Saturday, July 12, 2008

Craziness Explained (or Not)

I expected to have some resolution to my last cryptic post by now or I would not have been so cryptic. Actually, I probably would not have brought it up at all, as it was just more job interview stuff. Believe me, I, more than anyone, know how crazy I sound with the whole, "So I'm interviewing for a really great new job this week" only to, once again, find out a few days later that I didn't get it. And of course there is the week of lost training, sanity, and general human functioning that accompany each missed opportunity. Yet I still fall into the trap over and over because I somehow become convinced it is The Last Time and when it's all over I will have a level financial and career satisfaction that will allow me to better focus on my cycling for the next few years. However, it just doesn't work out that way.

Anyway, I guess the thing that prompted me to even prematurely mention this to the blog world (which I swore I would never do again) was the crazy circumstances surrounding this particular interview. It took me a while to even apply for this job. Things are looking up at my current job and there's an extremely good chance I will be promoted soon, so I'm not really compelled to apply for anything outside my office unless it is a very big step up and I have a reasonably good chance of getting it. However, after a couple of weeks of contemplation and research, I decided that I should give this one a shot.

My application went in the week of the 4th of July, so I didn't hear anything for a week, but I didn't really expect to so near a holiday. Then Monday morning I got a call asking me to interview Monday afternoon. It was strange, but I took it as a complement that they wanted to see me so quickly. The interview went fine and by the time I went to send a thank you email that evening, I already had an invitation for a second interview in my inbox. The second interview went well and then we reach the part where I start to doubt my hearing/sanity. I believe that the person in charge told me that they would have a decision by the next day. That sounded like a really fast timeline, but we had already been working fast so it wasn't too surprising. However, when the next couple of days passed with no word I got a little panicked. Finally, I called them yesterday and it turns out that the director had been out of town most of the week following my interview. The person I talked to said he was fairly certain that a decision was not made yet.

So I really don't have a final resolution to this tale, but I thought I would give a little more detail about what was going on, in case anyone was wondering.

The good news is that after typing all that, I am feeling energized enough to go ride my bike. Due to the many and varied extenuating circumstances of late, I've reached a point where pulling on my bibs for a 1 hour easy ride feels like a herculean task. I'm really trying to get myself going again ASAP, regardless of this job thing pans out.

So here's the deal: I HAVE to maintain my planned workout schedule for next week whether I find out I got the job, didn't get the job, or still don't find out anything. If can do that it, it will be a huge breakthrough in the whole "emotional maturity" aspect of my training that I desperately need. So expect regular report of how that goes.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Linds (can I call you Linds?)...

One part of emotional maturity that goes along with training is realizing that life can and will get in the way from time to time. Rolling with it, learning from it, and not beating yourself up over it...all mean much more than forcing yourself to get in a workout because you think you HAVE to.

Even when training, even for big events, it has to be enjoyable, if not fun. I think you're doing fine. Stop berating and get back to riding as you can.

And, BTW, I get to say this stuff since I'm old as dirt.