My friend Sandy who is also a working and running mama emailed me to ask recently, how do make time for running? This is really a bigger question I think, which is, can you have it all? I’ve been a stay at home mom and a working mom and I really don’t think you can have it all. You can’t have everything you want, the way you want it, when you want it without some sacrifices (like, ahem, updating your blog). We all have the same finite amount of time available in each day. When we have more demands on that time, we need to really figure out what things are most important. For me running is one of those important things so I will make time for that before a lot of other things.

But I’m lucky, I work from home so it’s easy for me to go for a run on my lunch hour, which is what I do nearly every day. But for moms like Sandy, it’s trickier but not impossible. Here’s a few ideas on how to fit in running when your time is squeezed.

Stock Up – I know that when Friday rolls around all we can think about is relaxing. But the weekends are a great opportunity to load up on your workout time. Try doing half of your weekly mileage on Saturday and Sunday. Do two long’ish runs – between 6-8 miles each day. Then you can squeeze in just two shorter runs during the week and still have a decent mileage base.

Get up and Get Moving – I am not a morning person. I am not cheerful or all that nice when I get out of bed. But I must concede the point that when I run in the morning, it wakes me up and sets the tone for a great day. I really do feel more energized all day.  If you get up earlier and get your exercise done then you don’t have to worry about it the rest of the day and when that end of day fatigue sets in, you can just give in and go to bed early guilt free.

Buddy Up – Especially if you are going to run in the morning, find a running buddy. Check out the running clubs in your area, a lot of them have message boards to find running buddies. Or check out seemommyrun and see if there are any mom runners in your neighborhood. If not, start your own group on seemommyrun. If your office has workout/shower facilities ask around and see if there are any runners who might want to join you for a lunch time run.

Splitsville – Breaking your run into two chunks might make it easier to squeeze in. Run 15 minutes in the morning (hey, you’re going to shower anyway, right?) and 15 minutes after you get home from work. Throw your munchkin in the jogging stroller and spend some time talking about her day. If you have older kids get them to ride their bikes along with you. Or better yet, find a park or attraction that’s about a 15 minute run away, run to the park and play, then run home. You get to spend time with your little one and you get a workout.

Taking time to exercise even if it means time away from your kids, is worth the sacrifice. You are showing yourself and your kids that you and your health are important.

Here’s another French group for your running mix, but they sing in English and they are quite awesome. This song puts a spring in my step when I’m running, I really like it for the long hill to my house that I have to tackle at the end of every run.

Today my mother claimed that he has ennui. Which reminded me of Neville in the Gashlycrumb Tinies, poor Neville died of ennui. My mother’s source of ennui is winter. They’ve had a particularly cold and brutal winter in her neck of the woods so I don’t blame her. We moved to Austin particularly because of the mild winters and in some strange city swap, this year we seem to have been given Seattle’s winter. Our back yard is a sort of pond and I realize that the toddler’s rain coat and rain boots are now too small. While I am a somewhat hearty runner, cold and rain are my least favorite combo so the past few days I’ve chosen to hit the gym.

I think a change of pace is just the thing for a touch of ennui. My least favorite piece of equipment at the gym is the dreadmill so unless I’m training for something and HAVE TO get the miles in, I opt for the elliptical machines (actually I’d love to swim but my gym doesn’t have a pool). On the few occasions I skip a workout because of weather, I feel guilty all day so I’d rather at least do something. A routine is nice but as I told my daughter last night after she discovered she liked the broccoli nuggets I made her try, if you try new things you’ll discover you just might like them. So if winter or life has got you dragging, make a little change. Try a new class, download a yoga podcast, or take a swim. Don’t end up like poor Neville.

I feel really sorry for people who live in tropical locales where the weather is beautiful every day. What must they use as a topic of conversation when they meet someone new? And without the universal complaint that binds us all together “boy this weather sucks today!” They don’t know what they are missing.

My linkmaker isn’t cooperating today, but if you want to listen to a little musical ennui, check out Django Rheinhardt’s Fleur d’Ennui.

