I’m a post doc, just getting over the post-doc-slump that was the first 8months post-indoctrination and getting my bearings on a real-world-crap-pay-holy-shit-am-i-busy new job. Now I am back in the game of training with purpose…
I’m curious if there are others out there in Slowtwitchland that are hoping to compete at a high level in long course but are also trying to be young-professional-academics (particularly engineers, but if you’re not, I won’t discriminate). I would love to pick your brain about:
–what you do for training (hours/week)
–if you have sacrificed race goals during your post-doc training
–where you sacrifice time
–what you want out of your career
–what type of institution you are at (Ivy league, national lab, etc)
–if you are in a relationship or manage it all on your own (no, I’m not interested; but I’m engaged to another academe who is not in my same time zone)
We are a small community, and my guess is if you are a post-doc, then you aren’t trolling ST. But, it’s worth a shot!
I’m just an MD, managing a $10 million per year 8 partner business, with a wife and 3 kids (16, 13, 11). I can’t possibly relate to the issues you must be facing. You hang in there man, I’m sure there’s a way you can make it through.
It’s a fucking hobby! Stop taking yourself so seriously before “life” teaches you a lesson in perspective.
I’m still a PhD student, but I spent some time on a research fellowship that amounted to being a post doc (I was actually being funded as a post doc in a post doc program). This was at NCAR in Colorado which I guess would be comparable to a National Lab.
My ‘big’ weeks were 10 hours or so. I was focusing on a marathon, so it was 6 days of running, no swimming and 2 or 3 shortish rides a week.
Sort of. I didn’t plan a lot of races because I knew it wouldn’t work.
I was just flexible with time. I’d plan on waking up early to run and try to sandbag as much work as I could, so I could afford to take an afternoon off to ride if I found a lull in my work. I wound up working some odd and long hours to make sure I had ‘prime’ training time free, but I made it work.
call me stupid but more of the same … research scientist
quasi-government lab. Private institute funded by the NSF
Married with a (at the time) newborn. This was another reason for me to work and train at really odd hours.
I think the biggest thing is to make a list of goals that you want/need to accomplish during the week and be flexible with your time (if you can). The trap I started falling into is that I started putting in 12+ hour days and sitting at home working on my laptop at night before bed so that I could afford to take a long lunch to run, or go home early to ride, then get sidetracked and wind up using those hours to work instead. Before I knew it, i was doing nothing but working when my intent was the opposite. So I started setting goals for thing I needed to get done during the week and wouldn’t try to squeeze anything more in (unless I was ‘asked nicely’). I also started considering my training and family time as being as important as work time. I wouldn’t skip a work meeting so I could go running, so why should I skip a run to work.
Not really what I’m getting at (I’m not trying to be a whiny elitist youngin’), but thanks anyway.
This post isn’t targeted at you, since you already have your career mapped out and well underway, obviously. I’m also not going to assume whether or not you started triathlon before or during your residency or surgical fellowship. That being said, if you did race or train during that transitional period, I’d be interested in hearing what you did in regards to training/racing/time management. Having a career and beginning a career are, in my opinion, two entirely different entities.
There are LOTS of postdocs/fellows on here as well as many professionals balancing very busy lives. In fact, I think these types are drawn to triathlon in general! Are you looking for solidarity or real stories or what?
Just wait until you add a family in there - kids will make your post-doc career seem easy
Is there any thread on this forum that does not include some sort of belittling? Im new to this forum, but not to IMs and Im consistantly disgusted by the way otherwise rational comments are regarded.
In response Megan, training for an Ironman distance requires hours upon hours of practice on top of a very busy schedule. Relationships, be they between you and your spouse, children, friends or colleagues, need to be primed for the fact that your “hobby” is a major time drain and any time you miss with them is not a personal slight.
I, too run a busy practice, working greater than 60 hours per week. I have a wife, and a child. Every second I train, and they are not part of it, it kills me. For me, I incorporate them into my training as much as I can, via bike trainer in the tv room, wife and kid on the bike while I run, swims at the beach, etc. Also,over the years, Ive become adept at running well before dawn, or deep in the night when my priorities have been satisfied.
Not at all, hence the reason for posting this on ST. I think there are a lot of other people out there with similar thoughts/ideas and I want to talk to them! Triathlon is a sport that draws goal-oriented people as well as technically-minded folk (particularly engineers and scientists), so what better audience to ask?
whatever i can get I agree, tri draws those types for sure. I’m just looking for perspective; what people are going through or what they have gone through. Something I can draw from as well as reflect on. And, kids are going to not be in the picture until I’m in a tenure track position (or hell, maybe even until after I have tenure…)
Was a post-doc from 2005 until January this year, first at NMSU (google it), last 2 years at Vandy.
I’ve been a triathlon coach for the last 12 years.
Here’s my 2 cents:
Being a good researcher means 100% commitment. Being an elite athlete means 100% commitment. Why? Because in both fields, you are competing with people that are 100% committed. And when you’re a researcher, you’ll never be so smart that you’ll be able to compete with others that are 100% committed. In triathlon, for as talented you are, you will never be able to compete with others that are 100% committed.
Not sure what kind of research you do, but in most fields you need to be engaged all the time. And that means ALL THE TIME. It’s not a 9-5 activity, because whatever you’re working on, you’re trying to create something new. Whatever it is that you research, nobody ever did it and you’re the first. That demands a lot.
This might be also personal, but in my case, exercising helps me be creative, training turns my mind into mush. Doing research with a mushy brain… not easy.
Sorry for the bleak outlook, but both elite triathlon and scientific research are high performance endeavors. Trying to do both at the same time means being mediocre at both. This is why these days publishing papers is my hobbie
I’ll give you this advice. It’s rather old school and may not be embraced by the majority of today’s “me first” generation, but people who are truly successful at life and career will get it. I have a new partner who does (God bless her). I have one we recently fired who did not (his loss).
The advice is this: during your education devote as much time as necessary and humanly possible to making you the best trained and most educated person in your field. You only have one chance to learn this stuff the first time around. After that you are playing catch-up and getting on-the-job training at someone else’s expense. Learn it now, while somone else is looking over your shoulder. After that, devote all your time to your relationship. You said you are engaged but living in differnt time zones. Fix that ASAP if you can. That’s your life partner you are talking about. You should be together as much as possible. But, you have to prioritize your education over everything else right now. That is part of your obligation to your future family. After that, everything else has to be devoted to him. If there’s any time left after taking care of your education and your relationship, you can fuck around with things like triathlon, eating, sleeping, and other non-essential items of life. There will be plenty of time to swim, bike, and run. You only have now to learn your trade. If you don’t want to devote time to that now then do everyone who will count on your education in the future a favor and quit now.
I agree, tri draws those types for sure. I’m just looking for perspective; what people are going through or what they have gone through. Something I can draw from as well as reflect on. And, kids are going to not be in the picture until I’m in a tenure track position (or hell, maybe even until after I have tenure…)