Saturday 2 July 2011

WORKING IT


No sooner had I committed to my next distance run, the NorCal Half Marathon in San Jose in September, than my work life got in the way of training for same. But I'm still in.

Seriously. What happened was this. For the past six weeks it's been my pleasure to have had almost-full time work at the radio station. Summer is a good time to work at a big radio station for practically everyone involved. If you're a full time staff sort of person, chances are you're entitled to some delicious vacation time...and this is the best time to take it. If you're a fill-in, per diem dude or gal, this is the time you gets lots-o-work...filling in for the lucky sods who have taken off. This has been my lot. The paychecks have been on the handsome side. The hours have been hellish.

I consider myself fairly healthy, and, when I'm able, I'm pretty active for being on the very short side of the big "60". But..getting up at 2am and needing to be productive, let alone coherent, just one hour later...is asking a lot. I've done it, and even enjoyed it. But, upon getting home, there's been no gas left in the tank.

I have done NO training whatsoever. The really cool thing is, I realized today, I'm in good enough shape that it doesn't matter right now. After all...the race is only 13.1 miles.

Time was, like when I was training for my first marathon, 1 mile seemed like a ridiculous distance to travel on foot, all at one go, on purpose. Now, I can say to myself, "Well, it's only a half"...and mean it. I've got a few more early days coming up at the old grindstone..and maybe even another full week of it late in the month, but it would appear things will calm down soon...and I'll be working more training-friendly hours.

I'm also thinking about giving up my gym membership..at least until the winter. Although I will miss the 24-hour access to a jacuzzi, not having the gym option may force me to run more...like outside...in the California sun. I am itching for it...and some long bike rides.

I have also discovered most of my running t-shirts are from races in 2009 and earlier. I am in serious need of some new, free threads. Not counting, of course, the insane entrance fees.

See you out there.

Gotta run!

2 comments:

Rachel said...

glad to hear things are going well on the work front! i don't envy that 2am wake-up though : ) it's not always easy to find a perfect balance amongst everything we do, and maybe right now work just needs more attention. but isn't it great to just have that base level of fitness so you can go run a half on a whim? good luck!

London Cleaners said...

I like this cartoon! It is so funny! I know one that looks almost the same but it says before the semester and after it!