"juggling: family, work, fun, and running!"

This week's Runner's Lounge topic on Take it and run Thursday is training plans, programs & tools.

When I decide on a race, I write out on a calender my weekly workouts. I plan my long runs and my speed workouts and taper. After I write this beautiful race plan I sit back and admire what I have created, knowing that it will lead to the perfect race performance. Then I realize the schedule will NEVER go off as written.

I find that my training is best summed up by a paraphrased lyric by Jack Johnson: Move like a jellyfish, go with the flow. Meaning, I have to be very flexible with my training schedule. I know I'm not alone with this issue. My wife and I have three daughters who have crazy schedules with school, sports, music and of course, the ever important social life. This combined with the schizophrenic Indiana weather and dodging borderline injuries inevitably forces me out of my planned schedule. Usually I find myself squeezing in a longer run or speed workout in the 1 1/2 hour space after work and picking up my daughters after their practices. But this plan is often ditched, because at that time of day in the springtime here in Indiana we seem to get the "pop up thunderstorm". It seems it could be sunny all day, but just as I start my run I'll notice that western sky darkening. This is sometimes followed by those sirens indicating a severe thunderstorm warning. My long run, then turns into a quality aerobic capacity run back to the car before the lightning begins.

To help keep track of my crazy schedule I use the following tools & logs.
Activebody at http://www.activebody.org/index.php
Buckeye Outdoors at http://www.buckeyeoutdoors.com/login.html
This site allows you to sidebar your workouts on your blog.

For my running log hard copy I use the running log by Marty Jerome as seen in the above image (originally written by the late Jim Fixx). My mother got me going with these 28 years ago. Every Christmas, I look for the familiar package under the tree. As two of my daughters have now started their running careers, there are 2 more packages under the tree. The tradition continues...Pretty cool!