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Question… What do you think is a tougher challenge in one’s life?

A. Training and completing a race (2x) that most people think impossible

B. Career searching

I think back to all the emotions I had for training for my Ironman’s that I have completed and the emotional roller coaster I put myself through on a daily basis. I never thought that training would be training for a career search. Let’s face it since I am going through the career search I am finding that the career search is at least equal to training for the Ironman, but in fact it is probably more difficult.

Why?

Well so far what I have come up with is this: You do an Ironman really for yourself. To see how far you can push yourself physically and mentally for 140.6 miles, plus the countless miles and hours leading up to the race. Now I know there are people out there saying they are doing it for a loved one, a cause and so on, but when it really comes down to it, it is done because of yourself. Can you really compete in a race that will take you through every single emotion through a 140.6 mile race and survive?

Career searching I have found you do control many aspects of the journey, but there is one more phase that the Ironman does not have. Ultimately there is another person involved that gives you either a thumbs up or a thumbs down. That is out of your control. The decision just for an interview rest based on a few words written on a sheet of paper. This person doesn’t know you from the next, but there was something not worded correctly or something missing that simply makes that person respond back to you saying such things as:

• Even though your qualification are excellent….
• Thank you for responding, but your qualifications don’t meet…
• We will keep your resume on file and we will review them when another position becomes available…

There is a lot of weight that goes into a sheet of paper or two.

Listen I knew going in that this was going to be tough and I can’t be so emotional about a complete stranger’s decision but it is hard not to start thinking that there might be something really wrong with me…

What worries me even more is I have just started this process. What am I going to be like if this lasts into spring, summer or ever further?

What will save me during this process?

It is very easy to sit on the couch, open a carton of Ben & Jerry’s and sit there feeling sorry for myself. I get it and I am beginning to understand why so many people in this economy are probably doing that right now. I just started, they have been doing this much longer than I and probably were filled with as much optimism as I when they first started. So what made them stop? What broke their spirit? How can I prevent that from happening to me?

Here is my initial plan:

1. Ironman. Remember that I am an Ironman and that if I could complete one and now two of these things I can do anything as long as I put my all into it. Use what I learned during that journey and apply it to this journey.
2. Workouts. Feeling low? Feeling beat up? Feeling that the whole world is on my shoulders? Simple go into The Fitness Buddy, or go to the gym, or go for a run. I used this technique many times through my ups and downs at my old job and the results at the end were I was 70lbs. lighter and a much happier person.
3. Blog. I put you all through the torment of my Ironman journey and now all of you will have to enjoy the new soap opera in my life. ENJOY!
4. Music. I forget how much comfort the right song brings when played through an awesome sounding system. Some songs are played softly, while others are played at ear piercing levels. Either way the right song can put me in the right frame of mind.
5. Never give up. I think going down to that trade show in Austin was an excellent idea. Has it produced the result I am looking for? Not yet, but it is still early and I am dealing with the knowledge it is the holidays, fiscal year end decisions and so on. I will continue to search for ideas like this to help me standout in a sea of unemployment noise.

So in the mean time I apologize once again if this seems all to familiar to my Ironman posts. It is a new journey and all journey’s have their peaks and valleys. I have a feeling this journey is going to have some biggies along the way. Please keep me in your thoughts, but simply when it comes down to it, IT IS UP TO ME!

The show goes on…

Until next time… Your Fitness Buddy

As I have posted I am career searching. I have done this before and it has ranked up there with car shopping/buying and going to the dentist. Not exactly on my list of favorite things to do. To top that I am doing it in a very rough economic climate that would make even the most mentally strong question if it is all worth it.

I will give you two examples that have recently happened to me and you tell me if it is worth it.

Example #1 – I know jobs are out there, I have seen them. In fact do a little digging on corporate websites and you will see. These are not the $10 an hour jobs at Wal-Mart, these are good jobs, well paying jobs, jobs that one can make a career of and hopefully one that could take until retirement.

Adidas

Adidas a well established manufacturer of shoes, clothes and other fitness related products has a position open right here in Chicago for a Sales Rep – Running Specialty. Looking the requirements I thought to myself here is a great job open and I don’t even have to think about relocating. I mean I am a runner, a finisher of countless races from 5k’s all the way up to that Ironman thing I talk so much about. Plus having a sales, marketing, training background should hold some value, so I sent in a resume and waited… Now at least i have to give Adidas some credit, because in today’s job market world if a company thinks you don’t fit what they are looking for they don’t even give you a response. At least Adidas had the common courtesy in sending me an email back saying I don’t meet their qualifications, bonus points for Adidas but that is where I end their bonus points. DON’T MEET THEIR QUALIFICATIONS? REALLY, I do mention I am a 2x Ironman on my resume. Um? Really? Don’t meet their qualifications?

