Best Side Job while Going All-in on Running

Grad school may be a good option, especially if you think you only need 2-3 years to get the most out of your running. You'll make enough to live on, usually have few set time/schedule obligations, and it won't be a blank spot on the resume. If you're not interested in a PhD, I've known several people that used a PhD program for the funding, and then just took a masters after they completed coursework (making it essentially free).

With some sort of assistantship, you'll commonly make 15-25k for fall and spring semesters. In a Ph.D. program, things usually don't get stressful until the ~3rd year or so (exams, research proposal...) You also have the option of student loans, and possibly extra summer work/$ from the program.

Grad school experience can vary quite a bit between schools and departments/advisors. Some have it pretty easy (e.g. Teaching a 1hr lab) while others are completely slammed (e.g. Tons of hours in the lab running experiments).

J.R. wrote:

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

Amen x 10,000.

For myself, I have lifeguarded during the summers, and have gotten great training it. I work 10-6, so I do a 4-5 mile run in the morning, and something longer in the evening, either a workout, a tempo, or just another run. I usually get 2-3 days off a week. Also, I'm able to cross train at the pool, so when I have breaks I either go swim or use the weights they have in the back room. It works for me. The job is super relaxing and easy, and training always goes good.

Gay4Pay. Get your skinny ass out there. Some Jewish hairy sicko will pay you to do his hairy behind. Very promise career.

wow, very interesting. Here long term rate is like 120 a day. 2 neighboring districts are within 30 minute drive of me, but pay in the 80s. I think it might be like this all over the southeastern US.

Haven't read the thread yet, but a couple of thoughts.

Pushing back normalcy is fine. Not being prepared for a real job once you get there ISN'T going to be fine. If your writing can eventually take you somewhere, I would keep at it. It's somewhat flexible in terms of how your day is structured, and though emotionally stressful it's not at all physically taxing. Scheduling eating, recovering, and training around a job like that is very nice.

If the emotional stress really is too much for you, I would discourage the running store route. You're on your feet a lot, or on a bench in something like a squat position where you can't lean back at all. It's not a physically taxing job, but it's not desk work either in terms of difficulty. I would add that being surrounded by running culture can be dampening rather than invigorating.

One possibility would be bartending. If you're good, you'll make your $1200 a month pretty comfortably, with less than 40 hours of work. The work itself is stressful, but with fewer hours it's not so bad. You can sleep in, train at an ideal time of day, stay up to work, wash/rinse/repeat. Keeping the drinking in check may be a challenge, but once you work out how to get around it it shouldn't be a problem.

rojo wrote: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?

This is a pretty good post.

knox harrington wrote:

rojo wrote: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?

This is a pretty good post.

Pretty much what I think every time. I love how people feel it is important to have a "normal job" or to "contribute to society". Might as well do what you like as life is short and we're all going to die anyways. Unless you do something great, you or what you have done won't be remembered anyways.

By the way just watched Race and Jesse Owens will pretty much always be remembered.

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.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Get your career straightened out and set some reasonable running goals.

You can't check out of your career for a while because it sucks, then expect to come back to a better work environment.

volunteer at a taco stand.

Unemployment and food stamps!

rojo wrote:

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?

I can name the one who did something important in life. Not judging professional runners, but I also don't want to dismiss the idea that people should strive to contribute to society. LRC is an important contribution, IMO. So you should take pride in that.

Persistence hunting.

Sell what you don't eat.

That's Great! Keep us updated!

A big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to dole out some advice. I've gotten some really good ideas to work with, and I will 100% be looking into some of them. Also going to heed the advice of the people saying not to lose sight of long-term career goals during this period of my life (I won't stop writing, even if I find a higher paying gig doing something else).

FWIW:

What's really messed up is that I had been paying $500 a month out of pocket for health insurance and medication up until this month. The one medication I HAVE to take is a somewhat rare one (no generics, no real alternatives), so I had to through a months-long process waiting for approval from an affordable insurance company.

Freelance writing full-time sounds glamorous, and it absolutely has its upsides, especially when you land consistent, solid-paying gigs with websites and magazines. But those gigs are very hard to find, so while I look for those, I'm stuck doing copywriting, promotional writing, and worst of all, research writing (tedious and exhausting with no room for error). I'll be 100% honest - while there are days when I breeze through work, there are others where I'm literally making $10 an hour - before taxes. I'm not ungrateful, though. I love the flexibility it gives me.

Dude, you're never going to reach your potential if you HAVE to take medication.

Ever see the movie 'Midnight Cowboy'?

He is not paying 1/4 of his income for health insurance. In order to take home and spend $1200 per month he has to make more like $1500 or even $1600 with commuting costs. He is intentionally dropping the number and quality of the hours he works in order to only take home $1200 per month or 4x the cost of his health insurance. Big difference.

My guess is that when he was working 9-5 he was making more than $50k or 13X his insurance costs. It sounds like he took a pay cut to freelance but even that is likely more than 10X his insurance.