Not enough hours in the day to do all you want to do? Exercising for 60
minutes per day can seem time-consuming especially when we feel that we don’t
have those 60 minutes to spare, but when you think about it, 60 minutes is a very
small portion of the 1440 minutes available in a single day.
Now
I know that the majority of those minutes are spent working, commuting and
sleeping but if you look closely you’ll soon discover that a lot of our daily
minutes are actually wasted.
Getting
yourself organised and a bit of forward planning could easily make your day a
bit more productive.
Not having enough time is probably the
most used excuse for not exercising but the reality is we all have the time and
it’s more a matter of priorities and how much you value your health.
Even
those with the most demanding of jobs find time to fit exercise into their
daily routine as they realise the harm that the lack of exercise can do and
more importantly they realise the benefits gained from including some form of daily
exercise.
We can’t make time but we can make the most
of it.
You’ve
heard it said that time is money and if you think of it in that way then you
might be less likely to waste it.
If
you do an audit of your typical day and week you should find that windows of
opportunity do exist but we have allowed them to close and with a little bit of
strategic planning we can re-open them.
1. The
running commute
Do
you live within a reasonable distance from work? If yes, then you could try the
occasional run to work as this is a very time efficient way to fit in your
training.
If
this is inconvenient due to lack of showering facilities then you could try
running home. I find that the run home
can be invigorating and helps to clear your head rather than falling asleep on
a bus or train leaving you feeling lethargic for the rest of the evening.
2. Reclaim your lunch hour
Do
you have access to shower facilities in work? If yes, then it should be
possible to fit in a time- based session to ensure you always finish and have
time for lunch.
It’ll
take a few attempts to get into a routine and work out potential routes but it
won’t be wasted time. As an example, you could run out for 15 minutes and then
turn and retrace your steps.
3. Look for
windows of opportunity
We
all need some downtime but there’s also wasted time. Do you drop the kids to
football practice or similar and wait around for them to finish or drive home
only to go out again?
Is
there a particular programme on TV that you try avoid but your partner watches?
There are many other similar examples.
4. Keep
travel to a minimum
A
run can start from anywhere so rather than wasting time driving to a start
point just start from where you are. The travel time can sometimes be as long
as or longer than the actual run time. This
saves the need to be packing spare clothes and saves further time.
5. Get it
done early
Try
to run as early in the day as you can, as the longer you wait then the less
time you have. Do what you can when you can.
6. Follow the same morning routine at weekends
Do
you get up at 7am Monday to Friday? Do the same at the weekend and you’ll mange
to fit in your run without impacting on your day and it may even give you a few
extra hours that would have been spent in bed.
As
an added benefit it’ll also make getting up at 7am on the following Monday a
lot easier.
You
need to do the things that will move your fitness forward and bring your goal
closer.
“Those who think they have not time for
bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness,” Edward
Stanley, Earl of Derby, once said.
Better than expected even though it should be higher but based on the weekend it’s a good result. Legs feeling stiff / heavy and did a short lunchtime run of 8K to try get them moving again. Running Commute home and from the start it felt more of an effort for the pace and HR. Legs tired and wasn’t mentally switched on so I’ll call it a good run.
A slight improvement which wasn’t expected as I felt tired last night and still carrying the excess weight gain from the weekend. Relatively easy Gym session of Sumo Deadlift and standing lunges with front leg elevated. Legs feeling ok so I went for a short recovery run to make the most of the good weather. Followed this with a 20K after work starting easy but picking it up as the legs started to come alive.
A good result and looking like a great day. No time for a lunchtime run but ran home and after a quick change made my way to the Track to coach for 1.5hrs and even managed a short recovery run.
Gym session cancelled so I used the opportunity for a running commute. Felt tired getting up and was very tempted to stay in bed but made the right decision.
Unexpected but I’ll take the warning. Easy lunchtime run of 7K keeping my HR around 120bpm and happy with the resulting pace for the easy effort. Had the opportunity for a second evening run with a club mate and I took it as he’s nursing an injury and just wanted to test the recovery. Between the 2 of us we agreed on a 4-10K route with a few escape options if there were any problems. Started a bit faster than I expected but the pace was manageable and as the run progressed so did the pace. We took a chance and picked it up for the 9th Km and then eased back to recovery at a pace than was now feeling easy. A good run and totally unexpected. 
