I ran and volunteered at a run yesterday. You get to run the shortest distance (for a big discount) after volunteering with packet pickup and then you get to come back and assist at the finish line tent after running if you can. I had a great time. I almost had a PR in the 5k but there was a hill. That hill. I need to count how many switch backs there are. I’ve run in that park once before but haven’t counted how many. It’s a lot, maybe 10. And the humidity. It was so humid. Despite all that, I still did very well. I did run up part of the way but had to walk about half of it, and it was my 2nd fastest 5k time despite the hill. I can tell that my fitness level has improved significantly over the last several months.
Why haven’t I written lately? I work for the devil.
To quote Joe Rogan, “Profit is where the devil does his best work.”
I am over-worked, underpaid, and the people in charge appear to love themselves and money more than anything else. Oh, don’t mistake their words for actions. They say a lot of things about how much they love their employees and want them to have great work-life balances and blah blah blah blah. Then they work you 65-hour weeks and give you too much work, and to be responsible for too much shit to effectively handle and then give you a “needs improvement” on your evaluation while pointing out every personality flaw you have.
The love of money is the root of all evil. -1Timothy 6:10
Upper-level c-suite can have the best intentions, but when mid-level management has psychopathic tendencies and is given free agency to rule over their department unimpeded, you wind up with one helluva toxic work environment. This is endemic in much of corporate America, where the psychopaths and sociopaths weasel their way into mid-level managerial positions and wreck everything.
This over-work has impacted the amount of time I have to train. I work, I eat, I sleep, and then it’s time to work again. I worked every Saturday from February to the beginning of June and was lucky to have been able to squeeze in 30 minutes to go for a walk or run. My average work week was 11 to 14-hour days with a “shorter” 7 to 9-hour day on Saturday, usually 58-65 hours each week. Sundays were for sleeping and trying to do things in my life that need to be done, like laundry and cleaning. They said it was going to slow down, but so far, it hasn’t much. I’m still working 48 to 50-hour weeks. It’s difficult to do what you want to do when you’re working more than a full-time job because there are things you need to do that then don’t get done if you do the things you want to do. 40 hours is a “full-time” job for a reason.
Anyhow, enough about that dumpster fire. It’s the weekend and I don’t want to think any more about it right now.
Some life advice for the kids - don’t wait so long to Find Out.
Oh! Speaking of which, I haven’t even had time to write to tell y’all all what I’ve signed up for!
First, I have signed up for a 50k at the very end of August. I was going to do the 25k and then was like, why do that? I’m the sort that likes to go for broke you know.
Second, I also signed up for a 25 mile in October. That’s going to be a training run for…
- wait for it -
::::: BIG DRUM ROLL :::::
The Hoka 100k in Bandera, Texas in January 2026. I bit the proverbial bullet and signed up.
Can I do this? I don’t know, but we are going to Find Out.
One thing that I’m really working on is my posture, both while sitting at this godforsaken computer and when running. I tend to slouch. You know when you’re young and your elders tell you sit up straight and you’re like ‘whatever.’ Yeah, that ‘whatever’ eventually catches up to you. Just listen to your elders and sit up straight. Trust me, you’ll thank me in forty years.
I think I need an electric shock every time I slouch. That would probably fix that problem fast.
Anyhoo - I want to finish the 100k in under 17 hours because I want a lottery entry to Western States. Is that crazy? Yes. Yes, it is. I don’t know if I can do that the first time, but that’s my goal. And if I can’t, then I will keep training and try it again the following year.
Also, next year, probably in the late spring, I’m planning on taking some time off to hike the Appalachian Trail. I’m originally from Appalachia, and as they say, one is never a tourist in their own back yard. I lived there for most of the first half of my life and never even did a section hike. I’ve been watching hikers on YouTube, and I think I’d like to try it. I don’t know if I will like it. I’ve never even been camping. I might get to Neel Gap and throw my shoes in that tree.
But here’s to Finding Out.
My advice: You will usually not regret the things you did. Rather, you will regret the things you did not do.
And just for the record: yes, I’m probably having a mid-life crisis, and that’s okay. I haven’t bought a sportscar, yet.
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