Another Saturday, another long run

08. December 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: half-marathon, Richmond, running

Five of us ran this morning – 6 miles in a place called West Creek, just west of where we normally run. This is one of my favorite runs, not because of the flat terrain (it is NOT flat) but because of the lack of traffic, ease of getting there and back, and the options when you are there. From where you park, you can do a 2-mile loop, a 4-mile loop, or combine the two for a 6-mile loop. That is what we have done in the past and did again today.

The weather was strange – making dressing correctly very difficult. It was 42 degrees and a cold muggy (almost misty). I ended up wearing shorts and a single long sleeved shirt, along with a hat. No gloves, earmuffs, or long pants, so I was quite cool to start, then perfect as the hour wore on. When all was said and done, I had a sweat-drenched shirt, shorts with sweat spots, and a hat that I could have wrung water out of if it was flexible. A bit of stretching and rehydration later and I was heading home.

For the week, I have to figure out how to count it. 3.1 miles on Sunday (a 5K race), 3 miles on Tuesday, 4 miles Wednesday, and the 6 today for a weekly total of 16 miles. However, according to the schedule that has been provided, Sunday’s 5K goes to last week’s distance, so it was just 13 miles for the week where 16 was scheduled. Just under 32 miles run total out of 37 I should have run to date. I need to figure out how to get the three mid-week runs in, so will likely be a bunch of treadmill runs on Tuesday and Thursday, then team runs Wednesday and Saturdays.

On an upside, 32 miles is further than from here to Kings Dominion!

Solo night running

06. December 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Richmond, running

To get in the training mileage for the half-marathon training, running at night, by myself has become a necessity. I ran a bit over 3 miles last night starting at 9 PM, then a bit over 4 miles tonight starting at 7 PM. While I do not enjoy running that late without food in my belly, I felt pretty good once I was actually out there with most of a mile under my belt. That is the point where the oxygen is flowing to my muscles and I’m past the initial pain of running. Fortunately, the temps were not too cold (near 30 last night, near 37 tonight). Figuring out how to dress was challenging, but do-able with a bit of thought. Let’s see. If I am to dress like it is 15 degrees warmer than it really is, how can I dress with the wind blowing?

Last night, with temps approaching 30 and the wind blowing, I wore a Nike+ body shirt and a Nike workout jacket, long workout pants, gloves, and earmuffs. Of course, my reflective vest and headlamp completed the outfit. 3 miles was about all I could do given the fact that I had no food since a late (light) lunch. When I was done, my body shirt was soaked, the jacket and pants were also wet. I ran a short 3 miles due to the time, but felt good for the duration.

Tonight, it was almost 10 degrees warmer, so I wore the Nike+ body shirt underneath of a long sleeved dry-fit shirt, shorts, and gloves. Earmuffs stayed at home, along with the jacket and long workout pants. I would have been better with the legs covered, but the top was perfect. Earmuffs would have been an overkill, and the jacket would have had me sweating still. Both shirts were wet tonight, but I felt like I had dressed appropriately given the distance and time. I pushed to 4.25 miles tonight, and could have easily gone further.

The first day

24. November 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: half-marathon, Richmond, running

Today is the first day of the 16-week half-marathon training that I have chosen to undertake. I’m not sure where this journey will take me, but I am going to do my best to complete all of it. The mid-week runs are the hardest to complete which, by design, make the weekend runs easier. By skipping a mid-week run, I will pay dearly each Saturday. However, if I complete all of the runs, I will have run 348 miles by the time the half-marathon is done.

348 miles seems like a long way.  It is, in fact, that Google Maps says is the distance from my home in Richmond to New York City. I’m not sure where in NYC, but the point is that it’s a long way away. Without traffic, that is a 6+ hour drive. In perfect weather. Certainly, we will not have perfect weather as we make this journey. This morning, for example, the temperature is 24 degrees. By the time we run, it might be up to 28 or 29. Dressing for the cold like this is always a challenge. You start off so cold you don’t know if you can get started. But, a couple of miles into the run, I get hot — since my body is apparently an incredible heat-generating machine. The oatmeal breakfast helps keep me going. Injuries have generally alluded me, after working through the shin splints and sore feet.

Today is about the willingness to push myself, to get up and run without regard to cold weather, or a sore body, or the deep desire to sleep in. Today, I start to figure out if I have the guts to continue a difficult task for more days each week than I take off. Today is the day I look at running not as a task that lasts one day, but as the start of a journey.

Today is the first day of that journey.

When time off is not a good thing

17. November 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Richmond, running

I didn’t run much this week. My son created a video for use with a sponsor dinner for his robotics team. When I say he created, I meant that he organized a great deal of the material and did all of the logo creation, etc., but his Mom and I put together the final product. I am going to upload it when I finish installing the latest version of Adobe Premiere Elements software. I do believe that the final product is quite impressive and it certainly got the oohs and aahs of his peers at school (along with all of the adults). We had fun doing it, but didn’t get a great deal of sleep this week.

