Sunday, October 2, 2011

How Much You Got?

It seems that athletes are often very optimistic when it come to the amount of time they have to train.  They then plan to fill all this time with training and are often disappointed to find that they fall short of their own expectations.

If you find yourself in this situation try a little simple math.  First, write out all the things you have to do in a week.  Next note how much time each of these activities consumes.  Be sure to include things like sleeping (and please plan for a good night's sleep, 4 hours won't cut it) and eating and driving to work or school or to pick up the kids.  Be sure to include leisure time activities as well.  If you watch an hour of TV every night and veg out, put it down.  How much time do you need to put into watching the kid's games or helping out at grandma and grandpa's place this weekend?  How much quality time do you need for your family?

Be honest about this stuff and really think about the time it takes to live the life you need to live.

Once you have an amount of time assigned to all of these, add up the hours.  A week gives you 7 x 24 or 168 hours.  Subtract your total amount of time consumed by life from those 168 hours.  That might just help you decide what you legitimately can and can not do.

Not enough training time for you or your goals?  Take another look at your list of activities and time commitments.  Are there things there you would be willing to give up?  Can you become more efficient at some of your responsibilities?  Can you work your training into some of these activities and commitments by doing things like commuting to work by bike or running 5 miles to your kid's home soccer games?  If not, do you need to re-consider how you're going to reach your goals?

Lets face it, if you can't keep the wife, kids, parents, s.o., boss, etc. happy life can become a real mess really quickly.   Examine your time, you might find the balance you need to make training really work for you.