OP it sounds like you aren't really putting your life on hold, so that's good.
These people seem to do well with also balancing a career.
{%222%22%3A%22RI%3A17%22}&_r=0
OP it sounds like you aren't really putting your life on hold, so that's good.
These people seem to do well with also balancing a career.
{%222%22%3A%22RI%3A17%22}&_r=0
29:30 guy wrote:
30:00? Really?
Go get your PhD, son.
So, if you could read, you would have seen that I was in 30:00 10k shape last year without training seriously at all, meaning that if I trained seriously I could run significantly faster.
Let Us Run wrote:
Dude, it's crazy because, even in your wildest dreams, what you're shooting for will not mean diddly squat. It's great to run in the Olympic Trials, but what you're talking about amounts to taking 2 years off from life to qualify for MLB tryouts.
Under this line of thinking, no one should ever play any sport ever or train at all at anything unless they can be among the world's best. Making the Olympic Trials is more of an accomplishment than winning some high school meet or competing in college, yet plenty of people do those things and try to do those things. What gives meaning to things depends on the person and their values, how they want to live their life. It seems to have never occurred to you that some people's priorities are different than yours.
Give it a go, but be patient. Give yourself at least 1 year to get in good shape, 2 years to see what kind of times you can run and shoot for the 4-5 year window as you've indicated. It won't all happen at once, if it happens at all. But at least you'll know. Kind of wish I had done the same at some point in my 20s and now it's too late for me to find out.
- a 44 year old washed up pseudo has-been
I feel for you, as this is a difficult question. I never had a shot. I do not think I would have been fast enough to deserve a shot, but all of us, in one way or another, yearn for some type of shot. I say this: go with your heart. I think you can train and lead a fairly "normal" and enjoyable life. Keep your mind pure and your heart pure. He/she who has pure, noble objectives will succeed in one way or another.
I am in my mid-forties, and did not run for a high school or college team. See your blessings for what they are, and realize that most of us would never come close to having a shot. Even though I had no shot, taking up running in my forties has been very rewarding. I am a decent runner, and, in a certain way, I am getting my shot now. For those who do not give up, life will not give up on them.
All the best to you...
never had my shot wrote:
29:30 guy wrote:30:00? Really?
Go get your PhD, son.
So, if you could read, you would have seen that I was in 30:00 10k shape last year without training seriously at all, meaning that if I trained seriously I could run significantly faster.
Life speeds up as one gets older. It is easy to waste time in your 20s, but in your 40s you may wish you had got a better jump on career, family, savings, etc.
So my advice is don't think that you need to quit life so as to get fast. If you can't get fast while living life normally, then I don't think you have the willpower or talent to do so under any circumstances.
However, if after a few years of proper dedication you are getting really fast, then reconsider taking time off from job, etc. and focusing on running.
But right now you are considering going all in for no reason.
Depends a bit how you're wired -- RT/RW had an interesting look at people who took time off from careers to focus on running. Not only did they regret what it did professionally, some actually felt that they got worse when they had more time.
Some people are simply wired to be busy, so that working a stressful/hard job gives them motivation to wake up at 4:30 or 5:00 a.m. and crank. If they stop working to focus on running, they lose overall discipline.
Others need the extra time, and are willing/able to spend the extra free time doing small things to improve (or doing what the top Africans supposedly do -- run, eat, sleep, that's it).
Some of it comes down to "know thyself", but it sounds like you're largely a driven/focused person -- it's worth considering that taking time totally off could be bad. Maybe get out of your program but find something that allows you to work 35-40 hours a week, so that you still have some structure.
never had my shot wrote:
I've gotten some pretty strange responses on here, so I want to clear some things up. My current PhD program is requiring me to work 60+ hours/week. There's not enough time to run more than about 30mpw, so in my case, grad school is not taking time off of life. I hate my program for other reasons and would leave it even if running wasn't on the radar. I WOULD consider transferring to a different program though.
As for being poor, no, training hard for me would not mean moving to Flagstaff and joining a club and not working. I train on my own very well and was actually in pretty good shape last year when I was simply working a full time job (40hrs/week). I was able to do the same workouts I was doing when I was in about 30:00 10k shape in college, and I wasn't even training seriously last year. That's one of the reasons I've been thinking about running a lot lately: I feel stronger and more athletic now than ever before, like I'm just at a different level physically now at 26 than I was when I was in college and was 22 or younger. I feel like I achieve the same fitness off less work, or greater fitness of the same work. I got a bad stress fracture my best year of running going into track, so my PRs aren't great, but that year I beat guys in xc who went on to run around 29:00. I also ran under 4:15 for 1600m in high school (I don't want to give my exact PRs), so I had potential.
Finally, running is a huge part of my life. I totally understand it seems crazy to a lot of people to care about just making the trials or something like that, but it's crazy to a lot of people just to run a few miles every day. I am most happy and fulfilled when I am running a lot and training hard. I also wouldn't be completely putting my life on hold; I would simply get some sort of job in my field that wasn't super demanding (like last year) and just make a conscious decision to put running ahead of everything else (relationships, drinking, etc). I don't really see myself getting married any time soon, maybe not even within the next 8 years, so ignoring relationships for 2 years or so wouldn't really be hard for me.
Thanks for the input so far those of you who took my post seriously.
So it sounds like you're considering two basic options:
-transfer to a different PhD program;
-go back into an industry job and focus on running.
questions:
-What led you to start a PhD program?
