Balancing running and, you know...life

(Apologies for the emo post below.  Just imagine you paid $15 to see an indie band play.  ::strum strum strum::)

Running is great, but training for something can be freaking time consuming.  I love it, but trying to get faster and train for longer distances has had it's downfall.  Training for Eugene has turned into "Margot and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad training cycle" and I have to admit I've been feeling very frustrated lately.  I've gone from looking forward to pounding out hard workouts to being ready to stab myself with a foam roller to avoid finishing up the training.

This is the time when I start questioning my priorities.  Everywhere I look, I see articles about "making time for a workout".  Inspirational pictures tell me that I'll never regret a workout.

But I have regretted workouts!  And not just because I didn't run them hard enough (although this is the most common reason).  A couple weeks back, I ran a 20 miler before work.  I did this because I was racing that weekend and I didn't want the 20 miler to interfere with the 15k race.

I woke up at 5 AM, ran for three hours (yup I get into work very late) and started my work day.  That morning, I felt like a bit of a badass to run that much while the world was still asleep.  But I quickly realized what I'd done was foolish.  I couldn't concentrate at work.  After about 2PM my morning run caught up to me, and I had to leave early with a splitting headache.  Later, when I explained to my roommate what happened, she shook her head and told me I was crazy for running 20 miles before work.  

And you know what?  I think she was right.  I guess this is why people always do long runs on weekends.  More time to run, and less productivity required.  But even weekends can be hard to make the time.  I don't know how some people do it!    We all have our own commitments, and one of mine is being in a long-distance relationship.  So on the weekends that I visit Anthony, I definitely tone down the workouts to avoid being a tired jerk the rest of the day.  But in marathon training peak weeks speak, that means 2-hour runs at a relatively easy pace.  Basically, I try to minimize the time running (funny, because that is still a LOT of running) without giving myself a workout hangover for the rest of the day.  I want to be fun and I want to be up for going out later in the day.  And I guess that's my priority.  (with that attitude, surprising I'm not elite, eh ;-))

Of course, some would argue that I should stop my complaining and suck it up, right?  After all, "someone busier than me is running right now." 

I say maybe that person needs to reevaluate their priorities.  If they are that busy, maybe going on a run wasn't the best idea.  We all need sleep and rest, and in a society that glorifies being "SO BUSY", sometimes going on a long run, or running a track workout isn't the best choice.   Maybe kicking it with the people you love is.  Or going to the grocery store.  

As someone who is not elite, and who doesn't have a career in running, but cares about it a lot, it's hard to perfectly define my priorities.  I would say that my job, my relationship, and my friends/family come first, but in reality, I don't always act that way.  And I do love running most of the time, but it's still just a hobby.  When I look back on how I spent my late twenties in a few years, I hope I don't regret how I spent my time.  I guess it's hard to know now, but I'm doing the best I can.    

(This is just me.  How do you balance being a runner (or whatever else you like to do) with your other commitments?)