New Job

As some of you might have known, I started working for Alaska Airlines in late January. The airport in Pullman is pretty small, but very busy for it's size. With only one gate, and 4 flights a day it requires people working there to know how to do everything from checking in passengers to working the ground service. I won't go too much into it, but so far I'm enjoying it and it works well with my training schedule and other responsibility, but no doubt it's testing me everyday.

Tested. Trusted. True. I am PowerTap

I started out with a flight to Portland and Seattle for a week of orientation and training. The classes were fun and engaging, but did put some disruption in my training. At this moment in the season, I'm transitioning from full time in the gym to getting on the bike and building the volume. Right as I was making that transition, I had this first trip. So I had to get creative. Luckily the hotel I was in had a small gym with weights, so I was able to get the weight lifting in, but I had to move the rides around a little and substitute some runs for rides. But over all I was able to make it work. then 2 weeks of on the job training working flights. I feel comfortable with the job, and I think it will be a good fit. I do end up working funny hours, starting some shift at 4am and ending some days 1:30am. Obviously not back to back days with those two, but getting the sleep schedule to move around is tough and really can affect the training. So I'm doing everything I can to keep myself flexible while also trying to keep myself from having to work a highly variable schedule. I can do 4am, and I can 1:30am. but I can't do both without it disrupting things. After those 2 weeks, it was back to Portland for more classroom training and now I'm back home, getting back at it with 2 more weeks of on the job training. these next couple weeks will be tough with the schedule shifting from early to late, back and forth a few times. But it's not going to stop me, it's just another obstacle.

Not a bad job.

I don't want this post, or this blog for that matter, to be about complaining though. I'm solution oriented and that's what I want this blog to be about. A collection of lessons, not problems. So how am I dealing with it? Well, first off this job is teaching me a lot about discipline. I've been disciplined, and I've been very much not. Last summer was pretty amazing, such a fun experience and amazing that I got to travel like I did. but it wasn't sustainable, in part because I wasn't utilizing my opportunities and I wasn't working as hard as I could have been. No doubt, the time to recover was huge and played a big part in my success last year, but there might have been too much rest. There might have been too much relaxing. Looking at the training, and looking at all the time, I was wasting a lot, in the name of recovery. So this job will be good. using some of that extra time in a useful way and keeping the bank account happy. The key will be to not allow either work or training to get in the way of the other. Then I still have coaching on top of that. Sometimes I don't feel like doing something, but I'm learning how to get a sense of satisfaction out of getting it done, doing what I have to do to make this dream happen.

And speaking of this dream. A huge change is in the dream. My dream has always been pretty vague. For whatever reason, I just wanted to be "PRO". But what I've come to learn is that making the leap to being "pro" isn't a thing, at least not for me. Only a select few just make it. If making that leap is like jumping across a canyon, then I'm building a bridge. A huge component of that was setting concrete goals, planning them out, understanding what it would take to accomplish them, and setting that plan in motion. I've got experience in setting goals, but over a season. These goals are multi-year. But having that finite direction is helping have a sense of urgency. Understanding the magnitude of what I'm trying to do, however small or large, is helping understand and prepare for the work ahead. But most importantly, it's helping me set a plan that is sustainable and within reason. No more extremes, no more blind leaps of faith.

And this job is part of that plan. It's a fun, rewarding job. It's a part time job, and it allows me to train while working and having time to still coach. It's going to be a lot of work, it's going to push me. And that is awesome. While I was looking back on the past, the riding and training, the trips, and what got me to where I was, I came across something. As the last few years have come and gone, what I was missing was the excitement. Driving to Missoula and racing my bike 3 years ago was crazy, it was fun, and it was something that excited me. It was something that I could get behind and devote myself to. 2016 and beyond, I want to capture that and hold onto it. Going outside of my comfort zone, challenging myself in very real ways. Allowing myself to fail or succeed, and forcing myself to rise to occasion. Putting the trust back in myself, knowing that I've done the work, I've planned it out, and trusting that I can do it.