A Journal of My "Retirement"
I've completed the Camino de Santiago and I've returned from Spain. I was able to work on my Spanish and get in some milage as I prepare to hike the Appalachian Trail next year. In addition to getting in the milage, I was able to workout some of the logistics of vlogging while on the trail. I was able to upload a video each day of my hike and worked out a few bugs. Here are links to each of my videos.
Let's start with a cliché - |
Feeling good about my successful loft sale, I headed out to my car this morning and as I was leaving the building a woman entered with her dog wearing Sweeney's pink leash. That's when it hit me. That's when I could finally see how much I was leaving behind and what it all has meant to me. I consider myself a very lucky person but, as I begin my new life, I'm feeling an emptiness and an anticipation of what lies ahead to fill this void. |
It's been awhile since my last post. I only have three more weeks of teaching and then I leave to spend the summer in France and Spain. I will be hiking the Camino de Santiago. I'll be doing the route that begins in St. Jean Pied de Port in France and, of course, ending in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. |
When I return to Dallas in late July, I will start preparing for my move to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I will first need to go to the Mexican consulate here in Dallas to apply for a residency visa. Once I've secured my visa, I will be moving to Mexico sometime in late September of early October.
I will only have about six months to settle into my new life in Mexico before I will need to return to the U.S. to hike either the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail. Those of you who have been paying attention will notice that my plans have changed a bit. I've moved my retirement up and added the Camino de Santiago to my list of activities. Adding the Camino also means I will need to reschedule the marathon I had planned to complete this year. That's okay. In fact, it will allow me to do my training at over 6000' in San Miguel.
A shake down hike on Eagle Rock Loop
It was my last Spring Break before I retire so I decided to make the most of it by doing a shake down hike to test out some gear ...... and myself. The gear seemed to do well.
My planned three day hike turned into four days when the forest service blocked the trail for a prescribed burn and forced me to spend an extra night on the trail before I could do the last day of my hike. To complicate things a little more, the temperature dropped into the 20s, causing my water filter to freeze and forcing me to boil whatever water I needed to cook and drink the last two days.
After an idle day of boiling water, smelling and seeing a lot of smoke, I began day four. By the time the smoke had rolled out, the rain rolled in for what would be a day of hiking over a half dozen ridges. In all, I would be ascending over 2000ft. with a soggy, heavy backpack and limited water. By the time I started up the last ascent, my legs felt like limp noodles and just a few steps would leave me gasping for air. Nonetheless, I couldn't stop moving for very long because I was soaking wet from the rain and I would get too cold if I stood still.
The rain was getting worse and was now joined by lightning and thunder. My only comfort was knowing this was the last ascent but, my mind tried to take that comfort away by causing me to wonder if I had strayed off trail. It seemed like I should have reached the end sooner. What if I was lost? What if I just became too tired to get over this ridge? Would I be able to find a place clear and level enough to pitch my tent on this steep trail?
I finally made it to the top. I now only had about a mile to hike down hill to where I had parked my car four days ago. Though still wet, cold and very hungry, I knew I was going to make it but, I was wondering if I really wanted to keep doing this hiking thing. I finally reached my car and threw my gear in the back. I got in the car, turned on the heater and started heading home.
It's been awhile since my last post. I haven't retired yet and I've been in the last weeks of the fall semester so, I've just been busy. But I've been doing a lot of thinking. Let's start with my thru-hike. I think I may have finally made up my mind; at least as far as what trail I'll be hiking in 2024. I'm not going to say just yet but, I will share a good video I just watched. Watch it and then tell me which trail you would do.
Update On My Running:
As I said, school has kept me busy and I haven't been able to get in the mileage I wanted; especially during the week. But, I have been able to do most of my long runs on the weekends. I just ran the Dallas 1/2 Marathon this weekend and I made it through even though I hadn't done much running in the last six weeks or so. I was especially pleased to say I had a pretty significant negative split even thought my time was slower than I would have liked. But, I was just considering this a training run and I'm hoping to get more speed work in and pickup my pace throughout the spring. I still haven't decided which full marathon to run but, I'd like to do it in September or early October.
More of My Thoughts:
It's been interesting to see how finally setting a date for my retirement has affected me psychologically. These goals I've set have finally become real to me. I can't tell you how eager I am to get out on the trail. I want to forget every password I've ever had and get off the grid. I don't want to know what day it is. I'm looking forward to my life being as simple as; walk, eat, sleep, and repeat.
My problem now has become just keeping my head in the game at school. I've been really stressing about the direction I feel things have been going and I don't know how much of that is just because I know I will no longer be a part of it all and will no longer have any influence. Or, how much of what I'm feeling is do to things really not going in the right direction. Also, I kind of feel that since I'm leaving I'm not in a position to say what should be happening when I'm gone.
I know a lot of the other faculty are seeing pretty much what I am. For those not familiar with my school, this probably sounds a bit vague. But, for those familiar with public education, you understand the politics and know why I'm avoiding details. My point is, I'm feeling very stressed. This school has been a big part of my identity and my sense of purpose for the last ten years. I'm still having a lot of sleepless nights.
Some people might think that I've always taken my work very seriously. But not really. It's true I've always worked hard; notably harder than the average person. But, what has allowed me to sustain such a high level of effort is having fun. Actually, I think I'm a lazy worker but, I play hard. I've enjoyed my work and I usually have taken a very playful approach. In fact, I almost always end my lessons/lectures/directions by telling my students to have fun.
So, I'll be filling my retirement with lots of toys. My hiking gear are some of those toys. My running gear too. Plus all my various cameras I've used while documenting my travels. I'll definitely be talking more about them in future posts. But, There's another toy I've had for about three years now that I will be playing with a lot more in my retirement. It's my PEBL |
Let's take a ride through downtown Dallas:
When I first started running I mainly just thought it would be a good way to stay in shape and it didn't really cost anything. As I got more and more into it, I started buying better shoes, running specific apparel, a GPS running watch, and running races. It didn't take long before I was spending a lot more than I thought I would on this new pass leisure pursuit.
I'm gonna have to decide which trail to do. There are both pros and cons to both. So, let's start with the pros:
Pros | AT1. Lot's of people I know that live along the way. 2. Lot's of very diverse people to meet along the way. 3. Lots of American history along the way. 4. More places to resupply. | PCT1. Goes from Mexico to Canada ( I like that idea) 2. More remote 3. Maybe a little more challenging. 4. Might know someone else hiking in the same year. |
AT | PCT | Cons |
I'm sure there are more pros and cons for each. Let me know what you think in the comments.
One of the biggest variables for my calendar has been my pension. It was looking like working one more year would have had a significant impact on my pension. That was driving me crazy because I've been really anxious to start one of the major trails and working one more year would mean I couldn't start my hike until the Spring of 2025. |
Last week, I attended a TRS Retirement presentation and got answers to many of my questions. Yes, working one more year would increase my pension slightly but, not enough for me to postpone my hike. So, now I have a much better idea of when things will happen.
As originally planned, I'll do the marathon in the Fall of 2023. The exact date will depend upon which marathon I decide to do. I will then start my hike in the Spring of 2024. When exactly I finish the hike will depend upon how it goes. It could take me anywhere between 5-7 months. So, I'll put everything in storage. That way, I'll be ready to make my move abroad probably near the end of 2024 |
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Negative Split is a term used by distance runners referring to a run where you run faster in the last half than the first half of the run. In other words, finishing strong. That's my intent as I head into what people would call my retirement and this is my "retirement" blog.
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