Balancing Act

Just over six months ago, I accepted a new job. Before I even started, I had everything planned out for how I would manage a long commute + long hours + high mileage. But then I actually started the job and realized that it wasn't always that simple.

Working from home once a week doesn't happen very often, leaving the office early enough to take the HOV lanes is hit or miss, and the hours are longer than expected. All that being said, I couldn't be happier with where I am in my career-- I don't regret my decision one bit. I love the challenge and the level of responsibility that this position provides. I just have to figure out where and when I can run on a day-to-day basis. I do have a schedule that I try to stick to, but I need to be flexible with it in case something comes up at work that changes things. Factoring in the icy/snowy weather is another variable to consider as well.

Here is what I try to have happen each week:

Monday: Leave my house at 5:20am to meet my friend Allison in Arlington for a 6:00 run. She lives just two blocks from my office, so we have been meeting up and running anywhere from 6-8 miles on Mondays. I don't have any traffic on the way to work, and my commute home just depends on when I can get out of there. Regardless of what time I leave, there is still plenty of work to do when I get home.

Tuesday: This one is easy: intervals with my coach/team. The track is just two miles away from my office, so I leave the house at around 5:30 and don't hit any traffic. It takes about 30-35 minutes to get there and my commute home can be as fast as 45 minutes or as long as 75 minutes, depending on traffic and when I leave.

Wednesday: Rest day, usually. I still wake up early and get into the office at around 7:15 to avoid traffic.

Thursday's tempo run. Feeling strong!

Thursday: Ideally, I would work from home. In reality, I either leave my house really early and do a tempo run on the track in Arlington, or I do the tempo run around my neighborhood, and arrive to work at 9:30, taking the HOV when it opens up at 9:00. The tricky thing is that even with the HOV, there is still a lot of traffic on Thursday mornings, so I could end up spending an hour commuting.

Friday: Easy run at home, leave the house at 8:30 and get into work at 9:15ish. There isn't as much traffic on Friday as there is during the rest of the week so I don't have the problems I have on Thursday.

With this schedule, it all fits in nicely. But it's stressful being on such a tight time table, and having to pack a bag every night and shower in the office locker rooms. Oftentimes I won't get home until after 7:00, at which point I unpack my gym back, repack it, have dinner, answer some emails, eat dinner and go to bed at 9:00ish. There's just not much time to relax or catch my breath. I have to plan out my outfits/jewelry/makeup the night before which doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's not what I want to do when I get home from a long day.

All of this being said- this is a typical schedule and I often have to switch workouts and times and places, depending on my work schedule, the weather, or other factors. Since starting the job, I have yet to run over 45 miles per week. Part of that is because I started the job injured, trained a little for Chicago, recovered from Chicago, ran New York, recovered from New York, and then haven't gotten my mileage up that high since. Running 35-40 miles per week in this framework is completely manageable. I hope that 50+ is manageable too.

Greg has been very supportive. He understands that when I come home from work I still have more work to do, but he misses running with me in the mornings like we used to. I haven't been able to read blogs as much as I would like, or even maintain my own blog to the extent I used to. But I'm okay with it-- I get more satisfaction out of my job than any previous job, so it's totally worth it.

I'll be running the Shamrock half marathon in March followed by the Cherry Blossom in April, and then an early May marathon. I've had some great speed workouts lately but I would like to get the mileage up and start building my endurance again.

New Career Opportunity and Fitting It All In

I was very fortunate to have an amazing career opportunity fall in my lap recently. At first I wasn't interested in pursuing it because I was happy in my current job and didn't see a need to make a move. However, the company changed my mind when they told me about how rapidly they were growing and how my role in marketing could really have an impact on that growth. I did some research and discovered that this was one of the "hottest" companies in the DC metro area and ranked across the board as a fantastic place to work. And they wanted me!

After a day of interviews with some of their senior leadership, I realized that this would be an amazing opportunity in so many ways. The people were all highly intelligent and driven, I would have a good sized team reporting to me, everyone seemed to really embrace the company's mission, and the company was a pioneer in its space. It's a young culture-- most of the employees are in their 20's, bringing a fresh perspective, and are eager to grow/learn.

Only this type of career opportunity could prompt me to change my lifestyle by exchanging my 20-minute,

no-traffic commute to one where I would potentially be sitting in traffic for over two hours each day. Thankfully, they have flex time and told me that I would be able to work from home once a week. It's definitely an office I would want to go into-- a fully stocked kitchen with organic fruits and veggies and juices. Catered lunches. A lounge area with couches where people hold meetings. Super casual attire. And a team of really energized people. I just needed to figure out how to best use the flex time.

Before I went into my interviews, I spent quite awhile "digesting" the possibility of this commute. Even though

This is typical traffic for the road I would need to take.

 the job is only 22 miles away, in rush hour, this would take 60-90 minutes each way, depending on how bad the traffic was. And actually, an hour-long commute wouldn't bother me too much if I was moving. But I have very little tolerance for traffic. I worked out all the various scenarios in my head of when I would come and go, which roads I would take, and when/where the running would occur.

