I think I am one of the lucky ones I work as the Coordinator for Wellness Programs at a university, so I have a very flexible schedule during the week so that, if I don't get a long run in on the weekends, I can just do it during a workday. For example, I was supposed to run 20 today, but a friend of mine just wante dto run 10, so I figured if I just do 10 today and then 10 tomorrow, I still have 3 fitness classes to teach on Mondays, so it's a very good workout for a day I teach Pilates, Boot Camp and Kickboxing on Monday evenings, so I get plenty of cardio in....plus I have to keep up with the college kids that come to my class, so there is no slacking

I guess what I was trying to say is just that I'm lucky that fitness is what I do for a living, so it's not so hard to fit my running in.

Mine is a bit easy to do being an active duty Marine. I usually start my day off going into work at 5 am and then I work and teach my classes and find an hour or so in the way I lay my class out(practical applications immediately following lunch so the instructor is not needed). I can run as far as an 11 miler during lunch so my pace helps me quite a bit. I am out of work by 3 so if I need to wait for either weather or something else I can wait till I get off work and get my run in and still be home by 5. The biggest thing for me is to schedule my work, running, lifting, and everything and practice some extreme time management. If you want to drive me crazy just try and talk to me while I am walking out of the building to run or something. If I did not schedule a 10 minute talk with you right around pivotal changes of events in my day then just stay away, please!LOL Simply put schedule schedule schedule!

Before I retired, I'd get up at 4:30 do my stretches, weights and run or whatever(spin, walk, row, bike). Now that I'm retired and just as busy, I get up later, go to bed later and run when it fits in the schedule since it's not as tight anymore. I have to admit, it's easier and more pleasant, but you still work around it. When I'm training for a long distance event, it's sometimes hard, Bill skis with me, but he doesn't run with me, so, long runs are a little more dependent on what we have to do together. But he's a gem, he mostly works around my long runs. Bless his itty bitty little soul. By the time you have it all figured out, you'll be ready to retire. In the meanwhile, enjoy, do what you can and don't stress about it. Life's too short.

I duct tape the kid in the house and I just go! (for those of you who don't know me..... just keep wondering)

That is actually one of my biggest challenges. Currently I am doing well if I can find time to get a run in before my childcare arrangements turn into pumpkins. I am trying to work up to 4 to 5 miles in my afternoon run and hope that once we move to the other office building that their equipment is good in that exercise room.

When I was training I had every other friday off and that was my long run, I have NO CLUE how I will do it this year.

Since I don't really have a life, this isn't much of a problem for me.

Seriously, though, it depends on how many credits I'm teaching and how many days they're spread out over. This semester I'm only teaching 3 days per week. It makes one of those days 16 hours long (which sucks) but gives me a choice of three days in which to do a long run (which doesn't.) I can't do a long run the day after a 16 hour day, obviously. And, since I'm not allowed to run AT ALL, I'm willing to donate lots of my free time to the highest bidder so they can use it to run.

This is a constant battle. My biggest challenge is my travel schedule. For the remainder of this month, I will be travelling Monday through Thursday. They are short trips to either California or Las Vegas, but it can wreck my running schedule. I usually fly home Tuesday night, and I get home just in time to read to my kids. Then it's back on a plane Wednesday morning. I think that's why the Furman program is the best fit for me because it only has three running days. I try to make mine Tuesday and Thursday and either Saturday or Sunday depending on whether or not Winnie is working. But here is something else that I need to plan for this year: more serious cross training. That's two additional days on a stationary bike for at least 45 minutes. And I don't want to complete ditch my weight training routine when I start running either. But I can see already that I will probably only do that one day per week. After all, I do need a rest day.

I guess at the end of the day, it's got to be on the schedule. And right now, that's looking like the stationary bike on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, my interval and tempo runs on Tuesday and Thursday mornngs (on a treadmill if necessary), weight training either Saturday or Sunday and the long run on the day I don't lift. It looks like Friday will be the rest day. We'll see how that works. I'm sure there will be some tweaking along the way. Then again, I have until mid-June to get everything all figured out. If I am at least 80% - 90% compliant, I'd be happy with that. Talk to you soon.

Karl

During the week, all exercise occurs between 5:00-6:15 AM or it is not going to happen. After my workout, I head home to get my oldest daughter off to school and then get the rest of us ready for the day. Then it's off to work. I don't have any facilities to shower at work, so mid-day runs are out of the question. I do try to squeeze in a pilates or strength training class over lunch when I can...which is less often than I would like. After work, I head home for my "second shift". This is the ballet class, chauffeur, play time, dinner, dog walk, homework, laundry, housework, and baths routine. I get into bed between somewhere between 9:30-10:30 (although, it is almost 11:00 now!!). On the weekends, my very supportive husband takes care of kids/house, so that I can fit in a run. I try to do those early too, just so that I am not cutting into too much family time. My problem is sticking to cross training, strength training, and stretching activities. I have no problem being motivated to head out the door at an insane hour. On my off days, when I am supposed to be doing these other important activities, I cannot get my bum out of bed!! I recognize that I would be a much better runner if I wasn't so tired all of the time. I just don't see a way around it!