I Live in Iowa: Week 249

Sorry for the delay in not more blogging. I've simply been preoccupied, and well, to be honest, I'm not sure what to say. Sometimes I feel like I build these things up, and in my head, it's not really that built up.

I ran 79.7 miles last week with two good long runs and a solid interval workout. I'm calling it an 80 mile week. That makes it one 90 mile week, one 80, and two 70s with a slew of 50s and 60s for consistency. Overall I've had very solid training since January, which at this point is a really good sign. This coming weekend I am racing the USA Track and Field 100 kilometer (62.1 mile) championships in Madison, Wisconsin. I am not in great shape (by my definition) but I am in good shape, and honestly good shape is enough to do well.

For years making Team USA was my big running goal, and I did it! The world doesn't end though after being on a team USA, and inevitably more opportunities for competition come up. I always thought that the 100k would be my race distance, it was just the situation that the 24 hour race was at a good time for me. In other words, I'm going to run my heart out and try to run the most consistent race I ever have Saturday, but if something happens and I don't reach my goal for the day, that's okay, my happiness doesn't depend on it. Although, my happiness to some extent may rest on knowing the best of myself was expressed.

Work is going well. It's strange going away both to Mt. Everest and then to Kansas. I am leaving a bit of a knowledge void as I leave. I think I have done a good job of communicating everything that my coworkers need to know, but inevitably there will be questions they don't have the answer to. The real benefit, which I don't think anyone fully realizes yet, is how much responsibility I have transferred to one of our new employees. I learned several months ago he was capable of doing good work so I have worked to coach him into even better work, and he is doing excellent! When I leave and questions arise, he will have the answers.

Knowledge transfer is always a difficult thing. People, everywhere to a varying extend, like to retain a small piece of critical knowledge because of the fear of being replaced. It seems like people want to retain enough where they can still be promoted, but provide some measure of value that their peers or reports do not have. I have to be sure to fight this tendency in my own life. I prefer to give information overload so that people can see how messy the decisions really are. This definitely scares people at times, when I mention a number of negatives and problems, but we will never address the risks if we don't admit them.

Speaking of risks, yes, Mt. Everest beckons. I packed this past weekend. I need to buy a new Nalgene (I only have four) and a headlamp (I only have three, but lost my favorite one). I'll blog more about that later.