sucky job interfering with running, personal life

Sounds like you might go postal !!

the real world sucks, I know becase I'm in it

I have put my fair share of 50-60+ weeks and still managed to put in 100 mile weeks. Don't be a pussy!

I hate to tell you this but it gets even worse. If you're like most people you will settle down and have a family. Then you have to obtain permission to go out and run. I run when the children are asleep and I have a very physical job as well during the day. My wife runs also. I give her the daylight to run. People think I choose to run at 11pm. No one can relate unless they are in it. If you really want it there is a way.

You are a good man to let your wife run in the daylight while you take the night.

I see your wife while you are out at night.

Mind Runner wrote:

You are a good man to let your wife run in the daylight while you take the night.

Check it. He's a MAN by letting his wife run during the day -- not a GOOD man. To badly paraphrase Chris Rock, "why does he get credit for something he's SUPPOSED to do! What do you want, a cookie!"

He's doing what a MAN would do, and therefore deserves no credit. If he DIDN'T do it, then he would deserve ridicule.

Hours are tough for many jobs. I work 12 hour days plenty, and fellow coworkers work 70 hours while on call 24/7. Plenty have even worked over 30 hours in a row. I just think this is all wrong. One of these days a parent's going to watch his child walk for the first time, except that his work pager will go off.

IMO the reason for all of this, is the VP's and CEO's are getting credit for making the company more $$ efficient by laying off workers and dumping the load on others.

Find a new job, you have a degree...

My mom worked for the post office and she hated it...get out while you can brother....

I just don't get the workaholics. To me it is just a waste of life.I can probably count on two hands the number of 40 hr. weeks I've put in throughout my whole life, yet my home is paid for, no other debt. 'Course I've got no kids which I know makes a huge difference, they cost six figures a piece to raise. But still, 70hr. weeks are insane! You'll get to the end of your life with no memories but the office and driving to and from there.

mel wrote:

I just don't get the workaholics. To me it is just a waste of life.

It's not like there's a choice. The coworkers I speak of would love to sit back and kick it. Finding any job is hard nowadays, but getting one minimal hours and decent pay is difficult.

If you're talking about a walk-route making you too tired to run, why not get creative. See if regulation allows you to push the mail in a modified baby-jogger rather than carry it in a pack. Even stopping at every house, you could log some good, easy miles and actually deliver much faster! Win-win!

I'm guessing you liked things when you were in school. Plenty of time for running, plenty of time for bars, plenty of time for the ladies. So go back. You're obviously not ready to accept the rigors of the real adult world, where (sorry to say this) time for running barely exists. Go to grad school. Become a GA so tuition will be covered and you'll get a bit of a stipend (usuallly enough to live on). You'll be able to run with the team every day and train as much as you want. Plus you'll be around plenty of other people whose priorites are like yours: bars/women/running. And who knows, you might like it and be good at it and discover a new career in coaching.

like that's SO easy

now you see why a lot of married guys with kids are lucky to run in the 19s for 5K.

Dirt wrote:

Last year I was coming into my own as a runner, having lots of fun with it. Got down near 15 flat in the 5k (yeah i know its nothing amazing, but I am proud of it), I'm 23 years old and know I have a lot of potential yet, and would like to enjoy my life as well.

I'll say what no one else is willing to say: give up running.

Who the hell cares if you never break your PR again? What are you training for? To run 14:45 as a 25 year old? It ain't worth it - logging hours and hours of running to cut seconds off a PR that the best high schools are blowing by.

You don't have to give up running completely, just cut back. Maybe 30 minutes every other day, an hour long run on Sundays.

use your free time to drink a few beers with the boys, chase skirts, and reminisce about how good you used to be. every couple of months, sneak into the local track, turn a few quarters, and tell yourself lies that you could've been better if only...

playtime is over, welcome to the real world.

You have to get up and shower in the morning anyhow. Get the run in then.

I'll be honest. i'd rather end my life than end my running career..Quitting running for good is not an option, but thanks for the suggestion...

Dirt wrote:

I'll be honest. i'd rather end my life than end my running career..Quitting running for good is not an option, but thanks for the suggestion...

that's the point - you're not quitting for good. you're quitting being obsessed about shaving seconds off your 5k time.

look, the moment is going to come SOMETIME in your life when you realize you're not going to PR anymore. does it matter if that time is 5 years from now or tomorrow? honestly, what are you training for?

there's nothing wrong with liking running. for 10 years of my life, running was it. all through high school, 5 years of college, and one post collegiately i lived, breathed, ate, drank, and slept running. i read running magazines, bought running gear, had a running girlfriend, had runner friends, went to running events around the country to party. it was great, i loved every second of it, and wouldn't change it for the world.

but i also realized that there was a world out there - a real world - that doesn't HAVE to include running. i could run when i wanted, how i felt, where i wanted. if i didn't feel like running - say there was a baseball game i wanted to catch, i did that. i spent more time with my girlfriend, saw more friends, drank some beers, and actually lived life instead of devoting every waking second to running.

that's my advice. you've got to make a choice with your life, and figure out what you want out of life. do you want to run? do you want to have fun? do you want a job you can enjoy? do you want more schooling?

i don't know the answers to these questions, only you do. but if you're unhappy, change something. no handwringing, no second guessing, while all the time you're miserable. every day should bring the promise of happiness - if you're not getting that you're doing something extremely wrong. so change it.