Beginners and Beyond

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Time Management... (Read 373 times)

Better I Leave


    I was just wondering how some of you juggle your schedule. I find my time being increasingly chewed up with obligations. You see, I have a full-time management position (read: salaried...you know what that means, right?), but fortunately my "commute" is only 2.5 miles of rural road. Recently I've had to move my mother from Oregon to here and place her in a skilled nursing facility. I see her almost everyday to bring her "stuff". My wife needs my help as she had ACL reconstruction but since the insurance waited so long, she most likely will never be able to walk properly again...meaning I have to do a lot of the daily tasks. I also do most of the cooking as some of you already know from my other thread.

     

    Whew!! LOL! Anyway, that being the case, I'm implementing certain "things" to allow me to maximize my time. For example, instead of a 40 minute round trip to the gym (yes...that's the closest gym), I'm constructing my own home gym in the basement consisting of a smith machine, Powerblock dumbbells, a treadmill, and a recumbent bicycle. That alone will save me some time. However, I still find myself having to prioritize and juggle any "me time". I was just telling my wife that tonight, I have to choose between getting a haircut or running...stuff like that, ya know? I can't do it over lunch because I have to run errands for my mother.

     

    I want to go running more, but I'm having to get more "creative" with my time. What do some of you folks do? Just curious.

    catwhoorg


    Labrat

      Get up at 3am to use the treadmill in the basement.

       

      I simply had to extend the day somehow.

      5K  20:23  (Vdot 48.7)   9/9/17

      10K  44:06  (Vdot 46.3)  3/11/17

      HM 1:33:48 (Vdot 48.6) 11/11/17

      FM 4:13:43 (Vdot 35.4) 3/4/18

       

        Well, I let life get in the way when it gets in the way. This past weekend, I had plans all day Saturday and Sunday, and decided it was healthier to get the necessary amount of sleep in than to get up early and run. No big deal, there will be other weeks.

         

        But mostly, I maximize my time by saying "no" to a lot of social invitations. I run after work, and I make it a priority. If that means missing a party or Broadway show, so be it. Or, if it's a show I want to see, I do a quick three miler between work and the evening. Even short runs stack up.

        happylily


          I'm lucky that I have most of my evenings to myself. After 10 hours of work, preparing supper, a few house chores, etc... I still have three hours to do whatever I want. So, I choose to run. Sometimes, up to two hours on a week night. During the weekend, it is even easier. My real problem is not so much the time, but the energy, which is lacking. After a long and hectic day at work and a full family life, the intervals seem way harder than they should!

           

          How much time do you have to yourself in a regular day, would you say?

          PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013

                  Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013

          18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010

          LRB


            I get my run/workout in before my day starts, regardless of what time that needs to be.  There are obviously days however, when this is not feasible.

             

            When going out of town for business or pleasure, I always check out the local gym hours ahead of time and plan my workouts accordingly.

             

            For instance, in the fall of 2010 I was in South Charleston, West Virginia, where I worked out in a gym on Saturday, but no gym opened before noon on Sunday.  Faced with the prospect of no workout because I was leaving that afternoon, I ran outside for the first time in my life.

             

            Little did I know that I would become a runner seven months later, I was just doing what I had to do under the circumstances.

            Nakedbabytoes


            levitation specialist

              I am a work at home mom of 2 boys, ages 12 & 5. I have a full time home daycare(so since daycare parents never have the same hours as each other, my working hours are 55 hour weeks) and I homeschool my oldest, who has autism, have a house with a yard and a veggie garden, a dog, bills, family stuff, the hubby and his clinical depression and addiction recovery......

              Needless to say, busy like everybody else.

               

              I run most of my miles before the sun comes up and my doubles are run after the sun goes down. For strength training, I have a pull up bar and do push ups & crunches whenever I can grab a piece of floor or walk through my downstairs doorway. You just fit it in If it's important to you, you know? The hardest part for me is trying to get biking time. I need to wait until it is light out so it is safer, but then it isn't as convient or even possible sometimes.

               

              I guess I think I do what I can now and someday it will be different, then I will have all the time in the world to be for me. It just is how it needs to be today. And you deal. I worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. I live with what I have today.

