Jessica Minty 's Journal

Introductory Entry (Posted September 15, 2008)

Greetings from Blowing Rock, NC!

I have been at ZAP Fitness just over two weeks and already I feel very much at home. It would be hard to find a more perfect runner's paradise than here in the mountains: the weather is mild; the trails are well-groomed and perfectly hilly; the views are breathtaking. Also, to my great pleasure, the breakfast spots serve bottomless cups of coffee and stacks of fluffy pancakes that can feed roughly six people. Talk about a post-long run utopia!

ZAP is an incredible opportunity for me because it allows me to focus on my training fully. This is a distinct change from the way I have pursued my sport in the past. In college, academics necessarily took center stage as I pursued a degree in economics. After graduation, my job at an economic consulting firm held precedence over running. While I still wanted to run (and run well) after college, my career left me without the time and energy to do many of things I feel I need to do in order to perform at my best.

For the last two years, I was able to run well, while at the same time working occasionally above 90+ hour weeks. It was not always pretty, but it was possible. For example, last year, at the Tufts 10K, I was in the office all day, every day, for 40+ days straight and at work until midnight the night before because we were filing a number of reports the next day. Highly caffeinated and very sleep-deprived, I was still able to run a new best time for the distance, but I will never know what I could have done if I had been able to train and rest properly in the weeks and months before the event.

While I truly believe it *is* possible to work a full-time job and run well, I felt my life was out of balance and I wanted to make a greater commitment to my passion. I am already feeling the benefits of being able to train without car exhaust and pavement, sleep more, eat better, stretch more, ice my legs and get massages, and also to simply be around dedicated athletes who share the same goals that I have.

To say that Blowing Rock is different from Boston would be a vast understatement. The two places are more unalike than alike. The only traffic one experiences here is when a cautious Florida tourist or a rafter of turkeys is in the road up ahead. The only light and sound pollution here are provided by stars and crickets. There are no Starbucks within an hour's drive. Unlike the three options I had within a 5 minute walk from my apartment in Boston. Happily, there are no loud and dirty buses blasting by me on my training loop.

And yet, like the view of Boston from the Charles River, Moses Cone Park is beautiful every morning, in the fog and rain, or on crystal clear autumn mornings. And every day, just as in Boston, I wake up excited to get to work; only now my office has just changed a bit: my cubicle is much more expansive. 'Just another day in the office,' I often tell my teammates as we run past another incredible view of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

ZAP has been a huge change from the downtown Boston lifestyle, but it is one that I believe will pay substantial dividends down the road. Pete and I have set high goals for me that I am working towards every day. I wake up feeling very lucky to be able to fit my day around my training instead of building my training around my day. I look forward to writing more about ZAP and my training soon. Until then, happy running, wherever you are!