I get it. There are two possible scenarios I can come up with.

1. You send in a resume and it never sees a human being. A computer looks at it with the program of looking for key words or experiences. I can’t blame them I can’t even imagine how many resumes they get when they list a job, simply they don’t have the person power to go over each and everyone.
2. Dare I say it. To put it kindly I am too experienced (OLD). Wow, the first time in my life I am experiencing what it means to be considered old. Hey I am not 45 for another week, doesn’t that count for something? This too I get, they think just because of my 15 years at my previous job I am expecting to make as much money. THREE WORDS – HOW DARE THEY!!!! I am no fool I understand that there will be an income loss and I am OK with that, because I know how to work my butt off, get results and in turn my income will rise once more. But to simply toss a resume aside because of this reason? I know I am not a person coming right out of college, but think of this Adidas and any other company. YOUR PRODUCT IS NOT BEING PURCHASED BY 25 YEAR OLDS ALL THE TIME! In fact, if you look at the average age of a runner I bet you will see the average age is going up and getting older. Now if it were me and I am trying to sell my product to folks above the ripe old age of 35+ I sure would like someone that has been there done that.

Who better than a person who has done this in his “middle” years? Plus I done the following items -

1. Lost 70 pounds and kept it off.
2. Run over 10 marathons.
3. Took up Triathlons.
4. Became a Personal Trainer helping people lose weight and in fact many have become runner’s and triathletes themselves.
5. And yes I AM A FRICKEN IRONMAN!!!!!

This is why I am going to try to avoid this way of career searching, it simply won’t work. Even before I send out the resume it is dead in the water.

THE BOLD MOVE

Being I am faced with this type of unfairness and to top that off hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions of people also doing their own career search one has to look for ways to stand out in a mighty big crowd.

I can think of one thing and one thing only that I have to be the best at, NETWORKING! Networking is a lot different today, the last time I career searched there was no social media but what it comes down to it networking hasn’t changed. It is not what you know that will get you a career, it is who you know. Networking is how this is all going to happen.

So what was the bold move? Well, since there is some income coming in with Kim’s job, a few Harman checks still to come and a few other things I am taking this career search to them! I am putting this face in front as many people as I can in the industry I have a passion for. I am going on the offense. Sending out resumes is defensive. The first of hopefully many more (hopefully not too many) positive moves was I went to a major trade show that focused around the running industry. The event is called The Running Event. I thank the owners of the Runner’s Hi and Tri and the Naperville Running Company for planting the seed for this idea. I went to their stores talked to the owners along with a few of the salespeople and asked them was there a major trade show they attend and they both mentioned The Running Event.  The problem it was less than 10 days away! Timing is everything. I asked them to keep an eye and ear out for me. As I drove home I started to think, why would I place my hopes and trust in these people. Don’t get me wrong these are great people but they have their reasons why they are going and I might be a small thought in their minds, if that while they attended the show.

So I went home to check on airfares. Chicago to Austin, $800, Yikes!!!! Chicago to Houston, $550, nope. Chicago to Dallas $400, better but… wait a moment Spirit Airlines? $142 round trip? WHAT IS THE CATCH! Off I went to Spirit Airlines website to figure this out. After checking that it was legit, Wednesday to Saturday $142 round trip Chicago to Dallas!!!! Wait a minute Thursday’s flight to Dallas $8? NOT A TYPO! Sunday’s flight back to Chicago $8!!!!! With tax round trip airfare $55!!!! DONE!

You remember me talking about fate, karma, THE HAND OF GOD! If this isn’t a sign, I don’t know what is. Using some left over Hilton points I also got a free hotel for the trip, leaving me to pay for the car rental, food, and gas. So I was off to Austin!!!

Now a bold move is only as good as you make it.

Friday morning I woke up early to participate in the events 5k, thinking it was a good chance to network. As it turned out none of the manufacturers ran the race, but it was the attendees. No matter most that I talked to provided great information on which companies were looking for help. After the race I cleaned up and was off to the trade show.

As I entered the trade show I knew what to expect since I have done the Consumer Electronics Show so many times. I knew it was to keep my distance, scope out the trade show floor and pick my moments. The last thing these manufacturer wanted to do is to talk to some poor schmuck about jobs. I soon noticed I was over dress since everyone was in jeans and sweatshirts. So I decided to go back to the hotel and dress as they were. Coming back I started to feel overwhelmed, I didn’t really know where to start and the anxiety started to get the best of me.

I had to leave!

