Balancing Holiday Life + Training (Without Burning Out)
The holidays come with a unique kind of overload: extra commitments, travel, unpredictable schedules, and a lot of emotional noise. For runners, this can feel like you're constantly choosing between your training and everything else happening around you.
Here’s the truth: you don’t have to choose. You just have to shift how you approach training during this month.
Adjust your expectations.
Your “perfect” training week might not happen in December, and that’s normal. Consistency is more important than intensity. When you go from training hard for a race or event, to not training as often, it’s easy to feel a little guilty, or antsy, but look at this period of time as a sort of "maintenance" period: a time to preserve previous gains and plan for new goals, but without too much stress or volume. You don’t “lose fitness” overnight :)
Anchor your workouts.
Pick the time of day that’s least likely to get interrupted. For many athletes, that’s early morning or right after work. Even 20–30 minutes creates stability.
Shorten without sacrificing quality.
When your schedule is packed, strength, mobility, and shorter aerobic sessions give you the most return for the least amount of time. A workout is a workout, no matter how short or long it is. Prioritize accountability and consistency over duration and intensity.
Embrace flexibility.
Some days will look different than planned. That’s not failure, it’s smart periodization. The goal this month is to maintain rhythm, not perfection.
Prioritize mental health and recovery.
Whether it’s taking up a new hobby, like yoga or meditation, or shifting your focus to getting better quality sleep, reading motivational books, or planning for next year’s training goals, this can still count as training and can be super motivating.
Inside Movement & Miles, you’ll find short-strength sessions, audio guided runs, and mobility workouts written for busy seasons. Keep showing up - even in smaller ways - and you’ll enter January already ahead.