On back to back nights, we were up until at least 1:30 AM working on content, music, etc., and burned the final copy just hours before presentation at the dinner. My son was trying to add one additional piece of animation that he was rendering at the school, but the school lost power in the middle of the day, thereby crashing the rendering process.

Getting back to the title, I didn’t get to the gym at all this week, with the last visit on Saturday. Then, it was only a 3-mile treadmill run (some walking), so the mileage this week suffered. Today, I met Lori, Sara, Owen and Bob for 5-miles. We took off at 7 AM with a brisk 35 degree temperature. The other 4 had run an 8K (5 miles) last Saturday while I skipped due to my Mom visiting. The first three miles were fine, but the final 2 were painful at best. Skipping workouts (time off) is not a good thing when you finally return to running.

what you when all you have is residuals…

05. November 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Richmond

Today, “Slater” from Saved by the Bell was at the local mall for a charity event.

He is now apparently hosting the TV show “Dancing with the Stars” and the old ladies went ga-ga over him signing autographs.

Saturday 5 mile run

20. October 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Richmond, running

Today, Sara and I ran 5 miles. It’s been a long time since I have done that distance, but felt pretty good through most of it. Here’s a link to the stats and map of the run:

West Creek 5 mile run

I captured the data on my new fitness GPS / watch. It’s a Garmin Forerunner 205 — a very cool birthday gift! My family gave that to me last night, after a visit to my new favorite Mexican restaurant in town. Thursday was my actual birthday, but it was very busy for a number of reasons. KT played in All County Orchestra that day, and the concert was that night. After a long day at the office, it was just time to go to bed after getting home late.

The Forerunner 205 has a built in GPS receiver, so the link above gives you date, time, distance, pace, elevation, and a map of the run from start to finish. The unit probably gives you a whole lot more, but I am mostly looking to capture data on where and how fast I am training over a long period of time.

Here’s a photo of the 205…

My career in two pages

14. October 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: change, moving, Richmond

This afternoon, I am trying to rewrite my resume. My current position is not getting any better, actually regressing to what I did several years ago. This is certainly not where I want to be in my career.

My company outsourced much of the IT department to a really big company, otherwise known as Itty Bitty Machines, but I won’t mention names. Since that has been implemented, we lost all of the administrative staff that was on-site, with that now being handled by an off-shore team in Argentina. While I think that they are doing a bang up job, they simply don’t have the experience to perform the same functions that the folks who left did. That lack of experience and personal accountability is showing in the fact that they have many times more people doing the same job that the three people were doing on-shore.

Well, I am not a complainer at all. At least not until lately. I have found myself complaining about the number of things that they don’t know, the number of circumstances for which they simply cannot respond without my intervention. At times, I have 4 or more chat windows open with them requiring my assistance since it’s a new situation or a “we don’t handle this, do we” question. The down side to this is that the rest of my job doesn’t stop when I am handling this other work. So, I have found myself working more and more hours, and thinking / stressing about work more. Even on the weekend, I work, and certainly don’t ever clear my mind of work. I’ve become unable to break the barrier of work and my family is starting to pay the price.

So, it’s time to look elsewhere. Putting down on paper the things at which I excel is uncomfortable. I have spent 10 years accumulating the experience at my company that is the reason why I do so well. Experience is not common in my company, sans a few key players, and allows me to see a very broad picture that a newby just doesn’t. I will struggle on how to put this down in words without coming across as cocky, but enough to get my foot in the door at a new firm. If they would only talk to my references first, I don’t think that I’d even need a resume. If they could talk to some of my co-workers, they would hear that I am able to and am willing to help them when no one else does.

All I really know is that 10 years in one company is now actually held against you in many cases — not seen as a stick it out / make it better strength.

Atlanta

30. September 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: AirTran, Atlanta, Richmond

I’m sitting in the airport, waiting for the inbound AirTran plane to arrive so I can leave on time. I’m not sure what the time to turn a flight is with AirTran, but it used to be really fast with Southwest.

This is one of the first times I have flown for business since 9/11. What a total pain. While I realize that this is all in the name of safety, there is no doubt that the cost to fly has increased dramatically mostly due to the increased security. Removing the shoes is probably the biggest pain, and the fact that I had to check my luggage because I had liquids that couldn’t to into a carry 0n bag because of the size. So, I checked the bag through. I really hope that it makes it since I have everything there other than my laptop and items that I carry back and forth to work daily.

Of course, the flight is overbooked (are there any other kinds?), and they are looking for volunteers. If I didn’t have a meeting tonight, I’d take them up on it!

More from Atlanta.

Living a normal life on 9/11

12. September 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: eNV, Richmond, sunset

While we will never forget the lives lost on 9/11, today was a normal day. Here is the sunset as we left the mall near our home after shopping for our wife’s / mom’s birthday. I think this is God’s way of reminding us that everything is alright…

Storm Brewing?

29. August 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: pictures, Richmond

crazy clouds — photo taken with my cell phone on the way to work this morning.

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