Where Do You Find the Time

Whenever people ask me about the running I do, questions range from types of training I do? What do I eat? How long does a 100 mile race take? However, almost invariably, the question that is always asked is “Where do you find the time to train”? Surprisingly it is not hard to find the time. The hard part is to use the time wisely. Here are some thoughts on how to find the time to train for whatever goal you desire.

Simplicity is the absolute key to this whole issue. If life gets too complicated, we lose the ability to focus on our goals. Looking back on my past, the times when I was spread really thin with commitments, I accomplished very little in terms of becoming a better racer or a better person.
What does simplicity in life mean? My coach, Gordo Byrn, recommends figuring out what your top priorities in life are. This creates a sort of “time budget” for life. If you know what you want to achieve, you know where to put your energy and time. For me, my priorities in life right now are:

1 Be the absolute best father and husband that I can be.
2 Run a sub 24 hour time at the Angeles Crest 100 mile race this September.
3 Work just hard enough to pay our bills and put a little money away each month.

How do I find the time to train. Aside from sleeping eight hours a night, I put the other sixteen hours each day into those three priorities? I bet most of us would come up with lists of deeply personal and meaningful items. It is hard to believe anyone would put something like “I want to watch 15 hours of TV each week” or “I want to surf the internet for 10 hours each week”. Why then do so many people watch a couple of hours of TV every night or surf the internet for an hour or two each day? Sure a little of these things is a nice diversion. The key is that heavy doses of these types of things can easily undermine the time and energy that is available to achieve life priorities.

What are the top three or four priorities in your life? Make sure they are what you want to devote your time to. Put them on in a list on a piece of paper. Do your actions and time expenditures jive with your priorities? They might not right now, but mindfulness of your goals will align your actions with your priorities.