Best Side Job while Going All-in on Running

I'm having trouble seeing how freelance writing isn't the ideal job for you. However, I suppose that I don't know what it entails exactly. For one, I'm assuming you're working from home most of the time, saving you an hour and some money each day by not having to commute. Second, you probably set your own schedule which is invaluable for training. Third, and again I'm assuming, you are making more than $1200/month from this job. As a freelancer, that means that you can maybe start working only 30-35 hours/week and have 5-10 extra training/recovery hours each week. I think this could make a huge difference between too much stress and just enough stress.

I'd also add, however, that living off only $1200/month will give you more stress and take up more of your time than working a better paying job. That would mean you are spending a lot of time grocery shopping and cooking meals that are both nutritious and cheap. Also, anytime something goes wrong (your car breaks down?), you might not have money to fix it right away.

So, maybe a small change in your schedule could be ideal as opposed to a total rework of your life?

Say what, now wrote:

Why do so many sub-sub elites want to squander so much time and energy on what is ultimately a selfish and meaningless endeavor?

We need to instill in people a desire to pursue meaningful things. 26 is too old for such trivial pursuits.

Thank you to everyone who has thrown out suggestions. It truly has been helpful.

And to answer your question, I don't see it as selfish, and I definitely don't see it as meaningless.

Competing as a runner has been my fastest route to self discovery. I don't think there's anyone on here who hasn't come out of a tough race thinking they got nothing out of it. One day I'll hit my potential. And then I can take on the rest of my life knowing I had the toughness, bravery, and intelligence to get there.

Barista!

Back in the late 70's I took a year off from work ( I flipped a house and sold it to fund my year ). It was great! I upped my weekly miles from 60 to 75, ran twice a day and got ranked in my running association. I was never more than a local class runner but I set four major PR's and had a ball.

What kind of freelance writing do you do? I'm going to echo other people and say that's the ideal gig, especially because you won't turn 30 and realize you've got no career plan. If you're doing copywriting or something, that's definitely a grind, but there are ways up.

Maybe get into feature writing? It probably wouldn't be tough to break in with running publications.

I did exactly what you've described this past year to try to make the Trials this summer. I was coaching collegiately the last 5 years which had some advantages for training, but overall the stress and travel took a lot away as well. I took the approach of finding work that is not stressful and also had side benefits for training. I work some hours at a running store, which at a small, independent store is definitely NOT being on your feet all day unless you're in the middle of the city. Side benefit: free or discounted gear. Yes, sometimes the store gets busy, but much more of the time I'm able to sit, not to mention that during the process of actually fitting someone you tend to also be sitting a lot. As a second gig, I picked up some office hours at a sports chiropractor who does ART and has an Alter-G treadmill on site, because one of the benefits of working there is free injury treatment and use of all modalities. Because I would have been paying for this normally, it is actually a way to save money. The key is, with both of these jobs unlike coaching, I take home zero stress and baggage at the end of the day.

As some have mentioned, you have to be willing to give up social life if you truly want to live on very little money and train your best. I do literally zero social activities, but that means I save money and sleep 10-12 hours every night. I know it's not forever, so I don't feel like I am missing out on life. As for job continuity, at least in the coaching realm, it's fairly understood by most coaches / employers when I explain that I "took a year off to train for the Olympics." That is a little misleading since I will not make the team, but seeing as lots of people don't really understand the details of track, it serves the purpose and people tend to accept that as a reasonable explanation for not having a real job for a year or two.

Be strategic about what your needs are and try to find work that could help address that. As above... I am injury prone, so squeezing treatment out of the deal was a win win. Also, screw the pessimists on the board, you definitely won't regret that you went for it!

Where do you live? You might be able to find a local runner who is financially successful willing to host you for a period of time in exchange for chores.

IT is the way to go! Very low stress most of the time. As a writer you'd be able to wrangle into a technical writer role (writing procedural-design-usage documentation) somewhere with a software or hardware company. Very solid salaries, and 9-5 so you can run before and after work. And the salary means you can afford to go to the races where you can run the fastest times:

Marathons: Berlin / Chicago / Tokyo / London / Rotterdam

Halves: New York / Ageo City Half , Japan / Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia / RAK Half Marathon, UAE

Consider this.... wrote:

How bout driving for Uber?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/johanabhuiyan/what-uber-drivers-really-make-according-to-their-pay-stubs#.exKBNXgwbo

This is a good idea.

Were I in your shoes, I'd tutor the SAT. Find a tutoring company like C2 or Kaplan, hours might be 3-8 five days a week and then saturday afternoons, which should be enough time for twice a day workouts during the week and long runs on the weekend.

You probably will miss a lot of track club workouts catered to 9-5 folks though.

Not Cool Bro wrote:

Substitute teaching sucks. The pay is absolutely pathetic even if you are a certified teacher and if you aren't certified it's basically minimum wage. As a non-certified substitute, you're probably going to get put in a lot of teacher aid positions in special ed classrooms. On your feet all day and very stressful job. I wouldn't recommend it for this guy.

