Hi yall, hope you're doing well and stacking miles :)
For my career path, which involves collecting timber data and hiking a lot, provides me with housing up at 6,000+ ft in the Sierra Nevada. Last summer I got some good base miles in, peaked at about 60 mpw with a fartleck and a tempo at half marathon pace. 1-2 weekly hill sprints sessions with full recovery and a 14-16 mile long run. I ran my first competitive half in November and got a 1:17 on a hilly course. I'm now 23, turned In Feb. I'd like to see how far I can take this while remaining employed full time.
Where to go from here? I haven't raced since November as a niggle I had been running on for a the past year and a half turned into my first stress fracture :p I am making a slow return :) ohh also I spend about 8 months out of the year up in the forest, but can get the occasional Friday off to drive to a race for sat/sunday. Another idea is spending winters in Kenya, could live and train pretty cheaply. I know a 117 hardly justifies going out to Kenya but hey we all have dreams right?
The way I see it, it's kind of like spending 5,000+ dollars on a specialized road bike, but you are just a "hobby rider." It doesn't change the fact that spending money on your sport of choice is somewhat fulfilling hehe