Trying to Establish Balance

At this point in my training, finding time to run is more difficult than the actual miles. I'm a busy lady. I commute to work (40min one way) and I usually spend about 10 hours in my office a day. So thats nearly 12 hours daily devoted to my M-F job. I also have a horse that I am training to ride competitively. I aim to ride him 5 days a week but am pleased if I get in the saddle 4 times a week. This leaves little time for running. The office and the horse depend on me and running is one of the only things I do for which I am the only person holding me accountable Its easy for running to get thrown on the back burner when others are depending on me for everything else.

I am incredibly blessed that my boyfriend/roommate is one of the most supportive individuals on the planet. He makes my life so much easier for me. He is a teacher and we live only blocks from his school, so he gets to be home a lot more than I am. He could use that time to relax or be lazy, but he goes out of his way to do house work, laundry (mine too!) and usually had dinner ready for me when I come through the door (around 8pm on weekdays). I also have to find time to just be a girlfriend and a lover to him. I'm always trying to accomplish X amount of everything every week, that I forget that just spending time with him and strengthening our relationship is something that is well worth my time and energy as well.

So I am trying to stay motivated and dedicated to trying to fit in miles every week. I'm also trying to be creative and find ways to involve my boyfriend. He isn't a runner, but we often enjoy going for long walks with our dog. I took a day off from running this week and spent it with my boyfriend and our dog walking for almost 2 hours around the campus of his Alma Mater. It was a great way to talk about our week and enjoy each other's company without making me feel like a complete slacker for skipping a run. The on the afternoon when I planned to get 5 miles in (at my very favorite park about 15min from my house) I asked the bf to join me with our dog. The dog enjoys running with me, but she can't keep up in the summer. She's got short legs and a dark coat and in the summer months, even 3 miles seems to be too much for her. So my plan was for the bf to start of running with me and for him to stop and walk when he needed to and I'd keep going. When I turned back around at the end of the trail and headed back, I would meet up with him again and he'd run with me until he needed to walk, then I would reverse at the end and meet him and cool down walking back to the car. It sounds complicated but it wasn't! It worked really smoothly and didn't overface the bf or puppy dog but it allowed me to get in 5 miles!

I still haven't found that perfect balance: when do I ride, when do I eat, when do I run so that its not: dark when I run the road, I've had time to digest dinner, etc... but I think training for this marathon is as much a practice in finding a balance in my life as it is being able to run 13.1 miles... and I'll get there.

PS: I'm lusting after THESE and I lost one by $1 on ebay this afternoon... bahhh!

 Nike Sports Band