It's not the running that is impossible, but remaining ultra competitive. I made it 9 months with a full-time job before going back to graduate school. One, 9 to 5 was awful, two, maintaining top fitness not easy. I probably work more hours at times even now (graduate school decades ago), but it is now flexible which makes all the difference. Yep, I never left school again, just moved on to the professor life.
Sh*t, even if you weren't a runner it's recommended you get in 150 hours per week of moderate intensity exercise just to maintain good health. That's 5 days of 30 minutes you need to anyway.
It's not that hard to throw on an extra 30 min per day M-F when you're already exercising and planning to shower afterward. Then there is more free time on the weekends for a longer interval/tempo/race on Saturday, then long run Sunday.
60 miles with not much more effort than your average American slob. You got this bro.
You probably can't train like you did in college if you have to work a full time job. I can tell a lot of posters here (and on the serious running subreddits, honestly) are kids or hermits with no other life outside of work and running when they're insisting on 80-100+ mile weeks and missing the plot on how hard even a fraction of that volume is without a highly subsidized life or giving up everything else outside of running and whatever bare minimum they have to do to stay employed.
Quit complaining. I'm 41 and a career fire captain with 2 young kids. I worked 97 hours in 7 days last week and I still hit 44 miles. I'm doing 60 hours this week and I'm running a college XC meet this weekend. Pony up, golden boy.
"And my OT at the end of the year equals my base salary!"
Don’t act like running for 1-2 hrs a day is going to ruin your social life. You can always run before work or double but 80 miles a week is not terribly hard
If it's that doable, I would ask people to stop mentioning/praising men in their late 30s running sub 2:30 marathons with job and kids. The job is usually BS deskjob and all the people in his family know to schedule around his races and help him with the kids. Good for them, but so many people do it to the point of not being impressive.
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.
I don't know if someone responded to this already, but allow me to say: Why? Who decided that it's a universal law that a man without a wife, job or kids is inferior to one with?
Running to work is your best bet because you are commuting and working out at the same time. Let's say the commute ordinarily takes 30 minutes and the run takes 1:10-1:20 each way for ten miles. You can run 20 miles a day while only taking an extra hour and twenty to hour and forty for exercise above and beyond the minimum commute time. For most people who live in cities and some suburbanites, this would be practical, and if it's farther, you can run to and from a commuter rail station in places like Chicago, New York or Washington, D.C.
You probably can't train like you did in college if you have to work a full time job. I can tell a lot of posters here (and on the serious running subreddits, honestly) are kids or hermits with no other life outside of work and running when they're insisting on 80-100+ mile weeks and missing the plot on how hard even a fraction of that volume is without a highly subsidized life or giving up everything else outside of running and whatever bare minimum they have to do to stay employed.
Its actually you who are missing the plot. Humans need a few hours of exercise a week to not have health issues - so you are already half way there if you chose to do running for that time. Now for the rest, you are giving up one tv program a day and a few hours of watching men in a sport with no drug testing do things with a ball.
Its not hard at all to run 80 a week (or more) with a 40 hr a week job. On top of that, I do like 20 other things for fun. What I don't do is engage in lots of sheeple activities like watching ball sports.
I pretty much tried to improve in running for the last 6 years while working full time in the office and only periods of time I got significantly better were during covid and couple of months while I was in between jobs. I also found out that manual labour is much better than sitting at your computer. During those couple months I was working part time with friend who is gardener and only ran three times a week. I was easily crushing my PBs while feeling easy. Now I can try all I want running twice a day exploite home offices multiple times a week only to miss that previous 10k time by 2 minutes while almost dying in the process and being wrecked for couple days. Its just something about office job that shuts my body down.
I also never really met anybody who is physically fit while working in the office. I thought its possible but found out that every one who is running competitive never do such thing as sitting 8 hours staring at computer.
Quit complaining. I'm 41 and a career fire captain with 2 young kids. I worked 97 hours in 7 days last week and I still hit 44 miles. I'm doing 60 hours this week and I'm running a college XC meet this weekend. Pony up, golden boy.
Do you ever see these kids?
Yes, because I work a lot of nights which allows me time to participate in things for their school. Not going to lie, it's not easy being away from them for extended periods. We have some damn nice vacations though!
First of all, a standing desk is a good $300 investment. I got one 5 years ago and rarely sit at all. I feel so much better on evening runs and just everyday in general. I’ve always been a higher mileage runner, but used to sit 8+ hours a day and it takes its toll. I always felt sluggish and tired. A Veridesk or other brand is a lifesaver.
Also, it’s been mentioned here a few times but I’ll say it again, run commute if at all possible. Ive told my story on here at least it dozen times…. Lived in DC and worked in Rosslyn. Had a gym in my building. Kept a belt, loafers, blue blazer, and could keep my pc at work desk and log into system from home for work. Ran 7 miles in each morning, and 7 miles home each evening. It was automatic, and the key was that IT TOOK LESS TIME THAN DRIVING. 45 minutes to get from Woodley to Rosslyn at rush hour. I had MORE time than if I’d driven, bussed, or metroed. One hack I found was that I’d brush teeth, shave, etc. at home before leaving so all I had to do was shower at work. Patagonia running pack: small one. Roll up clothes and stuff in there with other crap like phone and wallet. Running clothes would dry on hanger in gym locker during day. Winters were a little tougher but not terrible at all.