Thinking I might go to MdS this year, I had to set better goals for my running. I am pitifully slow. As long as I'm outside, I don't even mind going slowly. This is a problem when you're as slow as I am and compulsive as I am because one could stretch out a run so that it takes the entire day. For a run to take all day, it is unacceptable!
Here's how I fit it in:
- I get up at 5:15 am and try to be at the gym, on the road or on the treadmill at home no later than 6:30 am.
- I am trying to get faster by slowly and steadily increasing the minimum speed I will allow myself and steadily increasing the maximum speed I will attempt to maintain over the course of a run.
- Sometimes I run from one job to the next or to an appointment or whatever. Run the dog and/or go to the mailbox. You get the picture.
- The plyometrics, XFit and pullups are misleading on the calendar. On any given day, the total time these activities take is 15 to 30 minutes.
- If I've got skate or bike or swim listed, it's in lieu of running, not in addition to running.
- I set time limits for my longer workouts. If a run takes me longer than the limit, I still stop running.
- Monday and Friday are rest days. I do my mile at 6:00 am.
- I pick out my clothes in advance. Go to the gym dressed. If I'm coming home afterward, I come home wearing my gym clothes and shower at home. You'd be surprised at how long it takes to change in and out of clothes. Sometimes this one bites me in the butt. It's been below zero many mornings and I forget to bring pants, I run in a skirt or shorts. The 15 minute drive to the gym is cold and the 15 minute drive home is cold!
- I try to plan out each workout all at once the week before so I know exactly what I'm going to have to do. No guess work.
So, yes, I spend a lot of time exercising but much of it occurs before anyone wakes up in my house. Lucky for me, my husband gets up at 8:00 am on Saturday and Sunday so I can get a good 1.5 hours in before he is even awake!