For the past ~5 years I’ve been pursuing distance running at a moderately high level. My original pipe dream was to qualify for the Olympic Trials Marathon - the slowest qualifying standard is 2:18 (5:16/mile), but lately I’ve discovered I’m more talented at the 800m/mile, so my goal is now to run under 4:10 in the mile, and maybe one day break the 4 minute barrier.

This process has taught me a lot about myself and about life - mindset, discipline, ambition, maintaining a good attitude, avoiding burnout (physical and mental), exercise physiology, how to coach and be coachable, be a supportive teammate, and how to sustainably pursue a ~10-year goal. I do think this journey comes at a time and energy cost to pursue tech things (side projects, new langs/tools/frameworks) but at the same time, I think the lessons from pursuing anything really ambitious cross-pollinates to other areas including career.

Would be interested to hear of any other stories of people pursuing other hobbies at a somewhat high level while simultaneously pursuing career ambitions! Thanks for the post.