I’m tired, but I’m happy. Did I mention I am tired? I’m tired in a new way. I’m tired to my very bones.
Things are a little busy for me at the moment. Actually, things are a LOT busy for me at the moment. I am of course working full time as a homeroom teacher and that takes up about 50 hours a week and sometimes more. I’m running two full marathons in the next four weeks and of course I am trying to finish up my first “real” attempt at writing. With the first draft of “Teaching in Asia: Tales and the real deal” near completing I have begun proofreading it on commutes and during my lunch breaks. Did I also mention I have a wife and one year old son at home I try to spend maximum time with?
Things are more than a little busy and to be honest, something’s got to give soon.
Priority number one is my family. Work follows that cause of course, “baby always needs a new pair of shoes!” Then comes running and then the book BUT, there has been a change for me with regards to the last two.
Running has been a major part of my life since I began training for my first full marathon in 2008. It has made me healthier, happy and I have achieved many personal goals doing it. I was also able to raise almost $4000.00 earlier this year for disaster relief in the Tohoku region of Japan through running. Running is good.
The thing that is beginning to wear on me these days is that as I come near the end of my first major writing project, I am beginning to love writing far more than running. There is a serious conflict there because both take up a major portion of my time and to do either one of them well, you need a lot of time.
In recent weeks, as I wake up at 4:30 am to get outside for a training run, I find myself wishing that I was sitting down and working on my book instead. Marathon training has become a chore. Writing has become a joy.
So, here’s the plan. I of course need to prepare for the upcoming Osaka and Kobe marathons, but once they are finished, I’m going to step back from running full marathons in 2012. The training simply takes too much time and once I finish “Teaching in Asia: Tales and the real deal”, I already have another writing project in mind.
I won’t give up running though. It’s simply too much fun. The other night I ran a rather quick (for me) 5k. I was surprised that I was able to run a very hill-filled 5k in a hair less than 23 minutes. What could I do if I seriously trained and even had some racing flats? Can I run a 20-minute 5k in the new year? How about a 45-minute 10k?
In the 2012 I plan to register for several 5 and 10k road races and we’ll see if I can be fast. The training won’t be nearly as time consuming and I can still run a few times a week.
My plan is to focus on my writing once Kobe Marathon is in the bag. My family will be a major focus as well.
You can follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev
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2 comments:
Another way to look at it is that you're looking to build a faster base. ;) I recently revisited a 5K for myself... first 5K for myself since my very first one. It takes a different kind of training but they're shorter, faster in time, but more work. :) Good luck in Kobe and Osaka marathon. Maybe you can tell us about it comparing to Tokyo!
I hear ya man! I've been going at it full force these past few weeks and my body just shut down the other days. Thankfully I had time off from school, but I really just needed to sit back and rest. So thankful that I did. It made all the difference in the world!
I hope you're able to find that balance soon so you can get done what you NEED to get done. It may not be all that you WANT to get done... but you will be happy and healthy!
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