              Docket_Rocket


                Sorry about your wife and hope your mother is doing well.

                 

                I run after work and move dinner 30 minutes later than when I don't run.  Afternoons/early evenings work for me.

                 

                One thing I didn't see in your gym list is a TM.  I hate the TM but if I was as short on time as you are I would do some workouts there while cooking dinner or something.

                Damaris

                 

                As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.

                Fundraising Page

                dyrstr8s


                invisible

                  I also work 9-10 hours per day and have a 45-60 minute, each way, commute.  I do all the housework and cooking, and errand running, because my wife is not well.  So I get up between 4-4:30am to run.

                  I used to feel sorry for myself sometimes because of this, but then I read Rich's posts about rising at 3am to run, and now I feel better about it!

                  happylily


                    For those of you who get up at a God awful hour, how many hours of sleep do you get? If I don't have 3 or 4 days a week of 7 consecutive hours of sleep, let me tell you: I'm darn cranky!

                    PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013

                            Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013

                    18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010

                      For those of you who get up at a God awful hour, how many hours of sleep do you get? If I don't have 3 or 4 days a week of 7 consecutive hours of sleep, let me tell you: I'm darn cranky!

                       

                      That's me, too. 8 hours a night is non-negotiable.

                      Better I Leave


                        As it stands right now, I'm getting between 6-7 hours sleep per night. As long as I'm getting over 6 I'm OK. Anything less and over time I end up crashing hard and generally getting sick. I do have my "quiet time" in the morning and I cherish that and I really don't want to sacrifice it as it keeps me "sane" so to speak. I get up between 5-5:30AM, make the coffee, check my emails and forums, and then my wife gets up and I prepare her coffee for her, and we share some time together (often times unspoken, but sharing nonetheless) before I leave for work. It's ritual and I like it. Thanks for sharing everyone, it's definitely giving me some ideas and perspective. Smile

                        kristin10185


                        Skirt Runner

                          My work schedule is ridiculous. I have a full-time job and 2 part-time jobs. I leave for work by 8:00am at the latest, and some nights I don't get home til after 9:30, and haven't eaten dinner yet. So, I learned to be a morning person! If I'm going to the gym I'm there by 6:00. If I'm going for a run I leave by 6:15ish depending on how long the run is. It is the only way I can manage exercise and work.

                          PRs:   5K- 28:16 (5/5/13)      10K- 1:00:13 (10/27/13)    4M- 41:43 (9/7/13)   15K- 1:34:25  (8/17/13)    10M- 1:56:30 (4/6/14)     HM- 2:20:16 (4/13/14)     Full- 5:55:33 (11/1/15)

                           

                          I started a blog about running :) Check it out if you care to

                          Docket_Rocket


                            That would work for me if I didn't go to bed at midnight.  After I run, eat dinner, and watch a movie with my husband, I have to work for 1-2 hours more every night.

                             

                            i sleep 5 hours if I am lucky.

                            Damaris

                             

                            As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.

                            Fundraising Page

                            cmb4314


                              For those of you who get up at a God awful hour, how many hours of sleep do you get? If I don't have 3 or 4 days a week of 7 consecutive hours of sleep, let me tell you: I'm darn cranky!

                               

                              Me three.  I need quite a bit of sleep, or else I don't recover well from my runs, or function well at work.  Cutting into my sleep may give me more hours to do stuff, but I'd rather have fewer hours and actually be useful the whole time.

                              My wildly inconsistent PRs:

                              5k: 24:36 (10/20/12)  

                              10k: 52:01 (4/28/12)  

                              HM: 1:50:09 (10/27/12)

                              Marathon: 4:19:11 (10/2/2011) 

                              Better I Leave


                                Sorry about your wife and hope your mother is doing well.

                                 

                                I run after work and move dinner 30 minutes later than when I don't run.  Afternoons/early evenings work for me.

                                 

                                One thing I didn't see in your gym list is a TM.  I hate the TM but if I was as short on time as you are I would do some workouts there while cooking dinner or something.

                                Thanks DR for the wishes about my wife and mother, And yes, I listed it. I just got a new Sole F85 for the gym.

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