Advice--Chase the dream or move on?

After the age of about 9, never do anything just because your mom wants you to do it.

Agreed, it's not that deep. Just wanted to be sure I'm being respectful of family and their opinions, thanks for the feedback.

Were I you, I'd give myself two years to see if this is the right move. There are a lot of moving parts here, your PF being a major one.

I was in a similar situation, FWIW. My final year was a wash with PF, took until about 8 months after I graduated to be able to run with any consistency again, but hanging out with high school bros and bar hopping was getting old. I tore up the road scene in my town the next summer, found a job in my field, found my wife, and was off to the races.

Thanks for this, it helps a lot. By two years, do you mean two years doing the semi pro running thing?

You can still run while pursuing a “real job”. You need to get smart about time management and become a morning person. We all have to learn to time manage at some point anyway.

I’m a female, same sort of situation and I’m now 28. I got an MBA and ran “pro” for a little over a year. End of the day, I lost a lot of money doing so. I was on more of a stipend which didn’t cover everything (I wasn’t an NCAA champ or anything close).

Gave up some really good years of making real money by chasing a running dream when realistically I was never going to make solid living off it.

Somehow got hired at a tech company a year ago and running is now a “very serious hobby”. I’ve run a 2:37 marathon and 1:14 half since uni. I’ve gotten a lot better than I was in the NCAA and having work during my day is awesome as I’ve never been one happy with sitting on my butt all day doing nothing and scrolling social.

I WFH and I’ll do my first run at like 5:30, get back ~7:00, core etc, coffee and food at my desk around 8:30.

Second run happens end of the day anywhere from 16:00-17:30. Bed pretty early and repeat.

I recommend you to not piss away a good job for some frat runner bum life. Companies will say they have a set up and people to train with and you’re taken care of, Physio, and massage etc. at the end of the day it’s glamorized. What if you get injured are you willing to deal with the re hab while essentially not having anything else in your life?

A lot of time in your own head will thinking about your friends working real jobs, making real money, and not worrying about being dropped for poor performance.

They have their own struggles, yes. But I want to say it’s more secure than being a sub elite.

And it is sorta cool to train before work, get a solid session in and then rock up to work knowing you’ve got a great start to the day.

If you’re going to give only running a shot and push back real life, just know employers will be curious to see what you’ve done x amount of years post uni. And most aren’t too keen on hearing “I ran professionally despite having no chance of making a living off it.”

If you were running sub 13:40~ Likely a whole different conversation!

They aren't mutually exclusive! You can train at a very high level while pursuing a full-time career. It will be an adjustment at first but once you get used to balancing the schedule, you can succeed in both. In fact, the financial stability of a "real" job helps alleviate some stress while you train and race. The problem with trying to be a full-time runner is that only the top few athletes in each discipline actually earn enough money to live after paying their agent (15%), health insurance, and taxes.

You can also maybe find some middle ground? Join one of those club teams for some support and can you get a part time job in your desired career path? That way you won't have a huge gap in education/work experience when you do decide work full time.

For what its worth there are several 1:02/1:03 Half and 2:12/2:13 Full marathon runners who are not sponsored. Its very difficult to make a realistic living in our sport unfortunately....

Yeah you don't need to give up a job or career to train. That's the easy way out. I worked fulltime while training for a while after college. It really depends on your resources, connections and job potential plus running potential down the line. Running for a few years after college, going for the olympic trials is okay. But again, you can advance your career and train hard simultaneously.

I agree with the others, you can certainly try to pursue both. If not, pursue running for a few years. This is the only time in your life when you can do it. Don't look back in your mid-30's+ and think "what if..."

You could try becoming an artist. Evidently you need no training and can sell works of art worth $500,000.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ken-buck-hunter-biden-paintings-comparing-classical-art

You are too slow. Move on. A 14 minute 5k will get you nowhere.

Butler ran a 2:09 and runs at 4 a.m. or something. It's possible, but when possible is you're a 2:09 guy and you have to run at 4 a.m. because you have a real job, you maybe need to think this over a bit.

Someone alluded to it above, if you're fast enough, this will take care of itself. If not, manage your time well, run hard while you can, and enjoy the ride.

Get over the PF injury and then set some hard timelines/goals. Set a target date of 18-24 months out to run a 2:13-2:15 marathon. You can still work a job or do internships during this period for the sake of your resume. If the clock runs out and you cannot achieve those times, then call time on the serious portion of your running career and get on with your working career. Nothing is sadder than being a 30 something still clinging to "pro" aspirations without the talent to get there. Meanwhile, your school colleagues are getting ahead, building retirement savings, buying homes, starting families, etc. You will also become the butt of jokes within your current peer group and amongst the younger roadies in your area. Think about your personal life as well. At about age 25 or so, people change and start looking for solid romantic prospects with a future. Not many worthwhile singles with full time jobs are interested in being with someone that is pursuing a poorly paid avocation that requires self centered behaviors and schedules.

chief1ben wrote:

Thanks for this, it helps a lot. By two years, do you mean two years doing the semi pro running thing?

Run as hard as you can until it doesn't make sense to you any more. You'll know when it's time. Hopefully.

Maybe it is time now, I guess is what you're saying.

My question is, "what truly drives you?" If you have a situation in which you can train well and reach your potential, I say go for it because, realistically, you may have only 5 or so good years left and you will never get those back. Anyone can make a pragmatic decision re career, which is ok, but you can do that anytime. I was a very good runner , many years ago, and decided to get into the health care industry. It has always had good $$$ (my enthusiasm has been a bit tepid), but I felt like I sold myself short when I look back on it because my focus was fragmented and always thought I could have been better. You only live once, so make it count.

A lot of people here have made really good points.

Firstly, it sounds like your wanting to move on is in part

due to your current injury & NCAA. I was in a similar situation and retired my last day of college. I’m successful now, but, always wish I would’ve at least continued to run for general fitness. I let the frustration of injury and not feeling like I’d accomplished enough cloud my decision.

If you truly want to give yourself the best option for both a potential running career and the ability to be successful later on, you should either: a) go to grad school at a school that’s a solid mix between running/academic standing (something like UVA); or b) get a running-friendly job like teaching. Even better, if you’re going to teach, do Teach For America, which is a feeder for top graduate programs. Then you tons of optionality.

With your GPA, I think you could really excel doing TFA. Resume would look quite nice for a top MBA program.

- 3.95 GPA

- TFA while pursuing professional running

- grad school

- $200k/yr when you’re out of school

I would also suggest going after an MBA degree.

If you want to coach at the NCAA level a lot of D1 schools like their coaches to have a master's degree.

PF is a real pain in the arch. I know as I have had it. I'm a little slower than you at 14:10 and 29:52. While that was good back in the day it's not nearly fast enough to make a living off of. I'd give yourself about 18-24 months to pursue the half and full marathon. During this time you can still finish grad school and then check your current situation and decide what's next.

Best of luck!

With 14:0x and 29:2x at 5k/ 10 k at age 24 I would advice you to secure a very good job and just jump on

my DANCAN train with the original successful version of just 6 sessions per week . That way you will secure your future with a good job career and parallel find out how good runner you can be. Two flies in one go! ))

If interested just contact me at email;

magic@coachjs.se

Welcome! :)