I Live in Iowa: Week 172

Honestly, this was not a good week. It wasn't all bad, but certainly not all positive. However, below average weeks are a given and something that I feel we (and myself included) don't appreciate. I mean bad weeks make the good weeks that much better. Bad weeks help us to realize that even when things aren't going well, the truth is, they could go a lot worse.

Work… Work is not play. So I am responsible, or at least I have committed myself, to a variety of parts,   probably in excess of 400. Several of those parts are complex pieces involving multiple process to manufacture, let alone assemble the complex assemblies with those parts. Well, over the course of the last week, one part had a design error, a modeled interference that was not supposed to be an interference. Another the supplier reported was out of spec according to their measurements. Finally, a third part broke. All three issues, are significant. At least, in my eyes these are not the kind of issues we want to be having at this point in the program. So the stress level goes up. However, that's why I am there, to fix issues, to design better parts, to work through the problems that don't have a simple solution. Plus, some work that I did in the last two weeks had to be redone because I was not very accurate, within a inch, but an inch isn't close enough, so don't trust me a tape measure.

Bigger picture about work, it's going exceptionally well. Seriously, the problems are not easy, and I am often frustrated by the time the afternoon rolls around, but we are fixing things and making the quality better.

Running went fantastic! Seriously, I ran 49 miles, with a day off. Plus, on Thursday I ran a workout with AW and BH and it went great! We did 4 x mile with about two minutes jogging rest and my splits were 5:48, 5:39, 5:37, 5:35, and I was only aiming for 5:45. To do this kind of workout a mere 11 days after running the North Coast 24, I am simply stunned. I mean I know that running high mileage my body recovers faster than normal, and I did just finish two 400+ mile months, but to throw down three sub 5:40 miles within two weeks of not being able to walk, or drive with my foot, is amazing.

As for injury of my first ultra, still had a lot of top right foot tendonitis above my first and second metatarsals, probably due to not adjusting my laces in 24 hours of running and my shoes being too tight. My hips near the front still had a little tightness later in the week, but it has cleared up. My muscles are all fine, and my joints are too. I had a little trouble with my left knee early in the week from the race, but wearing different shoes, hitting the trails, doing my lateral motion exercises, and seeing the chiropractor early this week cleared that up. In short, I'm back at 100% healthy two weeks later. Or at least close enough, to pretend I am 100% healthy.

Saturday I went up to Madison for lunch with my parents which was nice. We ate at Graze, a farm to table restaurant across the street from the capitol. I always enjoy picking a restaurant to eat at with my parents in Madison, I am not a local so it's always a little bit of an adventure. Saturday night I closed out the week celebrating a friend's birthday. I went out on the town and was reminded why I don't go out very often. I'm too old for that nonsense. It was fun for awhile, but seriously, I fulfilled my bar visiting and staying out past 10 PM quota for 2014. People are always inviting me to come out and I am always saying no and just staying home reading, watching DVDs, resting, not spending money, not drinking alcohol, but instead tea. I feel like my social life is so boring because I go out so rarely to the typical places 20 somethings go, but I enjoy my life. I think I have the best life in the world.