"I don't have enough time for running."

"I'd join a club if I had the time."

"I'd love to get fit if I could afford it."

How often have you heard these sorts of stock responses when talking about running with friends, colleagues or family members? The implication is that running, or fitness training in general, is a luxury which you can afford but others can't. Does this hold any water? Cue Eagles.

Every training session since the Marathon Talk on Tuesday 8th of January, Eagles have been discussing their "running budgets"; a tidy phrase coined by our very own Nanda. Although she raised it in the context of marathon training, it is crucial for all of us - deciding on a 'budget' of time, money and commitment to training, and sticking to it. Simple as that.

We wish.

What is a running budget?

It's the simple and yet vastly complex question of how much you can set aside for running. Most of us are busy people with families, jobs and other responsibilities, and as Nanda reminded those considering or already training for marathons, it determines what we can realistically achieve.

But like any other budget, there is such thing as creative accountancy.

The club already offers a very good range of training times and levels, which are adapted to the busy lifestyles Londoners lead. The Monday and Wednesday night sessions with three different distances, scheduled for 7.30pm, are probably the most accessible, attracting the biggest crowds. Weekend morning sessions (Saturday parkrun and Sunday 10 miler) cater for the weekend warriors. But even with a great menu of runs available, your budget might not allow for these times. What then?

Tips from creative accountants

When I posted on the club Facebook page for some wisdom on 'creative accountancy' with the running budget, a good many Eagles stepped up with characteristic verve. From what they had to say, I gleaned the following tips. If you're finding it hard to fit in the training you want, this is your chance to prick your ears up and take note of the collective wisdom of Eagles

1. Work out a schedule with your partner

Many of the comments mentioned ways of joining in a partner's training sessions and using them as cross-training so as to 'spend more time together' and involve other halves in our training (rather that taking more time away from them). Melissa uses weekend morning training sessions as a way of "giving the hubby a lie-in", or do the evening session "before the hubby gets back from work". Training is done without hubby having to sit around resenting being a running widower. Magic!

2. Kids like sports; join the fun!

 Nanda's kids must have the fittest Mum in town. Rather than abandoning sports because she has to take the kids to football, she has her son cycle while she runs, adding (tongue in cheek?) that this is a "good way to get fast". No time for cross-training? Play football with the kids! 

3. Play to home advantage

Combining duty and fun, Christine heads out early on weekend mornings to take the kids to football and squeezes her parkrun in. Her husband takes over on a Wednesday to give her a welcome running break midweek: in her own words " having set times for club runs has definitely helped me do more running as I can schedule the runs and my family all know it's a regular part of the week". Mondays and Thursdays are out for Christine, and the week is planned around this.

4. Work it out while working out

Godfrey's approach to time management is characteristically, well... Godfrey-esque. Tricky data-modelling problems are solved on the treadmill. While this probably doesn't work if you're a bricklayer, plenty of jobs involve cogitating which can be done on the run. How better?

5. Beat TfL with a pair of trainers

Yvonne's creative thinking gets her fitter, happier and out of London's gridlock. "If we are going somewhere by car then I will often run there or run back instead of going in the car (and often I get there first as they get stuck in traffic!" 

I have often made use of this (perfectly valid) excuse myself to justify a run to or from home. Londoners pay through the eye teeth to be jammed up against somebody's armpit for longer than it would take to gently jog the route. A decent map and a bit of preparation, and you can fit a 10k into your week without taking any more time away from work, family or pub time.

6. Find the right training plan

You don't have to train more than 3 times per week to run a marathon, with the right plan. Once again, Yvonne's got this one sorted:

I find it hard to run more than 2-3 times a week so if I am training for something I tend to use the First Institute schedules based on three (harder) runs a week which I can just about manage

7. Socialise on the run!

Sandra had to make some pretty big changes in order to justify the money for races especially. Getting fit and socialising are best of friends on her calendar rather than competitors for her time and attention.

With so many fascinating characters in our club, save the weekly chinwag for the evening run, and improve anaerobic fitness while you're at it. You want to catch up with a friend who doesn't run? Get them to join the club, lose the latte and chat over a piping hot 5 miler. Don't believe me? Start a conversation on a Wednesday run next time you're there. 

8. Convert wasted cash into running money

Sandra's beer money now fuels her racing budget.

I've stopped going out so much and the money I would spend on a night out now goes on signing up for races mainly. 

Like Sandra, I've had to justify expenses elsewhere. My own commute to work running has helped me fit in up to 40k of distance training into the week without taking time away from the family, but also saves cash. I last worked it out to an average of £40 per month saved on tube fares. Put the tube fare saved in a jar after each commute, and there's your cash for racing and technical tops.

If you want to read the full version of what the Eagle stalwarts do to budget creatively for their running, have a good look at the thread on our forum, it's worth reading. There is a wealth of advice in this club to get around the time and money constraints of staying fit and achieving goals, just ask.

But crucially, the next time somebody dismisses running as the privilege of the carefree, think of how on earth the busy Mums in our club made time to write their own experiences on our forum. Look back to the person scoffing at the water cooler, and remember: if you want to share running goals, ask a busy person.