Walking back to the hotel I felt alone, dejected and sad. Before I took a nap I reached out to my FaceBook friends looking for some support. As I woke up I checked FaceBook and was surprised on the number of responses I received. I read through each one of them and the great things they had to say, to top this I watched a couple of Ironman videos on YouTube that inspire me and I was a new person.

Off to the show I went and I took charge of the situation! I targeted about 12 companies I wanted to work for and went after them. So the rest of Friday and a few short hours on Saturday I talked to most of these company’s. For the most part none are hiring right now, but most are looking to add staff in 2012!!!! I got names and as soon as I got home I sent out thank you’s and reminders. In addition my FaceBook friends are looking out for me. They are giving me names of their running/tri store managers, they are giving me names of head hunters and they are giving me names from anyone they know in the industry.

I sent out four thank you’s today and have already gotten back four responses. Much better results than just sending out resumes.

Now I am not thinking this will end anytime soon. First it is the holiday’s, add on it is the end of most companies fiscal year’s and that means it is doubtful anything will happen in December, probably even January and maybe February. That does not mean I am stopping here.

There are a few more trade shows coming up and I will have to see if it is worth attending any of these. Financially is the big question, but other than that I think it can only help. These events are not open to the public, but being my own company with the name The Fitness Buddy should get me in these events.

Give up? HECK NO! Be different? HECK YES!

The journey continues and these contact better realize I will be on them giving them reminders of who I am!

Until next time… Your Fitness Buddy

Such a simple word… Hope.

In a world of four letter words that are bad, I find comfort in hope.

It can come in a small form to really something very big, but either way, hope gives me the strength to push on.

As you might have read in my last post I have started a career search. My quote is, “it is time to put on the big boy pants and search for the next chapter of this journey I have been on.” I took The Fitness Buddy as far as I could take it alone. Time to put that dream on the shelf for now and move forward. I too take comfort knowing I took it as far as I could and knowing it is there to pull off the shelf when/if the time comes.

Hope… It is hard to believe there is hope in this career search with so many negative things happening all around us. Everyday, no every hour there seems to be a new report on how things are so bad. The reports are so many one wonders why to even try. Many are defeated even before they start, no hope…

Hope… In the short time I have started my search I find hope everywhere, if you know where to look. Reaching out to family and friends of course is a great source of hope, but reaching out further is what really has surprised me the most. Looking back in my journey I find this to be true. Hope comes from the most unusual places. Hope comes from moments you least expect. There is a catch, you really have to be ready to look for it and be prepared to notice it at a moments notice. Then just as quickly as you find it you have have to act on it almost as fast.

Hope… Hope involves stepping back and assessing what is happening in front of you. It involves more listening than talking. It involves slowing down and observing than just doing for the sake of doing. It involves being real with yourself rather than denying what is actually happening to you.

Hope… Means to taking a risk, to be different, to make a bold move versus sitting back and waiting for something to happen. Hope means living life not life passing you by.

Hope… I look back and think would I have been ready to do this before The Fitness Buddy? No! Hope is learning from life situations and applying them to the situations you face today.

Hope… Is remembering, when I was 250 lbs, I was lost in life, I took the bold moves to change everything! It hasn’t happened over night, in fact I still am going through with the changes, but I am the one that lost the weight, I am the one who feared running marathons and completed over a dozen, I am the one that feared changing my professional life, I am the one who took on the challenge of the Ironman and now have completed two, I am the one that created The Fitness Buddy… each step created more and more HOPE.

Hope… is now facing a bigger challenge than all of those combined… the career search. Not not only a career search, but a career search in the worst economy since the great depression. I truly believe the right career is out there for me. I have done the research and there seems to be plenty of positions out there if you believe the companies career site. There are not only plenty of positions available, there are plenty of great positions available. Now it is my job to break the code, network past the usual avenues in finding a career, perhaps bump into that one yet to be discovered person that will assist me pursue this next challenge.

Hope… is all of you that have followed this journey of mine, the weight loss, The Fitness Buddy and the Ironman. You have been a very welcome force that I wasn’t sure of having when this roller coaster ride started. To that I don’t believe there will never be enough thank you’s coming from me. Now that I am entering another emotional roller coaster chapter, I will need you even more.

You help give me HOPE!

As this week ends, I am taking a very bold step to stand out and be different than the huge group of the unemployed. I am traveling down to Austin, TX to attend a trade show called The Running Event. For a lack of better example, I turn to my electronics past. This trade show is the Consumer Electronics Show of the Running industry. My goal is simple come away with a handful of contact names. No I don’t expect to walk away with a new job (would be kind of nice) since the people attending this show have other priorities. The HOPE is I walk away with a handful of names then I can start the process of building a relationship with a more defined group of people.

