During summer breaks from college, I used to have plenty of free time on my hands. To an extent, I had almost too much of it at my disposal. But, as a runner who can’t sit still for long periods of time, I decided to put the free time to good use by chasing after my strength goals.

Five days a week, I spent upwards of an hour at the gym, working on everything from my arm strength to my core stability. I structured my strength session intensity to correlate with my tougher running workouts, and I fell in love with my extensive fitness routine. Come fall, I returned to school more than capable of tackling any hills or strength-based work thrown my way during cross-country training and racing.

But fast forward to now, and let’s just say entering the working world doesn’t leave much time—or energy, for that matter—to dedicate to extracurriculars. Once I started my career, I quickly found it much more difficult to run and lift as I once had.…