Blog Roll: BATC - Chris Chavez

Near my house there is a park. At this park there is a see-saw. Two people, one on each side, take turns propelling themselves upwards while the other drops back to the earth. The concept is simple. When I was a kid playing on the apparatus my friends and I used to change the game- we would shift our weights along the beam until we could hover. By moving the heavier person closer to the pivot point, an equilibrium was reached where both people could stay off of the ground. Maintaining this balance was the game, and it was more exhilarating than the quick accelerations up and the equally quick descents.

I no longer play on see-saws (although I am often tempted) but the concept of enhancing pleasure through balance is still relevant. In fact, I live my life by it. Balance is everywhere. You can see it in the flow of traffic on a freeway, supply and demand in a free market, the bickering and action of political parties, and in my everyday life. I am a sub-elite runner and financial analyst for a private wealth management firm. The training is challenging and the work hours are long. I take both seriously and I strive to excel at both. I find that most people believe that by doing both I am lowering my true potential at either. We may never know if this is true, but I believe that my professional career and athletic endeavors complement each other and make me better at both.

My day starts early. I am out the door running between 4 and 6 am. Sometimes I wish I could get more sleep, but when it comes down to it the benefit of the run always outweighs the fatigue. Whether it is a steady 13 miler or one of Magda’s brutal marathon workouts, I wouldn’t want to start my day any other way. I get home, say hi to my fiancé Jordan, jump in the shower and head off to work. It takes about 25 minutes to get from unlacing my shoes to sitting at my desk chair. The run awakens me, it clears my mind, allows me to relax. The time I have to think on runs allows me to prioritize tasks and think through challenging problems. By the time I get to work I know exactly what I am going to do that day and likely, how I am going to do it. Running in the morning makes me a better financial analyst.

The obvious conclusion, then, is that running may make me better at my job, but my job must detract from my running. I will admit that there are times when training is difficult, but with proper planning I never feel worse off for doing both. Anyone who has spent a fair amount of time around me knows that I am very serious when it comes to setting and accomplishing my goals. In running this intensity has at times worked against me as there have been instances when I put so much pressure on myself leading up to a race that I was mentally and emotionally drained by the time the gun went off. By having goals, projects and obligations outside of running I am forced to direct anxious attention away from upcoming races or workouts, allowing me to save that valuable emotional energy. Working has made me a better runner and competitor.

This balance works for me and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I have found some success in running, enjoy my job, and have built great life-changing relationships in both worlds. I finished a major project at work this week and today I am off to the 20k national championships. This “hovering” is just as satisfying as balancing the see-saw was as a kid and, for me, is more exciting than choosing one path or simply going up and down. Whether it is running and work, friends and family or any other balancing act, I hope that you too can find the best of both worlds by establishing your own equilibrium.

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