This year is a big year of commitment and it scares me! I aim big, and sometimes fail big – and this year will require all my best efforts to not do the latter. On top of everything else in my life, I have been accepted into a postgraduate diploma of the Applied Science degree, within the Exercise Prescription branch. Basically this one year of full-time study will give me the professional skills and exercise prescriptive knowledge at a specialised level. I plan to use this to coach athletes and everyday people, and give them the confidence that they are getting the best knowledge from someone who cares about their outcome. I have just finished an ‘intensive’ week in Dunedin studying, and yes it was intensive but it was also really valuable.
I’m definitely one of the few ‘oldies’ there, but none of the non-wrinkled, non-lovehandled post-degree students there made me feel that way! It was invigorating being around the youth and next generation of people who care about health and exercise! Being older and having the work experience I have did give certain advantages in some lectures, and I’m woefully behind in others. I’ve just submitted my first assignment in one of the courses for professional development. I was slow and clunky trying to figure out how to write again, then rewriting, then trimming the word count, then rewriting once more – many hours and days hours later I pressed the submit button and now my anxiety sits high waiting for ‘judgement’, all for 5% of this course’s outcome. I’m hard on myself, and even though it is only 5% of one course, it matters to me like it is 100%, but I fear I don’t yet have the skills required for academic writing to pass the written assignments.
It isn’t easy being middle-aged and being judged again – confidence is fragile, and even a bad night’s sleep can affect it. The imposter syndrome features often in many aspects of my life, being a postgrad student just piles on a new level of it. I do a lot of self-development to work past this as I know it is what holds a lot of us back. Being too nervous to post a blog online, to produce content for a youtube channel, to present in front of colleagues, even just saying I’m an ultra-runner – these are just some examples of how imposter syndrome used to hold me back, but I’m learning each day to give less of damn of what others think. I wish I had navigated this 20 years ago, but at least I’m trying to make up for lost time now.
My time management skills (one of my weaker areas) need to really be on point this year as the tetris of life is unrelenting. This year I have to balance:
- Full time Postrgraduate studies.
- Full time work as a Health Coach.
- Part time work coaching private tennis lessons.
- Part time work as a data annotator (training AI).
- And still to come this year:
- Starting a running coaching methodology and database from scratch.
- Personal training clients database, and to help them reach their wellbeing and athletic goals.
- Improve social media:
- More regular blogs – more than once a year! lol.
- Edit and upload Youtube videos that don’t make me look like a boomer with a camera!
- Social media posts that make running not so damn boring! Near impossible I say!
On top of that I have my own running to balance:
- Recover from latest ultra physically – not going so well at present, 3 weeks post race.
- Find time for 8 runs a week minimum – totalling between 80k, training up to 120k in the near future.
- Strength train twice a week, possibly more.
- Catch up with my coach, plan an agenda for our meetings and discuss outcomes.
And like all people, there is life stuff to balance:
- Nutrition moderation and quality so I can continue to improve my energy and decrease fat %.
- Walk my dog Fern each day, take her on some of the shorter runs.
- Time for friends and family.
- Tidy my pigsty of a house.
- Continue to find funds and time to improve my 100 year old mid-reno house.
- The damn lawns!
- And somewhere in there I need some sleep, this area needs to improve a lot.
It’s a lot, and that’s why I’m a tad worried! If I had the money I’d outsource the things I could, but finances are beyond stretched. The costs of what I do versus the income I earn would make any finance advisor have panic attacks. Is it going to be worth it? Hell yes! We only get one shot with life, and I am going to make sure the tank is empty when my time is done on this earth!
Before I get back into the books, keep an eye out for some free running coaching opportunities, this will be part of my study requirements to get ‘placement’ hours completed. You don’t need to be a current runner, or an ultra runner (but those are welcome too!). You may just be wanting to get fitter so you can complete a 5k without dying, a first time 10k or ultra, or even just the achievement of running down the street and back, you are all valued 🙂 Follow my Vaughan The Ultra Runner Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561068040238) to keep up to date.
This year what I’m hoping to bring to the table is authenticity in my ultra running journey, and how life affects it. I’m no super athlete, most people can do what I do with the right knowledge and motivation. And if you don’t want to do what I do, that’s fine too, live vicariously through me for free! I plan to bring what I’m learning straight from the classroom to share with you all, I want knowledge but I also want to share it for those that care. So expect to see some of what my ultra running life is doing, and aspects of my study and life when I slide the Hoka trail shoes off.
Keep active all,
Vaughan