Monday, February 19, 2007

that IS a light at the end of the tunnel

It truly is a light at the end of the tunnel...and not a train coming towards me. :-) SO...things are going pretty well. 40 minutes on the trainer this morning. Whoohoo.

AND the big news about the job thing...i was re-reading my posts and realized I should update. A week ago, I was offered both positions I was interviewing for and on Friday I accepted one of them! So weird to take a job that you won't start for 7 months...but now I don't have to stress about finding a job AND finishing up the stupid book (aka dissertation). Now I can just focus the crazy on one thing at a time. And can we say 'motivation?'

OK at the same time this is hugely motivating and amazingly frightening. I have so many things to do to finish up and some days I feel a bit overwhelmed by it all. But the crazy thing is that every time I begin to freak out I start thinking about triathlon training. I basically have 12-14 weeks til I have to pass a milestone with my thesis committed before being given the big OK to write the book. And then another 12 weeks to write the book. First instinct...Freak_ out. But then I thought about training. Slightly dorky I know, but once I started to think in 12-14 week training chunks, it helped me to calm down.

I guess I figured that if I decided to do an Olympic distance triathlon...in 14 weeks from now (brrr...new England) I definitely could. I'm not planning an Oly in 14 or 12 weeks...that's be a silly time to do that as I'd be nuts-o with the milestone and freakishly cold water in New England, but you get my point. (maybe)...my point being that even though it doesn't sound like a lot of time, 12 or 14 weeks...it's lots of time to prepare for a sprint triathlon, an Olympic triathlon or other things. These are things that a few years ago the mystery of finishing these distances seemed almost out of reach, but I have recognized that by committing myself to the training and the daily-ness of it all I can succeed.

My 'training' at the moment is mountains of experiments...many which make my back hurt as I have to stand for hours on end...but I'll get there. And have a stronger back by the end of this week.

All is well...all is well.

Oh and the job location...about as far away as one can move from New England...California. Many have commented that I won't have seasons anymore...my thought: I've had my whole life with seasons...I got the point. :-P

6 comments:

Nitsirk said...

Wow! Congrats on the job. I am finishing my dissertation now but I haven't yet found a job. What's your secret? Seriously, any tips? I am not sure what your field is but I know it isn't easy anywhere so nice work. Just think of all the outdoor rides and runs you can do next "winter".

Bullet said...

Hey! Congrats! Cali will be such a change to the chilly N.E. Good luck with finishing up the thesis and all. An Oly sounds so much easier than all of that right now.

Ryan said...

Pace yourself and set some reasonable goals, that's a nice way to apply your tri training to the work place. Btw congratulations on the new job, California will be a fun place to explore, lots of great trails to run on.

DV said...

Congrats!

Faithful Soles said...

Congratulations on the job. Also, smart thinking to delay the tri until you feel more prepared for the conditions. I'm down in Houston and you simply can't plan for any races here during the hotter months, thus we have the exact opposite problem, so I understand. If you get a chance, please visit my running web site, Faithful Soles. I have a categorized and searchable Running Blog Database on there and would appreciate it if you would link your blog to it. We already have a large number of triathletes on it from short distances up to Ironman. Good luck.

Benson said...

Cali will be good cuz of year round multisports. congrats. Re: why I'm not downhilling or back country...I'm on assignment in minnesota this winter so xc skiing is my fix.