Whenever I see older runners, especially women, I say to myself, “I want to be like them when I’m that age.” I’d also like to be like Betty White who always answers “Robert Redford” when asked “what’s the one thing in your career you’ve never done.” But then I saw this video of Joy Johnson, an 81 year old marathoner. And now, I’d like to be just like Joy. Well if I could be a Betty/Joy hybrid, I’d be pretty content in my old age. Take a few minutes to watch this video about Joy, it will put a smile on your face and might even make you want to lace up your running shoes and start training for a marathon.

If you listen to my running mix suggestions you’ve probably picked up that I love me some French music. Today’s pick is a French singer and the daughter of a French singer. I love French things even though France to me is a lot like New Years’ Eve. You always think it should be way more romantic and awesome than it usually is so it’s kind of a letdown. But I have this very vivid memory of sitting on a park bench near the Eiffel Tower next to my husband, each of us reading a book, and tearing pieces off the most amazing baguette  and I think France is kind of cool. Seriously, any country that invented pain au chocolat can’t be all bad.

It’s an odd race run in a series of underground storage facilities. But there are lots of donuts at the finish line! It got me thinking of fun and funny races, like the one a running friend’s brother did. It was a relay and instead of a baton the runners passed each other a burrito and the rule was that your burrito had to be completely eaten by the end of the race.

Thinking of my first race got me excited about running some more races and better yet, got me looking ahead to warmer, sunnier days that as the groundhog will tell us soon, are lurking on the horizon. I’ve already got one race on the schedule and I’m trying to convince my friend Joanna to venture south and do the Danskin triathlon with me in June. And if Joanna’s willing to do something different, I’m thinking I should be too, so I’m going to try and find a fun or different race too. I’ve always wanted to try one of those adventure races. As long as it doesn’t involve orienteering, because I do not need the embarrassment of being the only competitor who gets lost with GPS.

I think 2010 should be the year of venturing outside your comfort zone. Do something that scares you a little bit. My mom was telling me about an episode of This Emotional Life about fears and the guidance was that you really need to face your fears. “Unless it’s bears” I said. “What?” said my mom. “Unless your fear is bears, it’s not a good idea to confront them.” “True” she agreed. So let’s all resolve to do something a little bit frightening this year. Something that doesn’t involve bears that is. Like running a 10k instead of a 5k, that’s scary, but in a good way.

Here’s a little something bearish for your running mix.

The Hidden Benefits of Exercise highlights research that shows that exercise lessens the impact of the common cold, incidence of diabetes and high blood pressure, mortality and risk of recurrent breast cancer, risk of colon cancer, risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, and can decrease depression as effectively as Prozac. And as many of us know, just doing the minimum amount of anything isn’t always enough. After studies of runners, there’s also evidence that this is the same of the recommended exercise guidelines of 30 minutes per day. Researcher Dr. Paul Williams found that the more miles runners put in, the greater their health benefits. Another interesting thing the studies showed was that as we age, runners need to add 1.4 miles a week to our mileage to fight off weight gain (that or reduce their cupcake consumption by 1.4 cupcakes per week – this is my theory).

The best way to ensure that you will get your workout done is to do it first thing in the day. I had an epiphany today about my status as a morning person. I always say “I’m not a morning person” but the truth is that I’m a begrudging morning person. I don’t jump out of bed and greet the morning, but I do get up early, by 6 a.m., and get a whole heck of a lot done in the mornings, including exercise. Exercise has to be one of those things you don’t “try to fit in” it has to be a blocked out part of your day. It has to be fairly non-negotiable. Then you have your evenings free to watch stuff like Conveyor Belt of Love.

Now as of tomorrow, you’re all morning people. Get to exercising in the a.m.! Here’s a morning song for your running mix.