Current Schedule

For the past few years, I have been waking up without an alarm at around 5:30, starting my runs at around 6:00, finishing at around 7:15, taking some post-run recovery time, showering, getting ready for work, and leaving at around 8:15. This gets me into work before 9:00. I work a full day, leave at a reasonable hour and have no traffic on the 20-minute drive home. Pretty simple and stress-free.

Monday: Medium long run (easy pace)

Tuesday: Intervals at the local track

Wednesday: Rest day

Thursday: Tempo run

Friday: Easy run

Saturday: Long run

Sunday: Easy run

Potential New Schedule

There won't be much "wiggle room" here and everything will have to be timed pretty precisely for things to work out. The goal is to get all my runs in, avoid rush hour traffic, and put in a full work week. I could not even imagine what I would do if I had kids!

Monday:  Easy run in the evening. Wake up at 5:00. Get ready for work. Leave the house at 5:40am, avoid most of the traffic, get into work at around 6:15. Work 9 hours (straight through lunch), leave at 3:15 to be able to take the HOV lanes inside of the beltway, get home at around 4:00. Run. Dinner. Relax. Bedtime at 8:30-9:00. 

For July and August, this evening run might need to be on a treadmill at a gym near my house. It can easily be in the 90's at 4:00, so I will have to seek out a treadmill for the summer months if that is the case. I would be done with the run and ready to have dinner with Greg by 5:30.

Tuesday: Intervals with my team in Arlington. Leave the house at 5:20am, avoid all of the traffic, arrive at the track just before 6:00. (The track is located close to my office). Run the intervals. Drive to my office, which has a locker room with showers, get ready for work, start the work day at 8:15. Work 7 hours (straight through lunch), leave at 3:15 and get home at 4:00. Work some more. Dinner. Relax. Bedtime!

I have now averaged 8 hours a day in the office, plus some additional time at home on Tuesday after work. Are we tired yet?

Wednesday: Rest day. Follow the same schedule as Monday (9 hours in the office), only no running in the evening. Instead, do some extra work when I get home while waiting for Greg to get home. 

Thursday: Medium Long Run & Work From Home.  Thursday is my day to really pack in the miles because I don't need to commute or even worry about doing my hair or makeup. I could run as many as 14 miles in the morning and still work a full day. From a work perspective, this would be the day when I focused on strategy and planning and documenting things that might be hard to do with my team around me. The office is one of those open environments where there are no cubicles and only the top 5-6 executives actually have offices. So it will be nice to have some quiet time for things that require a great deal of focus without interruption. I imagine I would be working more than 8 hours this day, too!

Friday: Tempo run with my team in Arlington. Repeat the Tuesday schedule. 7 hours in the office to balance out Wednesday's 9. 

Saturday: Long Run. I normally give myself an easy day between tempo and long run, but I have successfully run 20+ milers the day after a strong tempo, so I am not really worried. I do not want to become a Sunday long runner because I like to get it done with first thing and then relax for the rest of the weekend.

Sunday: Easy Run. If I am feeling good, I can maybe tack on the few miles that I missed from Monday's run because it was too hot to do the whole thing or I got bored on the treadmill. :-)

I think this schedule is completely workable. I know that there will be very little traffic to contend with on Tuesday and Friday mornings because I have done those workouts many times in the past. Hopefully leaving just 20 minutes later on the other days won't make things completely change. I also don't know what the commute home will look like. I think that my 3:15 departure will help me avoid most traffic and get me home by 4:00.  

The company's fully stocked kitchen will help in terms of me not having to worry about packing breakfasts and snacks and such. The locker room is also a huge help. Plus, there's a gym inside of the building in case I ever need a treadmill before or after work. This might come in handy in the winter.

In terms of the career opportunity, it's an amazing one and I plan to work really hard and put in extra hours at home when needed. I do believe that working more hours doesn't equate with better quality work, but I realize that sometimes longer hours are needed to get the job done. I prefer to be as efficient as possible during the workday so I can take full advantage of my relaxation time, and then be able to focus on working efficiently the next day. 

I'll end with a funny story. I had all of my interviews back-to-back in one single day. Within 30 minutes of leaving the office, they called me and told me they would be extending me an offer. I called Greg, told him all about it, and he was really happy for me. That evening, a pair of running shoes that I had ordered online arrived on the front porch in a white box. As I carried them inside, Greg asked me what the box was. I said, jokingly, "it's my job offer". He said something to the effect of "Really! Wow!" And then I told him I was totally kidding. How could they have mailed me something that fast? But Greg reminded me that this was a pretty innovative company.

Then a few days later, a white box of the same size arrived at the door step and Greg brought it into the house. "What's that?" I said. "It's your job offer," he replied. I totally didn't believe him. I thought it must be something else I ordered online and forgot about. But then he said "seriously, it's from them." I opened the box and it was a congratulatory bottle of champagne! How ironic! And what a nice touch from the company. 

The new job starts on July 8, so I am going to enjoy the last few weeks of my current job and the relaxed running schedule. And then, my new journey begins!