How To Find Balance When Training For A Race

Nothing beats the feeling of working towards a goal and accomplishing it. This is especially true when it comes to testing your physical and mental limits while training for a race. Marathon, triathlon, 5k whatever the event, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get there. Add to that the difficulty of finding time to train in your already packed schedule. Check out these four tips to balance your professional life with your active lifestyle.

Accept there will be early mornings and late nights.

Training is a huge time commitment. Chances are you’ll have to rearrange your routine for a few months to work training into your schedule. You have to find time, and unfortunately there’s still the same amount of hours in the day as there were when you weren’t training. This means there will be times when you’ll have to trade sleeping in for early mornings and nights out with friends for going to sleep at a decent hour. Embrace the challenge and the time commitment. Your sacrifices will be worth it when you achieve your goal.

Have a conversation with your friends and your boss.

Speaking of time commitment, rearranging your schedule is likely to make your social life and work life look a little different. Don’t let your friends make you feel bad if you haven’t seen them in awhile. Remember, this is a positive change. Talk to your friends about how important the race is to you and how you want to achieve this goal. Any good friend will understand that.

While you’re talking with your friends, don’t forget to talk to your boss, too. If you’re struggling to make your current schedule work with your training, ask if you can come in later and stay later a couple days a week so you can get your long run in before you come to work. Don’t automatically assume they’ll say no. Always have the conversation to see how you can make your schedule work for you.

Find an accountability partner.

Accountability is huge when it comes to training. In an ideal world, you’ll always stick to your training plan and never have an off day. But that’s not reality. There will be days or weeks where you don’t want to put the work in because you’re too tired or too busy. It’s so important to have an accountability partner. Tell a friend your training plan and ask them to help you stick to it. Better yet, ask them to train with you. You’ll be more likely to stick to your plan when you have someone asking you how it’s going.

Stay committed.

No one said it would be easy. It will be hard. There will be bad days and you may fall off track from time to time, but remember why you started. Remember the excitement you had when you first decided you were going to do it. Keep those happy thoughts in the forefront of your mind and stay committed. The easy way out may seem tempting, but it’s not satisfying. Visualize how accomplished you’ll feel when you cross the finish line. Determination and hard work always pay off in the end. So stay positive and stay committed.

What are some of your favorite tips and tricks for training for a race?