A good result after yesterday. Went to the track and the plan was 3*1K after a long warm up and a short break / distraction to coach a few footballers. Coaching session went well but when I tried to do my Intervals I just couldn’t get the legs going. Not sure if it was because I was on my own or just simply fatigue from yesterday but it was still worth getting out of bed for.
Just what I wanted in advance of a long run and the plan is for 40-50K. Started off on my own and met a club mate running towards me along the canal and we continued in the direction I was heading which was also back towards his house. We continued on for 15K and then turned to retrace our steps before leaving the canal at 20K and then I was on my own. I didn’t have any particular route planned and sometimes this can be a good idea on a long run as you don’t start to dread what’s ahead when you’ve only started. Some of my direction decisions were made by the flow of traffic and I finished close to my house with 45K. Definetly had more in my legs and wasn’t feeling any drop in energy and that’s a great way to finish.
A good week and managed to make the most of the running commute with a few extra Kilometres clocked up and I’m now back up to 160K (100 Miles) for a week.
A good recovery since yesterday and better than expected for race day. Didn’t do my usual pre breakfast race day run in favour of the extra time in bed as I’m still adjusting to the clocks going forward. Unsure of my form but confident that I’ll go under 38mins has taken my mindset away from racing and that in itself has helped keep the stress levels controlled plus today’s race is hosted by my club and I don’t have far to travel so even with the lie in I arrive in good time to relax and mingle before the start. When the race started I was conscious of the possible fast pace and tried not to get caught up in an early sprint. The start seemed slow enough but when I checked my watch I soon realised that it was too much too soon and I purposely dropped back to get closer to my planned pace. The opening stretch went for 3k on the hard shoulder of a featureless road and was made easy by being amongst a group of 5-10. At the end of this stretch we turned sharp left and went up and over a humpback bridge crossing a canal and the railway and then the race starts. This short sharp hill is a killer but local knowledge meant I didn’t attack it hard but waited until I’d cleared it before making a break and then I was on my own and chasing down individual runners with the closest being between 60-100M away. This section went on for less than 2k and was undulating but sheltered and my plan was to get to the end of this stretch on pace before turning left again for less than 500M and into a headwind when I knew I’d need to dig deep and then as I cleared halfway I’d push on. I started to gain on the runners ahead and was also caught by someone from behind and then I became part of a group of 3 before reaching the 6K marker, I tried to get comfortable running as a group but as we hit a downhill stretch I was gone. I’m guessing that the effects of the recent trail race meant my legs just couldn’t cope with the high impact from running downhill and rather than the other competitors picking it up I was simply falling back. A sizeable gap was created as each time they went out of view on a bend made it harder to regain contact as my concentration was starting to go. I wasn’t feeling any pain but it was an effort to maintain the pace as my legs were feeling heavy and in my head I was trying to work out my finish time if I eased back from here. Had I done enough to go under 38 mins? In the distance I could see a house that I knew was close to the 7k mark and that became my new focus and soon enough after passing it I could see that I was starting to make up some ground. I caught up with the runner just ahead and made some distance on him on him at a hill just after 8K but what goes up must go down and he tore past me on the downhill and it felt like I was running through quicksand as I tried to maintain contact. Approaching the finish I get a glimpse of the position behind me and do my best to improve on or at least maintain what I’ve got and make a poor attempt at a sprint finish. Crossing the line in 37:16 it’s over 2 minutes slower than my PB from this time last year but it’s a faster average pace than my last 5K Parkrun on 29/12/12 (18:38). 
A good result and the training can continue as normal. Early gym session including 5*5 squats with 57.5Kg which felt tough enough but still manageable. Legs feeling better than they should do after a race but then again this is what I want as these shorter races are part of rather than the focus of my training. I’m expecting the DOMS tomorrow and with that in mind I scaled back my run to a Recovery effort with my son cycling alongside and we took our time with stops to look over bridges and enjoy the start of the brighter evenings. Covered 10K in just under 1hr not including stoppage time.
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