So if you have a day when your long run stinks or you don’t get out for a run ask yourself “what’s the worst thing that can happen if I cut short this run?” You’ll realize that tomorrow’s a new day, a day to do it better and how great is that? You have the opportunity to make every single day better than the one before, every single run better than the one before it. Of course they won’t all be but the promise of better is always there. If you have trouble sticking with a routine or setting goals that seem out of reach, just shoot for better. Even if the only thing that’s better is your attitude, that counts for a lot.

Have a better run or workout with this tune.

After our day of travel yesterday I got a nice night’s sleep and was ready to run this morning. It was 7 degrees when we left Omaha yesterday morning and so the 40 degrees we had here this morning seemed positively balmy. I like to ease back into my running routine so I did an easy 3 miles and it felt great and I’m ready to run again tomorrow. I’m also ready to work on my 2010 goals.

I’ve got some race goals in mind but one thing I’ve always been bad about is incorporating a little strength training into my routine. I want some more muscle tone in my arms and abs (ok ANY muscle tone in my abs if you must know), and I want to find something I can do at home so I’ll be more likely to stick with it. To help me plan out my goals, I’m using my brand spanking new fitbook that my friend Joanna gave me.

So, who has a favorite at home strength training exercise I should do? Please remember that I tripped over a safety cone so my coordination is a little wonky. I need easy and not likely to end up with a broken bone type exercises!

Since 2009 is drawing to a close, here’s a New Year’s song for your holiday run mix.

I’m also thinking about my 2010 plans. I like to use the upcoming New Year as an opportunity to set some new goals. The goal setting is also a way to ensure that if I slide toward the end of the year in my running routine I know my 2010 will start out on a good foot, so to speak! So far I’m thinking for 2010:

• Run the Chicago Marathon
• Keep track of every mile I run in 2010
• Do at least one triathlon

How do you stay on course as the year winds down? What are your goals for 2010?

Yesterday a friend was going to the Nutcracker with her four year old and I was thinking that I can’t wait until my little girl is old enough to go. I love the Nutcracker, hard to believe that when it premiered it was not quite embraced, a critic said “For dancers there is rather little in it, for art absolutely nothing, and for the artistic fate of our ballet, one more step downward.” I’ll take the Nutcracker over Dora the Explorer any day. Here’s a little bit of the Nutcracker for your holiday run mix.

I have a few shirts with quasi mitten cuffs but they don’t cover my whole hands, and gloves are inevitably too warm. Someone needs to invent a running shirt that has fold over mitten cuffs like they have on those little gowns for babies. I saw these cool gloves, they might be too warm for me but those of you who live farther north of the equator might find them useful. They even have a built in key pocket, that’s pretty sweet.

Well I stuck with my pledge and altered my running route, I took a loop I haven’t done for a while and it was a nice change of pace. So the next challenge is to embrace a hill. Most of us hate hills and usually slow our pace when we climb and speed up on the descent. Switch things up, conquer the next hill you encounter – run as hard as you can and slow up on the descent for your recovery. For extra credit, run the hill again. I live at the top of a long gradual hill and especially on long run days, the hill gets the best of me. Not tomorrow though.

Here’s a Hanukkah song for your running mix. I love this song, last year we had a holiday get together for my book club and we played this and the kids danced the hora and loved it.

Exercise is one of those virtues. You shouldn’t start running or an exercise routine because you want to look skinny or sexy for someone else. You should do it for yourself. Do it because it makes you feel good. Do it because you want to be healthy. December is the hardest month to stay on track though. My friend Joanna had a good idea, adding just one small thing to your workout to help you stay motivated. I’m going to try and think up a small running challenge for myself each day. I was going to try and run every day in December but I just don’t think that’s going to be feasible with traveling and holiday chaos.

Today’s challenge: mix up your route. I run pretty much the same route every day. From my house I run a mile to the park and then run on the trail until I hit the halfway point of the distance I’m running. On my next run I’m going to run a different way home to mix things up. If you run a loop, try running it the opposite way. Run down a different street in your neighborhood. Or run a completely different trail. Just a little something different to make you think!

Today’s mix is a Hanukkah song from Sacha Baron Cohen’s brother. Seriously, the dude is a musician!