Multisport: Time Management - We Don't Have to be Defeated by Time: Five Strategies

By Ashley Kipp

"I don't have enough time!" "I have to work late tonight." "I have to pick up the kids from practice." "I have to go grocery shopping." "I'm too tired to get out of bed that early!" "I'm too exhausted after work." "I think I need another rest day." "I don't have time to take a lunch break."

We've all made these excuses at one time or another in our athletic careers. We can all make these excuses today. But, as committed enthusiasts and competitors, we have to find a way to overcome what can become an overwhelming hurdle in what we've been working so hard to achieve.

As athletes, we all face challenges: The challenges of learning a new technique or sport, the challenges of training through fatigue, injury, and nasty weather, the challenges of pushing our bodies to the absolute limit while racing. Most of these are physical challenges (some are also mental) that we are accustomed to facing as competitors. We know how to push ourselves beyond what would be considered "normal" by our non-triathlete/non-competitive compatriots. However, one challenge that we are not all so apt at facing head on, is something that we all must deal with, no matter who we are and at what level we are training. It catches up to every one of us. It's the challenge of time management.

1. Long-Term Goal Setting: The first step in proper and successful time management in any area is to set goals. We need to decide what we want to achieve so that we can set up a plan to get there. Once we know a desired outcome, we can gain greater concentration, constantly focused on our desired future performance. "I want to finish Ironman Australia…in under 12 hours, 10 hours, etc". We have to know ourselves well enough when starting out to make our goals reasonable and attainable. If we're training for our very first race, obviously sub 10 hours for an Ironman distance race is not reasonable. This is a goal to think long and hard about. We all want it to be something that we really have to push towards, but also something that we know for sure we can do with a lot of hard work. We have to believe in ourselves!

2. Short-Term Goal Setting: Once our long term, large-scale goal is set, it is also important to set mini goals for ourselves along the way. This will help us to focus on our long-term vision by providing us with short-term motivation. Smaller sprint distances, Olympic distances, and even a ˝ Ironman race along the way to the full Ironman goal will help to keep our eyes focused on what is ahead. It's important to remember that we can't leap up a mountain right away, and we would get pretty burned out and tired trying. We have to take smaller steps to reach the peak. Our daily workouts can also be a part of our short-term goal list. Keeping track of our workouts on a calendar or some sort of log helps us to map our daily progress towards our goals and allows us to periodically review that progress.

3. Prioritizing: Along with setting our goals on both a large and small scale, we also have to force ourselves to prioritize our workouts into our daily calendars. Just so that the other daunting tasks in our lives do not begin to take so much precedence that our training suffers, we have to bump up our workouts on our list of priorities in life. We can try to pick a time each day that seems to be most convenient and then schedule that into the calendar. Write it down…in permanent ink! At this point, all other dates and events must be scheduled around our scheduled workout. This is an official appointment that cannot be missed!

4. Scheduling: In scheduling our days, we must also consider what we can realistically accomplish in the 24 hours that we have. We need to plan to make the best use of our time, leave enough time for absolutely necessary things (our workouts often fall into this category), and also leave some "contingency" time, or at least be flexible to deal with unexpected events (like a flat tire on a ride). Now that we have a new appointment booked each day in our calendars, we also have to be careful to avoid over commitment. Something else (like watching evening TV) may have to be taken away at the cost of our new training time. If we get up extra early for a workout, it's especially important to cut out an evening routine of some unnecessary thing that keeps us up late.

We can also find creative ways to squeeze in training time on really hectic days. Traveling with a bag packed full of running gear in the car is a great idea so that we can jump out and go for an afternoon workout while the kids are at soccer practice, the dentist, or even while the oil is being changed in the car. Waking up early in the morning to complete a workout is also a helpful way to ensure completion. It's the first thing planned for the day and it won't be pushed out if something else comes up later in the day. We have no excuses. Even meeting a morning group for a Master's Swim or a run will help us to keep the commitment, as someone else is counting on us being there. We may let ourselves down, wanting to stay snuggled up in a warm bed, but we won't let our training buddy stand out in the cold waiting for us. Lunch workouts can serve as a stress relief from work and incorporating the kids on the weekend by letting them ride along side us on a run can be fun too. There are plenty of ways to "dual task," get our training time in, and avoid all the likely excuses.

5. Attitude Assessment: Finally, we must also heed attention to our attitudes towards our training and our commitment to our goals. Is there any part of our mindset that is holding us back/eating up our time? This is a problem that must be fixed before we can succeed, manage our time effectively, and train. Is the race something we really want to do? If so, then we need to get motivated. Go back to our original goal to remember why we wanted to accomplish this task in the first plane. Do we need more sleep? We need to get enough sleep so that our workouts go well and we're not held back by fatigue. An extra day off here and there can also give us time to reassess our plans for success, our schedules to manage our time, and will help us to stay on track.

Now we have no excuses. We know how to meet the physical and mental challenges of training and there's not much else that can stop us from success. With some goal setting, prioritizing, and a positive attitude, we can conquer the final challenge of time!

Ashley Kipp is a senior level coach with Carmichael Training Systems and works with triathletes, cyclists, and runners. She can be contacted at akipp@trainright.com.