johnhirsch.org

This blog is mostly focused on my triathlon adventures. But its the off season. This is a time when first teir pros do stuff for sponsors, third teir pros work regular jobs and second tier pros like me, who are stuck in the middle do both. I am happy with it as I love my sponsors but I love my “real” job more.

Not surprisingly I took a job I loved, picking happiness over cash, this is the same thinking that led me to be a pro triathlete I guess. My “real” job is as a public defender. I work for the Legal Aid Society and I love it. I love my co-workers, the work and the people I work for. I am currently in the midst of a long intense trial. Its amazing. Its like a grand tour stage race. Its epic and dramatic and over 3 weeks long.

I may be the only pro I know who steps out of transition after his final race and into a court room, who goes from in front of the finish line to in front of a jury in 24 hours, but it all makes sense to me. Its my kind of balance. Trials are 1 part chess, 1 part theater. Its the exact opposite of ironman which is all about the physical and emotional. Art and thinking vs sport. Also while I love racing until I joined up with Team Continuum to raise funds for cancer fighters, its not overly meaningful. Its silly really, to swim bike and run in circles. To spend thousands on fees, gear and such. Its even more silly when we know that millions lack basic human needs like food, health care, education, employement, a healthy environment…(You get the idea I won’t spend too much time on the soap box) So my job working on behalf of the poor of New York fills me with a sense of helping, of caring and a sense of bringing equality to those who normally don’t get it. Plus the work itself is just plan exciting. Being a lawyer in a trial is exhilerating. The consquences very real, and in the end its the perfect job for me, put me behind a desk all day and I would tear my own eyes out. This is so fun. So fun that I look forward to it in the off season and look forward to it when I finish racing fulltime one day.

(Pic: swapping the swim suit for suit-suit)

 

This entry was posted on Friday, December 4th, 2009 at 10:24 am and is filed under blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.