Schedule, lifestyle, fitness

[wolfpackpilot]

The first military person was a Navy Pilot and former base XO at NAS Cubi Point.

That's no surprise, Navy guys spend their whole career running from Marines... Mostly because the marines chase them with their pants down!

 

[Bank-n-Yank]

Len,

I've had success as a Cat. 3 this year working an 8/7 schedule. CX season is here and still going strong.

Having a solid training plan is key. Use the flight rotation to rest and lot's of intervals when you're home.

Best of luck!

 

[ultrarunner]

Check out 1979. Starts with a C but not Cochrane

Of course. Phil. Forgot all about that. I was there in '79 watching my old man run that year. And we knew Phil from our own days in PNS. Had no idea he was at NJ. I'll have to send him a note. Thanks for the memory-jog!

Ultra

 

[BAT31]

Len-

I found it tough to train properly with the Flexjet schedule, granted its not as good as NJ. I actually made sure to schedule my mil leave for this summer just so I could spend most of my training days here at altitude.

On the road, I just run, which doesn't do much for my mtn biking (primary race focus), and try to stay away from the hotel bar and food.

I think the biggest factor is working to make sure you make the big race dates. Scheduling your time off is very hard at Flex. Getting home from a trip at 9 pm and trying to race the next day is tough. It takes alot of prior planning and a wife that knows how to set out your race kit.

Good luck on your racing. And like most here have said, if you want to find the time, you will. At the least, you won't turn into one of those "big boys" sitting at the computer at the FBO.

 

[Bronco Buster]

I have a friend here at Netjets that is into triathelons, and he has no prolem training. Also the company has been pretty good about giving him leaves of absence for the competitions which generally gives him three weeks off, allowing for intense training before the actual competition.

 

[BAT31]

Sounds good at NJA for that type of thing. I don't know if that would go at Flex. Convincing the Texas boys that you want a leave of absence for a bike race would probably be like talking to a brick wall, but I haven't tried it ....... so who knows.

Interestingly, I do know that our new CP had to actually write a letter to an owner and explain that even though the owner's pilots that day were obese, they probably would not drop dead in flight from a heart attack. So yes, your physical appearance does play a role on the job. The owner was actually concerned enough to take the time to contact the boss. Wow.

 

[realityman]

Len,

Glad to hear you're looking after your physical fitness as well as everything else (too many pilots obsess over checkrides, training, company policies, etc... and forget that you can be God's gift to aviation and it won't matter at all if they lose their medical).

I run marathons. Not as much as I'd like anymore due to marriage and a kid on the way, but as far as the running goes, it fits in well with the NJA lifestyle. Almost every hotel we stay at has at least a decent treadmill. Yeah, a couple have crappy treadmills, but they're few and far between. And of course, many places you can just run outside. If you're serious about your fitness, I imagine you have no problem running outside in the cold as well as the heat. Personally, I enjoy a nice quiet run on the backroads while a pleasant snow is falling.

I will repeat what others have said, if you're serious about your training, you'll find the time to train. I'm currently training for the Pittsburgh marathon. I've put together a training program I think will get me to the starting line and be able to finish in under 3 hours. On my last day of my last tour, the only time I had to run was at 0345 in the morning (needed to get an hour of running in). So guess where I was at 0345? Down in the workout room on the treadmill.

There is a caveat though. Always remember that while on the road, the job comes first. If you have a schedule where you'll need to be rested (maybe scheduled for a 14-hour day after you just flew a 14-hour day) you may have to forego the workout in order to be properly rested for your trips. This has happened to me on more than one occasion. But it doesn't happen every day, and doesn't seem to have much of an impact on my training because the rest of my training is pretty regular.

Good luck with the racing!! Oh, if you're looking for a great marathon to run sometime, try Chicago. I may be back there myself in '09. But I've already run it 6 times.

 

[gunfyter]

Len,
. If you're serious about your fitness, I imagine you have no problem running outside in the cold as well as the heat. Personally, I enjoy a nice quiet run on the backroads while a pleasant snow is falling..

How was the snow for the Antartica marathon?

 

[NJAowner]

NJA pilot in the X ... Won (As in came in first) the Antartica Marathon. Yeah he posts here too (a lot).

Diesel -- My belated congratulations!!!

Fly safe.

 

["v"]

This 7 days on followed by 7 days off schedule sounds great!

I'm thinking about getting a personal trainers certification and I'm training for a marathon in october next year. It would be great to train in the weeks off.

Anyone know of any other companies apart from NJ, CS or XO that run these schedules??

Thanks all!

V