My routine has changed dramatically in the last year or so.For the first few years of my marathoning career, I worked a full time job with long hours. I didn't enjoy it and I was squeezing in my training when I could.
Although, I managed to run pretty well during this time...I wasn't happy.
I was constantly stressed out and felt like I had no time for anything apart from running and work.
After realising I didn't want to live my life that way, I made some big changes.
I moved out of London and now live with my lovely boyfriend in Northamptonshire. I work 20-25 hours a week in a job that I find fulfilling and enjoyable. My hours are flexible so I can fit them in around my training.
The best thing about this is that I can now find time for things that matter to me most; seeing my friends and family, spending time with my boyfriend, planning and cooking healthy meals and getting the sleep I need.
I feel like i'm living life instead of rushing through it.
Kudos to those people who manage to hold down a job with long hours whilst training upwards of 80 miles a week...but that life wasn't for me!
So, here's my new, improved weekly routine:
Monday
Monday tends to be two easy runs for me. This works well as it's a busy day work-wise.
I get my work done in between the two workouts with a break for lunch.
It isn't the most interesting of days but I often feel I need to keep it simple to recover from the weekend!
Tuesday
After chatting with Coach, I now do my hard sessions in the mornings.
I feel like I have so much more energy early in the day. I also find that evening sessions interfere with my sleep.
During marathon preparation, the sessions can be quite long (up to 10k-12k of faster running). These are my favourite ones :)
As I don't generally have much work Tuesdays, I follow this with a relaxing brunch with my boyfriend. This tends to be involve eggs of some kind, mushrooms and spinach - most of my favourite foods and all good for recovery!
As I work both Saturday and Sunday, I treat Tuesday like a weekend. I usually do a little more relaxing between sessions. I'm not great at sitting down so this tends to be more chilled out jobs such as housework or cooking healthy snacks.
Wednesday
Another day of two easy runs.
I do one in the morning, get work done during the day and then go to my local running club, Northampton Road Runners, in the evening.
As Wednesday is a recovery day for me, I enjoy joining in with some of the less experienced groups at the club rather than trying to speed round with the fast guys!
Thursday
Thursday, until recently, has been my second session day.
This made it pretty similar to Tuesday. As it tends to be lighter work wise, I treat it as my second weekend day.
Now I often do my second harder session on a Friday, Thursday has become a rest day or easy run day.
Moving my second hard session to Friday was something I discussed with Nick to allow me more time to recover in between. It's worked well so far.
Friday
Ahhh...rest day (up until the last month or so, anyway)!I like to catch up on work. Part of my job is coming up with new ideas for the business so I use the extra energy from not training to be creative.
I also love inviting friends or family round for dinner so it can involve some cooking, which I also really enjoy :)
Saturday
Saturday is one of my biggest work days.
Unfortunately, it can be one of my bigger running days, too. Unavoidable...but as I enjoy my work and can do it flexibly during the day, I really can't complain.
One difficulty is when I am racing. I tend to get up early to do some work before I leave and rush back to finish it off.
Sunday
My favourite day of the week - long run day!
I absolutely love long runs.
Like Saturday, Sunday is a busy work day. However, this doesn't end up being too much of a problem as I like to get up early anyway.
I'll do some before I go out for the long run and then after some post long run relaxation, spend the afternoon catching up with the rest.
I like to plan long runs with my boyfriend, a 2:30 marathon runner. He's a bit lazy so prefers to run at my pace ;)
Due to his job as a train driver we both get discounted train travel, so we often plan stop run in different locations, which we can take a train to.
After the run we always cook a big brunch, my other favourite part of the day :)
Hope you enjoyed my little summary of my week! Until next time x
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