The amount of money and time that parents will spend on their kids' hockey... you could probably pay most college tuitions if you put HALF of the hockey money into a 529, and they can probably go to a better college since they'll actually have time to study.
The only sport we encourage our kids to take "seriously" is swimming which is a godsend and so much more chill than the higher-octane sports.
This post was edited 44 seconds after it was posted.
Yes i know. But those times (mainly the 80s) was a totally different running scene than now. A bunch of guys ran 2.2X and was more or less nobodies. Now you get famous on youtube if you run those times n get labelled super elite. More people ran fast times back then. And with no internet or tv one had plenty of time to train. Training once a day was nothing, most serious runners trained 2-3 times a day (mostly easy runs). Stress at work was not so prevalent back then, it was more relaxed in general.