8 Ways To Train For An Ultra Marathon With A Busy Schedule

Ultra marathon training is progressively time consuming. It’s funny how eventually the real challenge becomes finding the time to work in a run than the actual run itself. Most people lead a busy life and between our families, jobs, school, activities, clubs, engagements, and sleep it becomes challenging to find adequate time for training. An ultra marathon training program is a commitment and looks intimidating while viewing it from day one. But let’s think, we have time to shower and eat every day. We also have time for the gym and television every day. If we stop sitting on the couch watching  episodes of Lost and instead go get lost on the trails then we begin to snap out of our lethargic daily routines. We brush our teeth every day because it’s a priority and if we make running a priority then we will always find time to run. Here’s a list of 8 ways to train for an ultra marathon with a busy schedule.  These tips will help you fill in the gaps and aid in leaving the excuses behind and on to your next or even your first ultra marathon finish line.

Late Into The Night

While the rest of the region is fast asleep the night hours become opportunistic for ultra marathon training. I’ve set off on a training run at 7:00pm reaching home by 2:00am and back up at 7:00am for the workday. That’s a 7 hour training run alongside the late night taxi’s and nocturnal animals. Sure it’s not easy but neither is an ultra marathon. The night is always available and the silver lining is that after running with sleep deprivation your next run feels exponentially energized. Even if it’s a run for an hour or two, losing a few hours of sleep is easy to make up through the week. Bedtime is a relatively subjective term to ultra runners. So have a good night, or should I say a good morning?

Insanely Early In The Morning

When training for an ultra marathon try to hit the sack promptly and wake up insanely early in the morning. This will allow for a combination of a long run as well as a good night sleep. I’ve forced myself to bed around 7:00PM to wake up and get out the door by 1:00AM. Besides having time to train, this serves beneficially in two unexpected ways. First, you’re not burning up too much of the day, and second, if its summer you can cover most of your mileage before the sun rises and the temperature increases. The early mornings are always available, are you?

Tuck & Roll On The Way Home

This is one of my favorite uniquely designed instances to run. Not able to run because you’re going out for the whole day? Next time bring along your running clothes with you and get dropped off the amount of miles you wish to run away from home. There has been countless times I’ve hopped out of the car while driving home with my wife to get my training run in. Driving alone? Thanks to the technology we have today you can order a car to come pick you up, make a music playlist, and track your run all from the same cellular device. Uber your way to your engagement and run home or Uber part way home. If you look hard enough you’ll always find a time to run.

To & From The Workplace

We wake up in our squared house, drive in our little square car, and arrive to our square office. How about we run some circles to and from work to shake it up a bit. By running to and from work you fill in the gaps where you’d otherwise be driving. Don’t want to run twice in one day? Drive to work, leave your car, run home, and then run back to work the following morning. This will provide you with two runs in two days. Not a bad way to get yourself moving before work or to decompress afterwards.

Running For Lunch

Depending on how long your lunch hour is you may have time to train during your break. This is most ideal if you have an hour to eat. When the lunch hour hits you could run part of the break and eat part of the break or just run for the entire time. Not only does this provide time to train but you also speed up your metabolism causing you to burn more calories throughout the day and eat less, not to mention it will provide more energy to finish the day off. In addition, running can instantly change your mood and I’m sure your co-workers or employees will thank you for it.

During Work

Not everyone works a basic nine to five job. Some individuals are entrepreneurs, work out on the road all day, or work from home. If this is the case then spend some time in your day running. If you put a few hours into running then work a few extra hours on the back end. I’ve made some of my best business calls while on the run. One time when I was changing careers I took a job interview from my cellphone while I was running on the weekend and landed a face to face interview. At least when I told them I was a good multitasker I wasn’t exaggerating.

Running With Children

Running while raising your children can be tricky at times. Most of us want to spend as much time as possible with our children especially if we are busy working or doing other busy work. But if we can give time for ourselves then we ultimately can give more to others, and in this case provide more to our children. Hiring a baby sitter for a few hours can do the trick but if you can’t get away from those little rug rats then put them in a running stroller and hit the streets. They will most likely enjoy it more then you anyway. If a longer run is required then bring along some snacks and a movie. Your children can then not only be a part of such a positive experience but they will also provide some extra resistance to your training. It’s more beneficial for everyone to push them around the neighborhood then to chase them around the house.

While Running Errands

Need to run a few errands? Throw on your running shoes and get going. Hit the bank, stop by the post office, and pick up a few groceries all in the same run. Sure you have to stop a few times but you can treat the stops like your aid stations and make up the time once you start back up running. Just a few weeks ago I picked up money for the babysitter and grabbed some dinner for the family all in the same run.

Final Thoughts

There are various ways to make running a priority. Try to see where the opportunity is in your own life and fill in the gaps between other commitments. When we are accustom to our normal days and routines it becomes tough to break the cycle and it’s even tougher to rid yourself of the excuses. These are 8 ways to train for an ultra marathon with a busy schedule but they are not the only ways. If we make running a priority and if we want to finish an ultra marathon bad enough then the time will be there and it has been there all along. You just decided to look for it now and use it to your advantage.