Welcome to Infinity Running!

Welcome to Infinity Running and thank you for taking the time to read my inaugural post! I wanted to start off the blog by discussing something I think is difficult for all of us runners. How do I balance my work, life and training in a way that does adds to, not detracts from, each area? When I was younger I was always on a team so balancing training and life never seemed to be an issue as they were intertwined with each other. After college during my twenties I was single and coaching collegiately as a profession so I was able to center my life around the training of my athletes and myself. That all began to change in 2007 when I got married. For the first time I had to consider someone else when thinking of how I was spending my time. I continued to train and race with the support of my wife but with a slightly new perspective that I couldn’t be so selfish with my time. Right after I turned 30 I ran what would be my last race for a long time, the Napa Valley Marathon.

Just prior to that race I had started going back to graduate school full time while continuing to work. Less than a year later in February of 2011 we had our first son then ten months after that we moved to California for my first head coaching position. I was still running but life made training less of a priority. We soon had our second, and then third son. Work took more of my time than ever before and any free time I had I wanted to dedicate to my family.

Now that I am about to turn 40 and reflecting back on my 30’s I realize that I did not take the time to prioritize my training and due to that neglected it. Fortunately, I never completely stopped running, but was just inconsistent and had no direction with it.

This past year I took a new job and began teaching full time while continuing to coach part time. Having a less demanding job and our kids being a little older has given me more time and energy to begin training again. As I have started training with purpose again I realized how much I missed competing. In order to train how I want I have reflected on how to best balance this desire with the other areas of life.

Join me on my journey as I balance these areas of life, and on my new endeavor of offering coaching to others who are trying to live all areas of life at their best.

Sincerely,

Dr. Ben Gall, Coach