The only plus to subbing is you're out relatively early (school is out 2-3:30PM) and you can decide what days you want to work. So if you have a big workout Friday or a race Saturday, you can just decline any jobs you are offered for that Friday.

Substitute teachers get $130/day around here for a 7.5 hour day. 8:00am-3:30pm Work 4 days a week and make $2000 x 9 months, don't work the summer and still average $1500/month.

Otherwise, deliver pizzas 3-4 evenings a week and you should clear your $1200 threshold. run - nap - run - work - bed

If you are a 2:25 talent, you should be able to score some easy cash cherry picking road races as tempo workouts.

Software dev. Work 12 hours a month.

Say what, now wrote:

Why do so many sub-sub elites want to squander so much time and energy on what is ultimately a selfish and meaningless endeavor?

We need to instill in people a desire to pursue meaningful things. 26 is too old for such trivial pursuits.

Says the guy who likely also bitches about how weak our running/marathoning results are nowadays compared to the 80s.

Here subs make 95 a day aand you almost certainly won't be subbing every day. Its extremely difficult to sub at all the first 2-3 weeks of school. Then still challenging into october. Then you've got break, holidays, teacher work days, half days (you don't get paid for a whole day like regular teachers), snow days, etc. Plus the school district hires enough subs so that every day there are enough, or more than enough, for all the abscences. Which means its probably not too difficult to sub the friday before spring break, but extremely challenging the first week of 2nd semester, the tuesday after spring break, etc. I'd say unless you have it in with someone, ie your mother is the principal at a local school, no waydo you work every day and most likely your finances will be at a point where you have to find employment over the summer unless you're going to live off rice and beans and never go out.

I did these two jobs ( not simultaneously) while delaying career and pursuing running: substitute teaching or night custodian for office buildings.

Sub: need 4 yr degree, pass a competency test. Hrs 8-3ish, can decline or accept jobs. Pay in California is 100-150 per day, no benefits. You can sign up in more than one district . You will need to get up early for the days you work. And you probably will have to be on your feet often. Over time, you will learn what schools and assignments to accept or avoid.

Night custodian: on feet a lot obviously, but if work at night you are guaranteed to be able to sleep in and get full rest, which is extremely important when training . Pay isn't great usually, but you can probably find a company that's looking for someone to take on various -

1 to 20 hour a week accounts. You take on the hour load you need.

Say what, now wrote:

Why do so many sub-sub elites want to squander so much time and energy on what is ultimately a selfish and meaningless endeavor?

We need to instill in people a desire to pursue meaningful things. 26 is too old for such trivial pursuits.

Please tell me what is a "meaningful thing". We all die eventually.

Here's a question someone posed to me recently, "Can you name all 8 of your great-grandparents?" Most people can't come close. While that's kind of depressing in 3 generations your family won't even know your name, it's the perfect counterpoint to your argument.

Enjoy live while you have health.

Or please tell us what he should be working on? Building a house that last 500 years? A Coloseum?

One of my best friends married a doctor and has been a stay at home dad the last 10 years. He is a tremendously successful coach, but from 26-32 he ran his heart out, maximized his talent to 66:00/2:23 and loved it.

Marry someone that has a good job and live within your means and contribute what you can.

Des Moines, Iowa

Last year, the district averaged 190 teachers gone per day with an average of 30 slots unfilled. The pay is $135/day for the 2015-16 school year.

The pay jumps to $170/day if in a long-term slot where you sub for 10 straight days, such as a maternity leave situation.

Des Moines is surrounded by 6+ additional school districts in the top 20 for size in the state, all within a 15-20 minute drive. One would have little to no trouble finding daily slots.

Refereeing basketball in the winter can also be a good gig. One can work 4-5 nights a week pulling in $400/wk for 10 total hours of work, and get in a mile or two of easy jogging. I don't ref, but know many who do.

Combine subbing with reffing and you are pulling $30k/year while working

How long of a commute did you have when you had the 9-5? If it was an hour you could have slept until at least 7. And what about running at lunch instead of before work?

Billingslee wrote:

I think you are making a mistake and making excuses if you put your career on hold thinking you can run better if you worked less. When you are young you think money and material things dont matter, but next thing you know you turned 40 and living expenses skyrocketed and you are still living check by check and people who you despise become your managers and boss. You can have a job and still run.

This is the best advice you have received in this thread. No criticism of your interest in pursuing your running, or trying to be the best you can be. But, if you are not earning and saving something now -- in your 20s -- you will regret it. So you work full-time -- try to find something that you are good enough at to have some success, and that you enjoy enough to keep doing it, and that earns decent $$.

Do the best you can with your running. Maybe you would have been a bit better had you been financially independent, but perhaps not.

Paying 1/4 of your income for health insurance is seriously WRONG.