I’m far too busy to start running… Really?

All great achievements require time.

Maya Angelou

I’m too busy is a common excuse for not pursuing your goals in running or even committing to a fitness routine. While there is such a thing as stretching yourself too thin, the issue isn’t always how much time you have but how much commitment you have and how creative you are with your time available. Training on a busy schedule requires creativity, commitment, and balance, but you can make it work!

If you look around, you likely know plenty of people who balance a busy schedule – whether you know them on social media or in person. Some of the most inspiring runners I know are those who squeeze their training into their lives, rather than shape their lives around training. And if you are training on a busy schedule, then hopefully the following tips will help you balance running with work and family while still having time to enjoy life!

Focus on the benefits of running

Yes, running may take up time in the day… but honestly, it’s time well spent. Running improves your cardiovascular health, manages your weight, boosts your immune system, and improves your mood – along with many other benefits.

Running also fosters creativity and improves cognitive function. Studies have shown a run gives you a break away from your work that can actually then improve your productivity and quality of work. You’ll be amazed the number of times a great idea or a solution comes to you whilst out on a run!

Meal plan and prep

Nutrition is important for both overall health and for improving as a runner. You will feel more energized and healthier when you eat well, and you will also be able to fuel your running and recover from hard workouts. Yet often, eating well is one of the first things to go when you have a busy schedule. The thing is – healthy eating doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming.

Meal prepping is the secret to eating healthy when you don’t have time or energy to cook every day. Prepare recipes in batches – frittatas, roasted chicken, baked potatoes, roasted veggies – so you can easily reheat healthy meals for the remainder of the week.

If you are already cooking, try to cook more than one meal. Make lunch for tomorrow when making dinner that evening or double your dinner recipe to have leftovers for the next day. Prep breakfast when you cook dinner the night before. If you are making bread, soup, or anything that can be doubled with virtually no extra time or effort, double the recipe and freeze the extra half. Those freezer meals are what will make the difference between a nutritious, homecooked meal and takeout when you’re very tired from a busy week!

Blank out dedicated running time in your calendar

This is a cliche piece of advice, but for a good reason – it works when you have a busy schedule! Write your workout into your daily planner, set an alarm for it, and honour the commitment.

Treating your run as almost an appointment means arriving on time and concluding on time, with all of your gear arranged and ready before hand. Show up prepared, have an actionable plan know exactly what you’re committing, decide what your distance, effort, and route will be.

Make the most of your runs!

You don’t need to be running 100k weeks and logging double workouts; you just need to do what will be effective and enjoyable for you!

Social media may be full of people who seem to exercise all day long, but you can reap the benefits of training with 30-60 minutes of running on your training days. High mileage isn’t the only way to improve as a runner. Be creative with your runs and commit to completing them. Ultimately, doing your best for your available time and abilities is all that matters, whether you are training on a busy schedule or not.

Even if you are training for a marathon or half marathon, you don’t need to run more than 60 minutes per day (except your weekend long run!). Keep those 60 minutes or less varied: fartlek, easy runs, tempo runs, hill runs – and you will find yourself well trained for your goal and balanced in your life. You really don’t need to run crazy high mileage to do well in the marathon.

Hire a personal trainer

If your budget permits, a personal trainer can keep you training through the busiest times of your life. My personal trainer, woh just happens to be a good friend so I get mates rates!), works with runners with all sorts of busy schedules – working single mums, lecturers, nurses, etc.

A personal trainer will plan your workouts and race calendar for you around your schedule, my trainer even plans routes for me – so you don’t have to give any mental thought for when you will run and what exactly you will do. You’ll be surprised at how much time and energy you will save when all you have to do is run, not plan out your training!

An actionable plan is key for fitting in your runs! Plus, a trainer means accountability… you are less likely to skip out on your run when you are paying someone who is paying close attention to your workouts!

Don’t beat yourself up, allow yourself drop the occasional workout!

You do not need to complete 100% of your training runs to run a strong race or to stay fit and healthy. It takes more than one missed run every few weeks to detract from your fitness, but some days you just need to skip a workout to fit everything else in.

So, I don’t want to hear, oh I’d love to do a bit more running but I really don’t have the time in my busy life, okay!

What’s on this week?