Life will never be perfect you know? There will always be ups and downs and a catch or an asterisk. I had a good week, but even the good weeks are not perfect.
Starting with work, it went well this week. Many objectives were accomplished or progressed toward. I even took a risk at work. I won't tell you about it, because it involves another person. I will say that I was afraid to follow through and say the difficult message, but I'm happy I did. Sometimes people need to know when things are not ideal.
The last week or two I have been working on reports quite a bit. It's a consequence of doing a number of high priority projects close together. I don't have time to formally write up the report. Work slowed down just a little so I have taken the opportunity to document my work. I have trouble writing reports. How much information to include, how to convey the message that I used engineering judgement not just a number on a node in one area, or making sure I covered everything I did. On month or longer projects, things can get left out. However, the older I get the more I know, because I see the results, communication is vital in every aspect of life. Plus, I am partial to written communication. I feel that it is kind of like saying something in stone. It may change later, but once it is in writing, specifically digital writing, it can be passed and spread quickly. Everyone can be notified. When everyone is presented the same information it is easier to work toward the common goals. Additionally, I feel that keeping everyone informed improves motivation. When everyone knows what is going on and maybe even why it is going on, they are more likely to be enthusiastic about working on it.
Running went great! I did two moderate workouts and a total of 111 miles. First time in that kind of mileage since October 2011. It's a sign of things to come. I wasn't expecting to run that kind of mileage. I know what you are thinking, 'you where there for every step of it, how could you not know how far you were running?' I think about my running on a daily basis more so than weekly or monthly basis, try to double every day and eight miles is better than five miles and once the workout is done, it's done. When I get to Saturday afternoon with my last run of the week coming up and I already have 99.9 miles, I'm still going to do the 10-12 miles that I planned.
To reiterate and fully articulate my 2013 running and racing plans, I plan to run a 5000 on the track in late March or early April, then the 10,000 on the track at the Augustana Meet of Champions April 19th, and the Drake Relays Half Marathon April 28th. That is the end of my "serious" spring racing. Next up is an October marathon, either Chicago or Twin Cities. I think I'm leaning toward Chicago because my running partner will probably do it and it is supposedly faster than Twin Cities. Of course there will be smaller races in there like the Dubuque half marathon and hopefully the Bix 7, just not ones I take as seriously. Also, I have decided that while I am improving, I am not improving as fast as I would like. At 14% body fat I see some room for improvement at 2 seconds per mile per pound. Yep, I'm going to lose some weight. I am working on a monster 2000 word article about it so stay tuned. Weight is a tricky subject, and I don't take that lightly.
Coaching went well. At the meet a number of people set season bests including getting another runner under five minutes in the mile for the first time. I know how much that barrier meant to me and every time it happens to an athlete I work with it means a lot to me as a coach. Plus our meet was at UW Madison and the mile was won in 4:05 along with a number of other strong performances.
Socially I went out Saturday night to a "go away" party for my Brazilian friend. When he sent out the invitation everyone corrected his English. He wrote "go" instead of "going" on purpose, nice joke! We also went out to Warm Bodies, which is a zombie movie that ended far happier than most of the genre. I like it.
Life is good. I am so blessed! Seriously! I work at a productive fulfilling job (which makes me feel rich), I ran 111 miles uninjured, and I have friends to share it all with.
"I had a good week, but even the good weeks are not perfect." Only Jesus is perfect.
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