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Here’s part two of our series where we interview busy professionals in the Academy about how they balance marathon training with work and life.

In this episode we talk with Wendy, Noor, Edith, and John, four very fun and inspiring people to get to know.

How Busy People Find Time to Train

These two episodes came about after I asked our online community to share what they do for a living, you know, the stuff they do when their not busy being weekend marathon warriors.

The responses were fascinating and fun to read. I wish we could have interviewed everyone but that would have taken the rest of this year!

Runners Featured on this Episode

Wendy Cicek is a family physician who works as a hospitalist. She’s a coaching client of Angie’s and is running five marathons in 2015. She looks at running like her medicine and likes to run in the morning, usually with a running partner.

Noor Ali-Hasan is a user experience researcher on the Android team at Google. She ran the Chicago Marathon this year (her third marathon). Like so many other folks we’ve talked to, she likes to get her runs done in the morning. She’s found it helpful to prioritize and be willing to adjust expectations if life gets too hectic.

Edith Rian is a molecular biologist who is also studying executive management. She’s originally from Norway but currently living in Bonn, Germany. When her kids were younger she found it easiest to run after they were asleep from 9:00-10:00 p.m.. She says that running has become an important part of her identity and provides stress relief. She also meets with and coaches a local group of aspiring runners.

John Mouland is CEO of Regional Development Australia Central Coast. He travels a lot, runs a lot of marathons, and maintains the website AustralianMarathonReviews.com. We’ve featured his story here. John believes that everyone has enough time to set and reach their goals, it’s all a matter of how well we plan and prioritize. He allocates time for runs and workouts just like he would schedule a business appointment. If it’s in the calendar it gets done!

Final Thoughts!

I hope you enjoy this episode. A big thanks to Wendy, Noor, Edith, and John for helping us make this episode possible. You rock!

If you didn’t catch our conversations with Foti, Stacy, Kristy, and Jabus in part one you can listen to it here.

A word could be said about early morning runs. We’ve found that many folks get their training done before 7:00 am. Like Philip posted on our FB page,

If I don’t get a run in at 5:30 AM….I struggle to find time later.

Laura’s comment is great,

Glad to hear I’m in good company drinking my coffee at 4:30 AM before my run. Only time to get it in with work and kids’ activities. This “me time” is crucial and makes me better at the “them time”.

No doubt, conquering a run fist thing in the morning gives you a psychological win and physical readiness to face the day. Garry Keller writes in his book The One Thing,

When you spend the early hours energizing yourself, you get pulled through the rest of the day with little additional effort. You’re not focused on having a perfect day all day, but on having an energized start to each day.

These runners have found the secret to an “energized start”. No wonder they are successful in their chosen careers.

What do you think? Leave a comment below. What time of day (or night) do you run?

Skyline photo credit = KayYen, Flickr creative commons