Working and running fast after college

First of all I could write a book on this topic and have discussed it many times in the last 3 years with some of my friends who are serious runners who ran in college also. I am only 26 years old now, so this is all from recent experience.

First of all, Congratulations on getting your degree. But I will also be honest with you. College does not prepare you at all for the ?real world? of work. Just finding a job in your field can be strenuous, and then being able to balance it with running is even harder. Finding a job out of college that pays a decent living is tough, and you have to realize that most ?business? jobs now days are not just 40 hours a week.

Did you ever spend 50 hours a week in classes or studying? Highly doubtful! I know I didn?t and I spent a good amount of time studying back in college. It is pretty hard to put in 2 a days during the workweek, and then work 9 hours a day.

Now that you have a job, how do you tell your boss that you have a track workout at 6:30 pm and need to finish the proposal tomorrow?

I really wish there was a program to help college athletes make the transition into the real world. You focus on athletics in college for 4 years and then it is over, I know for one it was a big shock. You just have find a job that fits your lifestyle and that allows you to still enjoy your running. It is easier said than done.

I will also say, that it is hard to get excited about work the same way about competing and running in college. Sure there is some cool stuff about making money and stuff, but it is not the same. There are still many days while at work where I think about the training run or workout I am going to do after work. I use my running as a stress reliever from the workday and as of lately the desire is burning hotter than it has in the last few years.

Good luck! I am sure to respond more later.

worked hard (and a lot of hours) after college, health suffered, relationships suffered, etc. Got an easier job, got married, started running again, everything is better. I say job wise, if you want to run\live then get a boring stress free job. That way you can take your running seriously. Things will come together in time, but if you let yourself get out of shape by working too much it is hard to get that conditioning back. There are 40 hr/wk jobs that are not too stressful and pay enough to get by on for a while (retail, customer service). Live below your means, don't make babies, live with a few other like minded folks and you can get by till the 'big serious job' urge hits you.

Graduate school...I have plenty of time to run, study, eat.

Just try to get the institution to pay for your degree, which depends on where you go and your field of expertise.

hit the nail on the head. Perfect analysis. Working is a shock and most of us are unprepared. Have been out for several years and still feel like something is amiss. Completely different lifestyle than in college and if you were an athlete I think it is severely magnified.

Didn't any of you guys have a job in your respected fields during the Summers during College? It is a difficult thing to do, work a serious job and run the amount of miles to be fast, but not impossible. Just my opinion.

Of course I worked summer jobs and internships while in college, without them I doubt I would be in the job I am now. I never said it was impossible to run fast and work, just allot tougher than while living the college life where you go to classes for 9 months and then work for 3 months. Now it is work for 12 months and run for 12 months, non stop.

Agreed.

I'm going to med school next year. Has anyone tried running competitively in med school. By competitive, I mean running 100+ miles/week.

It can be done. It was once the norm. Just decide that it's you want to do and figure out how. Once you decide you're doing it, you'll find a way. If you ask whether or not it's possible to work and run, you're more likely to find reasons why it isn't.

Good luck.

In med school, you may find yourself getting very competitive about grades even if you weren't that way as an undergrad. Come the clinicals where you don't get any sleep, running at all may be impossible. Don't wind up killing a patient because you were too tired from (or daydreaming about) training to listen to your medical school profs. In a health care setting, it's not about you, it's about the patient. Perhaps delaying med school until you've satisfied your competitive desires is an option worth considering. You MUST keep your grades up.

I think that many of us have had enough school. me at least. I have found that working at this running store in Dallas hasn't been bad. Its been 40 to 50 hours per week, and I have gotten in lots of good miles. But still, something is missing. I realize that when I graduate, I will have to create my own seasons. I guess everyone has to give it up when they feel ready. Live poor...run fast. or live well...do nothing but work.

"Live poor...run fast. or live well...do nothing but work."

Unfortunately, if you have this mindset, you will live in a trailer til you are 40. There are good paying jobs and companies out there that actually do care about your well-being outside of work. You just have to find them....

i'm working as an engineer, 50-60 hrs per week at least plus lots of travel and i'm maintaining 100+ miles per week, all at 6min/mile or faster. you have to find a balance, but make some sacrifices. it's really not that hard.

Oilman, I like what Im hearing from you. Im in the same boat as Bleeder, as Im graduating in the spring with a solid degree and am determined to continue training and progress a lot after college. I too will probably be working a bunch of hours a week and hopefully traveling like you. Would you mind giving us an example of what some of your days are like? Im assuming you feel well rested enough to do the training effectively. The closest ive come to this situation is working retai l (on my feet 100% of the time) over the summer 45 hours a week and base training 70-80 miles a week which was doable for me, but i dont recommend spending that much time on your feet because they feel really beat up and tired. Any further advice is appreciated. also im guessing you do most of these miles and workouts on your own. thanks.

indiana wrote:

In med school, you may find yourself getting very competitive about grades even if you weren't that way as an undergrad. Come the clinicals where you don't get any sleep, running at all may be impossible. Don't wind up killing a patient because you were too tired from (or daydreaming about) training to listen to your medical school profs. In a health care setting, it's not about you, it's about the patient. Perhaps delaying med school until you've satisfied your competitive desires is an option worth considering. You MUST keep your grades up.

Thanks indiana for your perspective. You're totally right. It would be selfish of me to compromise my ability to provide health care to quell my own competitive desires. I still want to compete, so I'm going to think about deferring my admissions.

Running after college is easy - I've never had this much free time in my life. In any given college semester, I took 5 classes a semester, drank heavily 5 nights a week, worked 3 jobs, etc.

Now all I have to do is show up for work 40 hours a week. Piece of cake....

2-pack a day wrote:

Running after college is easy - I've never had this much free time in my life. In any given college semester, I took 5 classes a semester, drank heavily 5 nights a week, worked 3 jobs, etc.

Now all I have to do is show up for work 40 hours a week. Piece of cake....

Why did you have 3 jobs? If you had been studying instead of drinking you would have gotten your school paid for. Sounds to me like you just wasted a lot of time in college.

I was a DI runner, took 20 credits/semester, graduated with a 4.0, and had a respectable social life. It was all about time management. Regarding my training now, I can say that it is harder. When you are in college, you can rearrange your schedule a fair amount. When you're in the working world its 8 hrs. a day as a single block. Getting up at five in the morning and training again at night in the dark is not cool at all. I don't know how all of you who are married and have families can manage your training. Kudos to the family men/women.

Columbia wrote:

Why did you have 3 jobs? If you had been studying instead of drinking you would have gotten your school paid for. Sounds to me like you just wasted a lot of time in college.

No rich mommy and daddy to pay for school, had to put myself through. I'd guess I worked 25-30 hours most weeks, twice that in the summer. Yeah, too much drinking, but that was college. I pulled a 3.3, which got me into graduate school, where I pulled a 4.0. Not that it matters.

Save your judgements (last sentance) for yourself.

I stand corrected. Nice job in grad school.