Don't have time to exercise?

Skeemer118

I read this article on RunnersWorld.com today. It sure kicked my tail into finding the time to exercise & also kicked my "excuses" to the curb. :blushing:

Article -

On her drive to work most mornings, Sheri Piers calls her best friend, Kristin Barry, to plan where and when they're going to run that afternoon.

Nothing remarkable about that, except that they'll have already spent most of the early morning together, running between 10 and 20 miles around Portland, Maine, before rushing home to get their kids to the school bus stop.

In the darkness and extreme cold, they've logged their miles and kept a steady conversation going—sometimes through frozen face masks, occasionally over insults yelled by snowplow drivers. The friendship has propelled both to excellence. Piers, 40, is a 2:37 marathoner and the 2011 national masters champion at the distance, and Barry, 38, has a marathon PR of 2:40. Next stop is a warmer climate: the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston. (See our Trials preview, page 60.)

Although Piers and Barry will likely trail the top three winners by several minutes, just lining up at the Trials ranks as a rare accomplishment. To qualify, a woman must run faster than 2:46. In 2008, only 124 women—Piers and Barry among them—finished the event.

"There's no way I would have accomplished what I have training on my own," Piers says. "Kristin feels the same way."

The two do whatever it takes to meet their running goals without disrupting their work and family lives. After the morning run, Piers, who has three children ages 8 to 11, is off to her job as a nurse practitioner. Barry, a nonpracticing attorney with kids 7 and 10 and a husband who's often away on business, is now a high school cross-country coach. They run early on weekends, too, so they can be home in time for family activities.

At first glance, the two aren't likely candidates for best friends. Piers is outgoing, a hugger, and seems to be in a different outfit for every run. Barry is introverted, a reader, and prides herself on her 15-year-old tights. Piers is the natural marathoner who thrives on long runs and tempo workouts; Barry excels at 5-Ks and pounding out repeats on the track. But the counterbalance seems to work.

"I'm more analytical," Barry says. "Sheri's better at dreaming big and not putting limitations on performances."

"Kristin is a friggin' running encyclopedia!" Piers says. "If she says we can run a race in a certain time, we can."

In 2005, they met at a turkey trot, which Barry won. Although Piers was a state champion in high school cross-country and on the track team, at the time she was running only 20 miles a week and finished a minute behind Barry. The two got to talking. Barry encouraged Piers to join the Dirigo Running Club, which helped Piers get motivated to train harder. By that fall, she dipped under 3:00 in the marathon for the first time.

At the 2007 Philadelphia Marathon, they ran side by side from the start, holding hands as they finished in 2:45:37, good for a 2008 Olympic Trials qualifier. In the years since, they've increased their training to 120 miles per week.

They lean on each other for more than mileage. When Piers was going through a divorce in 2009, "it was nice to know I had Kristin to confide in." Piers comforted Barry through a knee injury in 2010.

If you had asked them a year ago how much longer they planned to keep balancing high-level running with the rest of their lives, they would have said the 2012 Trials would be their swan song. Now they're not so sure.

"I feel like we've been saying 'one more year' for forever," Barry says. She looks at Piers, shrugs, and the two laugh.

Adds Piers, "It blows my mind that we never run out of anything to say, even after all those miles."