-If you put the PhD path on hold for, say, 5 years, would it be realistic to go back to it at age 31?
Clearly the OP doesn't like his PhD program, but that's no reason to swing the pendulum wildly in the other direction, and abandon everything for a stint at running.
My advice is to take a cushy job and run at the same time. It won't be as harmful to your career, and if the stint doesn't work out because you get injured or whatever, it will be a lot easier on you psychologically.
There are a lot of people out there who ran high mileage while working a 9-5 job... I remember Josh Cox say that at one point in his life he was working 40 hours/week, running twice a day, and cycling to and from work. 110 mpw. It was hard, but then he ran a 2:19 while pacing his friend and became the youngest ever qualifier for the marathon olympic trials.
Like people who want to quit their jobs to start a company, usually the best advice is to do both.. Less risk, same rewards.
Piano_Man87 wrote:
Clearly the OP doesn't like his PhD program, but that's no reason to swing the pendulum wildly in the other direction, and abandon everything for a stint at running.
My advice is to take a cushy job and run at the same time. It won't be as harmful to your career, and if the stint doesn't work out because you get injured or whatever, it will be a lot easier on you psychologically.
There are a lot of people out there who ran high mileage while working a 9-5 job... I remember Josh Cox say that at one point in his life he was working 40 hours/week, running twice a day, and cycling to and from work. 110 mpw. It was hard, but then he ran a 2:19 while pacing his friend and became the youngest ever qualifier for the marathon olympic trials.
Like people who want to quit their jobs to start a company, usually the best advice is to do both.. Less risk, same rewards.
That's exactly what I'm planning to do. I guess I wasn't clear enough in my first post??? I want to get a job that requires no more than 40hrs/week and isn't super stressful so that I can both work and train hard and stay busy. I would go nuts if I didn't work at all and just tried to train. However, my current PhD program requires a ton of time and is super stressful, so I'm not able to train properly at all. I am wondering if it'd be better to just get a job and train or try and transfer to another grad program and try and train. Given my current situation, I am a bit hesitant to jump into another situation where I'm working a ton and am stressed out all the time.
But you can do the PhD at any age.
They're easy anyway with Wikipedia.
never had my shot wrote:
Under this line of thinking, no one should ever play any sport ever or train at all at anything unless they can be among the world's best. Making the Olympic Trials is more of an accomplishment than winning some high school meet or competing in college, yet plenty of people do those things and try to do those things. What gives meaning to things depends on the person and their values, how they want to live their life. It seems to have never occurred to you that some people's priorities are different than yours.
I'm not sure how that follows. What I'm suggesting is that people shouldn't make major life changes to pursue a sport that they're not a national elite at. For the most part I'm just giving you a hard time, but I don't think you're being entirely honest. What does it mean to "be in 30 minute 10k shape"? Because that usually means you didn't actually run a 30 minute 10k. If you gave real PRs, people could give you better advice.
I don't think there's anything wrong with pursuing your dreams, but it's worth acknowledging what your dreams will accomplish -- it's one thing to dream of making the Olympic team, and another to dream of making the Olympic tryouts. Should you put your life on hold to try to qualify for tryouts? No. I mean, that's pretty much pragmatic advice, and there's lots of things in life you "shouldn't" do that aren't going to ruin you. You also shouldn't buy an expensive sports car or invest all your money in a coffee shop, but how you live your life is up to you.
"if I trained seriously I could run significantly faster"
But you didn't.
29:15 guy wrote:
"if I trained seriously I could run significantly faster"
But you didn't.
Correct. But I had a different mindset and priorities last year. I wasn't trying to be fast or train seriously at all. I have only somewhat recently had the change of heart.
Apple Guy wrote:
The marathon WR is now 2:02. If you can't get within 8 minutes of it, what is the point of "putting your life on hold?"
So if you can't run faster than 2:10:58 you should devote limited time to running?
Only 10 guys would be running in America now?
Did you even run a 30 flat or were you just in 30 flat shape?
never had my shot wrote:
29:15 guy wrote:"if I trained seriously I could run significantly faster"
But you didn't.
Correct. But I had a different mindset and priorities last year. I wasn't trying to be fast or train seriously at all. I have only somewhat recently had the change of heart.
Did you even run a 30 flat or were you just in 30 flat shape?
never had my shot wrote:
29:15 guy wrote:"if I trained seriously I could run significantly faster"
But you didn't.
Correct. But I had a different mindset and priorities last year. I wasn't trying to be fast or train seriously at all. I have only somewhat recently had the change of heart.
Did you even run a 30 flat or were you just in 30 flat shape?
never had my shot wrote:
29:15 guy wrote:"if I trained seriously I could run significantly faster"
But you didn't.
Correct. But I had a different mindset and priorities last year. I wasn't trying to be fast or train seriously at all. I have only somewhat recently had the change of heart.
Did you even run a 30 flat or were you just in 30 flat shape?
never had my shot wrote:
29:15 guy wrote:"if I trained seriously I could run significantly faster"
But you didn't.
Correct. But I had a different mindset and priorities last year. I wasn't trying to be fast or train seriously at all. I have only somewhat recently had the change of heart.
Why is focusing on something you want to do considered putting your life on hold. It's about the journey not the destination. If you enjoy what your doing or want to do (in this case running) more than slaving away to work a stressful professional career or pursue higher education than that's not putting your life on hold... That's living..
Forgot about what people say do what YOU want to do.