The Busy Girl’s Guide to Marathon Training: Making Fitness a Priority

“Fitness” seems to be the buzz word that never goes away.

This isn’t such a bad thing because being fit and healthy should be a priority; however, the real issue is: who has time for it?

There was recently an Internet uproar when Maria Kang, a fitness enthusiast and mother of 3, posted a picture of her toned body, with the caption “What’s Your Excuse?” Well maybe she’s right. I have to say though, I have never been willing to trade my social life for time at the gym.  This makes it “more difficult” but again, I think it’s possible to have a balance. I’ve tried to do the morning workouts – and when I’m successful, it’s awesome! I do love starting my day with endorphins, but the 2 pm crash isn’t always worth it.

Well, the time has come to find a fitness routine that works for the busy person who doesn’t want to give up life’s little luxuries!  Now, before you assume I’m just one of those fitness nuts trying to sneak in some motivation, here is my schedule:

Wake up at 7:15 am, be at work by 8:15 am, work until 1:15 pm, do any and all school work and possibly walk my dog who hates running, make or just eat dinner, and sometimes do necessary errands until about 5:30 pm, law school from 6 pm – 9 pm most nights, come home and keep working on school stuff until 11 pm or so.

Yes, that is at least a 12 hour day!!

But when I’ve closely looked at how much time I spend “lolly gagging”, I think I can find 30-60 minutes, just three times a week, for a workout. To keep me extra motivated, I’ve decided I need to finally train for a marathon. I’ll be logging all my work outs to prove that even with 12 hour days this “fitness” word can be fit into a schedule. And on the cheap! Did I mention I’m in law school with just a part-time job right? Aka no money.

Here’s where I start:

Newton Running Shoes that I saved up my credit card points to purchase:

One of my favorite pairs of jeans that no longer fits, which serves as a little extra motivation on days I’d really rather sit on the couch:

Sally Bage is a first year law student at SMU Dedman School of Law in Dallas. She will be blogging about her adventures in marathon training, proving that no matter how busy your schedule is, fitness should be a priority. She is also mom to the cutest dog ever, Lucy (see picture below!). Find her at @SallySurprise.