So wish me luck, if you have a passing moment pass along some positive mojo and good thoughts. It is a bold move that HOPEFULLY helps make stand out from the crowd.

Until next time… The Fitness Buddy

Kim, Dan and I sat in my car as I watched the clock turn to 7:15 am. There we were getting ready to run the the 3rd annual Pewaukee, WI Turkey Trot. It was a typical early Wisconsin morning, cold, windy, gray with a touch of drizzle. I think for all three of us, this really will be the first physical exercise we have done since the Ironman three weeks back. I had done a handful of spinning classes, lifted a little and did two small attempts of running, but it had been a three week vacation from exercise.

We exited the car, walked into the small building in the park and I was amazed at the amount of people this race has grown to in 3 years. I mean I remember the first year taking off and actually finding myself in 2nd place with the eventual placing of 9th. That won’t happen anymore, with close to 400 runners starting this year’s race.

Soon they swooshed us out of the building, to line up behind a line of cones. We three stopped about 50 feet behind these cones, but soon realized everyone else was behind us. We moved back another 10 feet into the crowd, but once the again everyone moved behind us! WHAT’S GOING ON!!!!! We moved one more time closer to the back and waited for the horn to go off.

Before you wonder did I have any Ironman gear on to pronounce to the Turkey Trot world of my greatness, DAH!!! Let’s see I had my DETERMINATION shirt on under a Finishers sweatshirt, Panama City Beach socks and my trusty Brooks with my M-Dot shoe laces (Keep in mind this all plays out in a little while). The horn sounded and we were off. I ran with Dan for a few moments while I was putting in my ear buds and as soon as they were in I took off. I mean I still have to be the fastest in the family!

Going into the race I wasn’t sure how I was going to do. Could I even last 3 miles? My previous two attempts were run 5 minutes, walk 1, plus Wisconsin has those nasty things called HILLS! As in other 5k races with my brother-in-law the plan was to go out fast (too fast) and hold on! If we ever plan to do anything longer I might have to rethink that strategy. As the race continued, the 1st mile 8:30 minutes, hmm… not bad, mile 2 the same. Soon after, I started to feel the effects of the Ironman and not running much for 3 weeks and the wheels started to fall off. Still over all I passed more people than I got passed maybe because this was suppose to be a “fun run”. Yeah right, fun my butt… As the race approached the 2.5 mile, marked the biggest hill awaits and I soon found myself tackling this sucker. As I started up I felt someone coming up from behind I looked over to my right another runner started to pass me. Through the music from my ears buds I heard him say “I AM PASSING AN IRONMAN!” (the back of my sweatshirt states IRONMAN) Now I feel that I am not that competitive, knowing that it had just been 3 week’s since I put these legs through hell and I usually don’t let such statements bother me… NOT THIS TIME!!!! Maybe it was his tone, but there it was, someone threw down the gauntlet. A quarter mile from the finish line, with the Black Eye Peas “I Gotta Feeling” my Ironmaness was being questioned! Needless to say I took off, I started my sprinters kick much earlier than I wanted too but it was game on. I wasn’t chugging up this hill, I sprinted! I soon realized I let my Ironman pride get the better of me but I needed to hold on and destroy this “probably nice guy” and show him what it really meant to be an Ironman.

Yes, I probably went a little overboard, but to me it was just another example of what it means to be an Ironman. I started up that hill, the wheels were starting to fall off and I could have easily let him go by and not give it another thought, but… There are time,s 5k or not, where one has to dig down, dig deep down and answer back with actions! That is the spirit of an Ironman! This has been a lesson self taught over this journey. When things get tough, you and only you can control what happens next. It doesn’t matter if it is 3 miles, 140.6 miles or a bazillion miles, I know I have the capability to answer back when things get tough.

As I finished I opened my sweatshirt to revel the word DETERMINATION (the M is an M-DOT) I looked at that word and smiled. As I walked back, I saw Dan running around the corner and finish under 30 minutes. I realized how far he has come in his journey and there just might be an Ironman in the making. I waited for him to catch back up and we set off to find Kim. As we retraced the course Dan and I talked and he told me he will be joining me in the Racine 70.3 Ironman this year! He’s drinking the cool-aid! We talked some more and both of us are not happy where our weight is and we made a commitment to each other to hold each other accountable. We walked around a corner and there she was! Much closer to the finish than last year. Kim has also come a long way from her start as she screamed out that she past 6 people! We ran with her the rest of the way and this time not to steal her moment I broke away as I watched her cross that finish line. These two people in my life prove to me you don’t have to be an Ironman, to have the Ironman spirit.

Sometimes I ask myself is everything that I have done really worth it? I never have to look very far to discover the answer to that is yes!

Until next time… Your Fitness Buddy!