Marathon or Sprint?

Published on: April 29, 2013

My life is now lived in snippets. I need to train differently.

Marathon or Sprint? Back in the day, I ran marathons. Not just the 26.2 mile races on foot. My LIFE was a marathon. I worked twelve hour days, enjoyed full-day shopping excursions, spent entire afternoons reading a book. I went for three-hour runs on the weekends, attended graduate school at night, and cleaned the house top to bottom at least once a week. There was no need to hurry. I set a pace I could sustain and kept at it, day in and day out.

At some point along this course called life, I evolved from a marathoner into a sprinter. With my own company to run and three kids, my days now are more likely to look like this:

SPRINT through a workout before the kids wake up. Answer a few emails and tidy up.
SPRINT through shower, hair and makeup. Make beds/dress children/supervise teeth brushing.
PAUSE to enjoy breakfast.
SPRINT to get kids on the bus/off to camp/settled in with Granny. Pack car with computer/files/iPhone/Target returns.
SPRINT to get in an hour or two of work before the first client appointment.
PAUSE to cherish unhurried time with a client. SPRINT to eat lunch/shop for a new toilet paper holder (or ridiculous necessity of the day).
SPRINT to write blog post/make sales calls/confirm client appointments/research new software/watch a webinar/troubleshoot a client issue/make pediatrician appointments.
PAUSE to meet with another client or someone on the Nourish team.
SPRINT to drive home/talk to girlfriend/plan a birthday party/make a grocery list in my head.SPRINT to make dinner/go through mail/tidy up kitchen/change clothes.
PAUSE to give hugs, play, collect kisses and marvel over craft projects.
SPRINT to check email/pay bills/get to soccer practice or other event.
SPRINT to finish up work/prep for next day/plan lunches/give baths/put on PJs.
PAUSE to catch up with my husband John. Read a little. Fall asleep. Wake up. Begin it all again.

Gone are the days of long uninterrupted stretches! My life is lived in snippets, and I find that I need to train differently for these intervals than I did for my marathons. It’s harder to coast because I can’t build much momentum in these short bursts. Long periods of focus aren’t required, but getting down to business quickly is.

I’ve been a sprinter for a number of years now and I’m finally getting used to it. I find that setting the right expectations helps immensely. Speed matters now, not distance. Being realistic about how many projects I can complete in a day helps me feel like a success rather than a failure.

What’s the rhythm of YOUR life? Are you a marathon runner or a sprinter? More importantly, are you training and setting expectations for the right type of daily race?

Author

Cherylanne Skolnicki

Cherylanne Skolnicki is an expert on how to ease the tension between women's ambitions and their family lives. She has taught thousands of brilliant women around the world how to re-engineer their lives so they can play big both at work and at home while protecting restorative time for themselves. With a B.S. from Cornell and an MBA from Emory, 15 years as a marketing executive at Procter & Gamble, and more than a decade as an entrepreneur, Cherylanne is now a trusted advisor to female leaders in business, medicine, law, science, entertainment, and academia. As the Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Brilliant Balance, she also hosts the top rated Brilliant Balance podcast. Her work has been featured on NBC, ABC, and CBS, and in publications like Forbes, Working Mother, and The Huffington Post. She is a Forty Under 40 Honoree, one of Cincinnati’s 100 Wise Women, and a member of the American Academy of Achievement. Together with her husband of 22 years, she is a proud parent of three dynamic teens. With her signature Brilliant Balance Blueprint, she teaches women how to make room for themselves in the middle of their very full lives.

Founder and CCO