Work, work, work, and work out when I can

When I left work yesterday, I went home and spent the evening working for my other job. I managed to find some time to have dinner with my family, but otherwise, I was working until 10:00. Tonight, I'll go for a quick run after work, and then I'll probably work again. This just seems to be the way the economy is these days.

I can either have a long commute so I can make more money, I can leave Vermont to make more money, or I can work multiple jobs to make enough money. It's not like I'm poor, at least based on our household income compared to the state median. I had enough money to take a great family vacation to CA for Western States this year. But, I don't know if I can do it again next year, even though I have free plane tickets and guaranteed acceptance into the race.

I don't know if I've ever mentioned politics on this blog, and I'll only do it obliquely here. The last 7+ years have been tough for me. I was laid off for the first time in my life. I managed to find a new job before my severance pay ran out - a job with a long commute and a big pay cut. After 4.5 years of spending 2.5 hours/day in my car, I deliberately took a big pay cut to work closer to home, to get some of my life back. I was spending 6% of my life in a car just for my job at the time I left my previous job. Plus, I was spending a fortune on gas and car maintenance. But, the big pay cut was too much, and eventually, I was lucky enough to find some extra work to help out with the bills. But now, I work a minimum of 48 hours per week and I make less money than I did when commuting everyday. I'm saving some time vs. commuting every day, and time is incredibly precious to an athlete with a family, but things remain a struggle at times.

Food and fuel prices are out of control. I think that gas cost about $1.45/gallon when I first started that long commute. Firewood cost me $145/cord for dry wood just 5 or 6 years ago. This year, green firewood is $205/cord and dry is $225. Many people are paying more than that, but I'm a long-term customer of the guy we buy our wood from, and he kept our costs down a bit. Propane was way less than half of what it costs now just 5 years ago. We are lucky that we use propane and wood rather than fuel oil, which has gone up even more. Compared to 7 or 8 years ago, I work a lot more hours and I have less to show for it. My medical costs have gone up tremendously in the past 7 years as well. For people who complain about medical costs, please know that I'm not the reason your costs are going up (I work in health care). Last year, my annual "raise" was well below the inflation level, way below the average increase in health costs, and it was 100% eaten up by an increase in my own medical insurance costs. I know I'm not the only person in this category. But,something's got to change, and hopefully not for the worse.

Anyway, enough of that complaining. This morning was my first leg day in my new lifting routine. The lifts were snatch-grip deadlifts, dynamic lunges, and step-ups, all 5 sets of 6 with a deliberate tempo. Then, 3 sets of 12 incline reverse crunches.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that upper body lifting days rarely make me sore. On Monday, I started a new routine and did an upper body and core day. I've been sore for the past few days. Hopefully, today won't leave me sore at all for racing on Friday and Saturday.

Tonight, I'll run an easy 5 or 6 miles. After that, I won't run until my first leg in the relay on Friday afternoon.