I’ve blogged in the past about how running long distancesand marathon training and academic research and writing have a lot of parallels. I’ve been thinking about that quite a bit lately because of where I’m at
in my current training cycle and where I’m at in my academic career as a researcher and
writer. For the first time in a long time my pipeline is essentially empty.
Articles based on my dissertation or side research project are out or under
review. The critical edition I co-authored came out two years ago. My book Treating the Public is in the hands of
my editor and the press production team.
I’ve also been thinking a lot about what it means to have
written a book that is at least partially about the spaces charity, alms, and
good works created for performance in the early modern period and what it means
to perform charity today. They are very different beasts, but both are subjects I'm passionate about. Over the past several months I’ve dedicated numerous
runs to those of you who have so generously sponsored me -- if I were a better actress I'd come perform monologues from early modern Spanish plays for you. I’ve given time,
sweat, tears, and my own funds to training for the Rock and Roll Seattle Marathon,
which is now just four weeks away.
Once again running and writing – or at least the mindset
needed for them – seem to coextend and synchronize. Although there are still some things to be
done for Treating the Public (and miles to be logged for Seattle) I am finally really embarking on another
reserach project, which will hopefully grow into another book. It is daunting
to have so few documents fully read and transcribed, such a limited sense of the shape the
project will take, to have no idea if my next trip to the archives will be boom
or bust (it’s usually never really bust, but I may not find things that answer
the research questions I’m asking now). But it’s good to remember that I have
the skills to do this; I’ve done this before; I can do this again. Like all big
projects it will requre discipline and the investment of time and energy. I’m also
beginning another training and fundraising cycle with Team in Training. Our
Fall Team meets for the first time tomorrow to begin training. Another investment of myself that I know I'm capable of but that will require mental and emotional effort, especially once I leave on a research trip and have to run on my own in Madrid.
My new research project is more about corruption and
political intrigue than charity and is perhaps a fitting metaphor for running
Chicago in October. I would love to have you sponsor me for Chicago (no amount
is too small)! I promise not to embezzle your funds like a corrupt politician from the seventeenth or the twenty-first century! If you donate by the end
of May, you will be entered into a raffle for a $25 amazon gift card. (You get
one entry for every $10 donated to my fundraising efforts to Seattle or
Chicago.) I will dedicate one of my training runs to anyone who donates and one
of my marathon miles to you if you donate $50 or more. You can donate by following this link: http://pages.teamintraining.org/wa/chicago16/rballn
And with that I'm off to finish transcribing some seventeenth-century documents I have digitized. Wish me luck!
Do you see any parallels between your work/vocation and your hobbies? Do you have any big projects or races coming up on the horizon?
I have definitely found parallels between running and other aspects of my life - like studying for the CFA. Marathon training taught me that you have to take it a week at a time and have to try to not be overwhelmed or intimidated by what you hope to accomplish at the end of the training cycle. I also learned that there will be good days and bad days in marathon training and you will doubt your ability to reach your goal - and I felt that exact same way when I studied for the CFA.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest project these days is rehabbing my hip. It's similar to marathon training in that I have a 12 week schedule laid out for me. It's a sloooooow progression towards healing, though, and that has been hard for me because I am so dang impatient to just feel better. But I appreciate having a detailed schedule laid out for me that tells me what to expect each week.
Yes, definitely good days and bad days!
DeleteI was thinking about how having a schedule is probably helpful to at least give you something to give yourself benchmarks for mental and physical progress as you recover. I can imagine that it's hard to let the healing just happen when you are so used to being such an active person. You will get back to getting your sweat on soon!