Time Management

A lot of us struggle with time management. Especially those triathletes that take it seriously and also have a full time job and kids. I think a lot of the negative assumptions for want-to-be triathletes or for any exercise on that matter is that there is not enough time in the week to train everyday. The reality of it is (for most of us) there is plenty of time! Let's break down a week:

Hours in a week = 168
(-)Sleep (let's just say 8 hr/night) = 56
(-)Work + commute = 50

So we are left with 62 hours to spare! Some of you may be saying, "Yea right, 50hrs a wk of work and commuting, I'm more like 60 or 70"...fine, you are still around 50 hours of time to spare. For those of you that only sleep 6 hours/night - you just earned yourself some more spare time...

The point is, a lot of our spare time is wasted and we don't even realize it. Where does most of that time go? Unfortunately for most people it goes to TV, Movies or Video games. According to the A.C. Nielsen Co, the average American watches 4 hours of TV a day or 28 hours a week! No wonder America is overweight!

Amy and I have gone a year and a half without the boob tube and it's done wonders for our marriage, our family and our training! Now, I'm not anti-tv and telling you that you should ditch your cable ---only to just be aware. This is probably the time that is robbing you from training the way you want to.

Amy and I discovered that when we have TV, we watched it everyday. So we just got Netflix instead....The days we are burnt out or when we need to keep the kids occupied while we make dinner or do chores-we throw on a show for them and every once in a while when we don't feel like chatting, reading or training, we pop on a movie and just chill.

The little monsters

For myself, kids have actually helped balance my training too. I honestly believe that being married with two kids has helped me focus MORE on my training than ever. It's often considered a negative or something that may hold you back as a triathlete when you have a family. I see it completely different. Instead of going out with the guys for some beers and the big game, I go home -play with my kids and get to bed early. Instead of going on a date and staying out all night, I get to come home to my wife everyday. Instead of going to Vegas for the weekend and partying - I get to hang out with the fam and get all of my workouts and recovery in.

I'm not saying it's bad to do those things every once and awhile -it's all about the balance right? But for ME, when I was running competitively and didn't have a family, I struggled with that balance and my training and racing ultimately suffered. So if you're like me and you have a family and you want to train to be competitive in the triathlon, there is hope! Breakdown a typical week for you and find out where all of your time is spent. Subtract the wasted time and put it to good use.

Check out Chuckie V's blog where he talks about time management.

Speaking of time management, my lunch is up----

Oh yea, it's time to finally race tomorrow with fresh legs, I'm excited!

Have a great weekend everybody-