Balancing Training With A Full Time Job — Coach Sarah Portella

A common conundrum. How to balance training with a full time job. When I am talking with a potential new athlete, one question that is often asked is, how do I balance the training around a full-time job? That is a great question, and one that each coach athlete relationship must discuss early on and respect.

Before I started coaching, I had a job that worked me 7 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. I was on my feet literally all day and spent the majority of my time interacting with customers and staff.  I was training for my first Ironman race, had only been married a couple of years, and my husband was working full-time while finishing up his master’s degree. To say our life was busy would be very accurate! That year was a test to my ability to plan and schedule as I had to figure out how to balance work a full training load and family time around two very hectic schedules. This is where having a coach really helped.

I had a coach at that time and one of the big areas he helped with was setting up training around my other commitments. Here is what was most helpful:

He created sessions that stayed within the confines of my time constraints while making them impactful to my goals.

He was available to help me make necessary adjustments if work became too stressful and I found myself overwhelmed.

Throughout the season I became more efficient in how I set about my day. Here are some of the key adjustments I made to save time and be as efficient as possible:

I packed my workout bag(s) the night before with everything that I would need for the following day, and I picked out my work clothes to have ready to go. Because I had to be at work at 7 a.m. it was a flurry of activity in the morning.