Road Racing and Training Thread. Week Ending May 13 2018

They should look to Pittsburgh as the model for reinvention. When steel left it had some tough times until it made itself a medical hub I do believe.

If you teach for more than 20 years in New York you get 35% of your final average salary, plus 2% per year over 20 years. Someone that retires in their early to mid 50s gets a pension of 45% of their final salary. That would mean that a teacher in New York had to be making $145,000 to retire in their early 50s and get paid $65,000/year in pension. In your neck of the woods I believe only the superintendent of the school district would be making that much. The typical retirement salary is more like $94,000. That is $42,000/year. However, I doubt the salary gets that high after only 30 years. (This is a value I have seen for 40 years experience.) Certainly $35-45k is nothing to sneeze at, but I think it’s unlikely many retire at 53 if they have a family. In my dad’s case, he still had kids in high school and continued to work into his mid 60s because he couldn’t afford to take a $55,000/yr pay cut. Teachers also pay about 16% of their salary into the pension from every paycheck.

I am not disagreeing that your taxes are too high, or that there is waste in the government, but I think the fat cats profiting off the system are not located in the classroom.

Anecdotal, and in a different school district than where Allen is, but I have a college teammate who is a middle school history teacher in upstate NY (north of Westchester, south of Albany) and his wife is a middle or high school math teacher. Their combined income is right around $300,000, with that number including some coaching, some summer school (I think) and maybe some SAT prep classes for her and tutoring for each of them. I don't know of the specific allocation between the school district and non-school district work, but the vast bulk of it is derived through the school-district.

I am not begrudging them their success - I think the more hard working and intelligent teachers we have, the better off all of us are, and I think we need to attract talent with money - but I see the numbers Allen has suggested as credible based on that anecdotal evidence.

Now I will say that a woman I used to date teaches in NYC and she doesn't do nearly as well as my friend and his wife do.

The FOIA data I have does not include that part of New York so I can't speak confidently to your anecdote. The numbers I have are very accurate for Western NY. I would imagine property values and the tax base may be different in the area you mention, resulting in wildly different economics in different parts of NY.

Also the percentages still hold, so if they're getting paid more now, they're also paying more into the pension system each year.

hot for teachers-- Thanks for the clarification. Like Smoove, I don't begrudge teachers their salaries nor their pensions.

And I confess my figures were based entirely on a friend who retired after 33 years at age 55. She had been a department head plus taught summer classes, so I imagine her salary was relatively high. She retired nearly 10 years ago, and told me $60K pension at the time. Plus free premium health insurance (my wife and I pay $600/month for less coverage), and no NYS income tax on her pension.

I am happy for her, but in a county where the median household income, even now, is less than $50K, teacher and administrator salaries/pensions are fairly generous. But, really, that's more a reflection on how low others' pay scales are. Anyway, I apologize for painting with such a broad brush. Back to training and racing!

Agree 100% that it is more likely a reflection of under-wages elsewhere, but of course that is a hard pill to swallow when those ubderpaid citizens are the people paying the salaries of public service workers. And of course my numbers are not assuming an administrative position, but just a regular teacher, and I certainly didn't account for healthcare. I just want to make sure the teachers don't get blamed for deficiencies elsewhere in the system, and I believe getting good people in those jobs is important and their pay should reflect that, even if they don't provide profit to shareholders. Sorry to divert from the usually excellent training discussions. Good luck in your 5k.

The civility in this discussion shows how RR&T Thread is the shining city upon a hill at LRC.

Allen - Give it HAIL in the 5k .. is it saturday? I am looking forward to running some 5ks and 10ks this year.. last year I was not as excited

I don’t know if I’m the only teacher on this thread but for what it’s worth I make $41,000 gross income per year, and do not have a retirement account yet Lol. Been teaching in the public school system for 2 years and 7 years total.

$65K...in retirement?! $300K combined?! Huh?!?!?

As most of you know, I teach h.s. in VA. I took an $8K pay cut in taking this job, and I am making under $50K per year...for a family of seven (five children). Things could not be tighter for us teachers down here, especially those with families, and likewise, things could not be tougher in the classroom.

I forgot to add...I make under 50K, and I have a master’s degree...and it is in the subject area (English), not in education.

One other thing...I think Allen mentioned $600 a month in health care...I pay $750 per month, with a massive deductible. I am basically working for health care.

Sorry to get things sidetracked. I was referencing high taxes and low growth in much of upstate New York, that's all. There is obviously a lot of disparity in teacher pay, state to state, and even in NY the starting salaries are quite low. Teachers in other states are beginning to demand appropriate pay, and it's about time.

Today was Day Two of my three-day 5K taper. Three miles easy with 2 x 1-min at race pace. Just wish I wasn't 10 pounds overweight. It's affecting me mentally more than it probably will physically.

One more thing, and then I will shut up...as you can see, were it not for my beloved runs, and a couple of other important things, I might be looking for a high cliff somewhere...

Had another excellent one tonight...13 in the rain...and hills.

Serious question, why not move somewhere that provides more income for a teacher with your credentials? I realize moving isn't easy, I can only imagine how much that is compounded with a family, but would it not be worth it? I hope that does not come off too bad as I'm genuinely interested and do not intend for it to be interpreted as some sort of snarky response.

No offense taken at all, Allen. I know exactly how you meant it.

I wish you the very best in your 5k. In fact, I remembered you and your 5k while I ran this evening, offering a prayer for a good result for you. Went 13.13 in 1:26:25...with a 6:03 and a 5:58 to finish, and faster than last week’s 1:26:42.

Go get ‘em, my friend!

OR - Have you considered looking for a job a bit east of you? I bet Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties probably pay a bit more. With all the growth in Loudoun, that is probably your best bet. If you had an education specific masters, that would help. The price you would have to pay is a longer commute. If you can find a job in the west end of those counties it might not be too bad.

Hadd Training

So for people interested in Hadd-style base building and my progress, I plan to post my Hadd test results for you guys and anyone who might search the archives for data in the future.

I have been using the Hadd-style training for the past approximately 6 weeks. Nothing other than the prescribed times/heartrates EXCEPT that back-to-back weekend of races. I did NOT do a test prior to beginning the cycle just because I didn't do it. However, exactly one year ago, I did a Hadd test at the beginning of last year's base training. I provide that data as a comparative baseline.

My test does not follow the Hadd protocol to the letter. Hadd calls for 2400m at each HR while I do 2000m cuz it's convenient for the course I use. That's the second deviation. I do not do the test on a track; instead, I run around a lake near my home. I try to take the day before the test off. Try to take the test in the morning. I cannot control for the temperature, but I can account for it when interpreting my data. So anyway, here it is.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EUIC5zrFYXe65tXRIyXvuhjgJ-LKXmWe

Nice work Coach! Just saw this on Strava with the teaser of more details coming. These are good details I am looking for!

I doubt it matters much how you alter the test, so long as you are consistent with each test. Like you said, can't control for weather on this, but I think the temps make your times even better. Can't wait to see the next test. Keep up the steady work.