Well I'm about one week out from Eagleman, and coach K decided to throw everything including the kitchen sink at me. To start off the weekend I headed up to the track after work for some intervals. The intervals were short (2 x 600, 2 x 800, 2x 1000), but were very hard. Coach wanted me to push the pace to something close to 5 seconds faster than 5K pace per 400. So basically if that means if my 5K pace is around 5:40 per mile, that my interval pace should be 5:20 per mile. OUCH. I nailed it, but it hurt.
This morning Jen and I woke to loud bangs of thunder. It was raining cats and dogs, and the sky looked like an electrical explosion. Needless to say, I didn't go for my morning bike ride. Instead Jen and I climbed back into bed, slept in till 8:30, and began our day. After some much needed house work we headed to the pool with my friend Matt. The swim work was complete quality with a capital Q. We began with a nice easy warm up, a bunch of kicks, and then the main set. By the time we were done we had gone down and back in the pool 176 times (4400 yards or 2.5 miles).
Directly after the swim (after we drove home) we put on our running clothes for a nice solid 2 mile run. I worked pretty hard and finished with just about 15 miles.
Tonight has to consist of some solid but quick recovery as I'm heading out bright and early tomorrow morning for a 4 hour ride. Tonight should be awesome. Hopefully the Penguins can tie up the series 2-2 in the Stanley Cup Finals. LET'S GO PENS!!!!
Oh yeah, more info on my new team. I got my race suit today, and am looking very forward to racing Eagleman with the new colors! Here's a shot of my styling new suit.
Well you may have noticed the the new list of sponsor logos on the right side of my blog. Well today I was added to the East Suburban Sports Medicine Triathlon Team. Racing for Trizilla the past four years has been really exciting, and I'll always continue to support (and buy stuff) at Trizilla. Regardless, I'm really excited to race and be part of the new team, in addition to supporting my new sponsors. Please visit their websites at the right.
On the training front, the past two days have been very solid. Tuesday morning was my first time back in the pool since Triple T, and my arms felt great. I was right on with all my splits, and exactly where I wanted to be. Tuesday afternoon was a medium tempo 50 mile bike ride. I was shocked at how well the legs had recovered. I would of never guessed I had just finished a half Ironman, two Olympics, and one sprint just a couple days ago. As for today coach Kev made me do another 2 1/2 hour brick workout. Again legs felt great on the bike and especially strong on the four 12 minute intervals in zone 3/4. After the bike I quickly transitioned to a hard 30 minute run while maintaining a heart rate of 170-175. Of course this time I decided to do my transition super quick and run in my biking / tri clothes instead of switching into shorts...and wouldn't you know it on my run I saw two people I work with, who obviously think I'm now even more insane as they caught me running through town in a little tight shirt and spandex shorts. Oh well, let them think I'm crazy right? Maybe I am...
Well it's back to the basics for most of us. Training this week should be fun as I'm somewhat recovering from Triple T and also tapering for Eagleman at the same time. Two days removed from Triple T it's still hard to believe it's all over.
Nothing new to report with training so I'll just quickly sum of my day yesterday.
So yesterday was an off day like I said. I spent some time with the family, watched the Irwin Memorial day parade, and then Jennifer and I did some much needed yard work. Our grass was getting out of control! After I cut the grass and the lactic acid once again set full into my legs, it was time to call it quits. This is when I decided that an off day should really be an off day. Jen and I spent the rest of the day lounging around the house.
So it's 7PM on Tuesday and I still need to go for a run. Just a quick 60 minutes!
As Matt would say, if there was one word that summed up this weekend is was "Epic". Who would have thought that 3 days of living, breathing, eating, and sleeping triathlon would have been so much fun! Having covered 3.22 miles of swimming, 110.72 miles of biking, and 27.2 miles of running in under 43 hours, this weekend was truly one to remember for a long time to come.
So our journey started bright and early Friday morning. Matt Mauclair and I loaded the X-terra and were off to Shawnee State Park in southern Ohio. The drive went by really quick as Matt and I caught up on things that we haven't talked about in some time. So I guess I should start to explain how far out there in the middle of nowhere this race was. After 5 1/2 hours of driving we came to this small town called Portsmouth right on the Ohio / Kentucky border, and after another 10 minute drive we were at the state park entrance. Our first sign indicating that we were in the middle of nowhere was the fact that our cell phones had no service.
We arrived to the race registration area around 2PM Friday afternoon and began to register in prep for the Prologue race later that afternoon at 5PM. My lodging plans were to stay at a near by campground in my tent so I decided that we should go check it out and set up camp before dark. Matt and I drove to the campground and as we were checking in Matt saw some pictures hanging up of bears, coyotes, and other wild animals and began to ask questions. The check in host continued to assure us that as long as you don't leave food out, you shouldn't see any bears. She then began to tell us stories how she raises wild anamials such as racoons. She actually has a license to raise racoons....kind of creepy. I was okay with it, but Matt being a city boy from the North side was a little freaked out. So we proceeded to the campsite and this is when I became a little freaked out too. In order to get to the site you had to take these steps that led to a path, and that path then took you about 200 yards back into the woods to this little 10x10 foot platform. It was truely the start of a horror movie, and I could picture the Texas Chainsaw guy jumping out from the bushes at 2AM in the morning. So that was that, and it was now time to race the Prologue. The prologue was a super sprint triathlon beginning with a 250 meter swim, a 5 mile bike, and a 1 mile run. The question of the day was whether or not to wear a wet suit for the swim considering it might take more time to get it off then it's worth. Right after Matt and I were discussing the situation the race director came on the PA system and said that you should probably wear a wetsuit because the water temperature was only 56 degrees. Buuuurrrrrrrrrrrrr was that water cold!!! Regardless the race went on. The start of each race went off in "time trial" fashion with participants going off into the water one by one. It was really cool. So the first race went well. I had a solid swim, an good steady bike, and ran a 5:48 mile. Although Matt and I started at different times, we finished only seconds apart. Day one was complete, and it was time to get some sleep in preparation for tomorrow. One problem though. Matt was supposed to meet some guys from Pittsburgh and he was going to stay with them at a hotel, but he couldn't find them. Then lady luck came through. One of coach Kevin's athletes, Kirk Nelson, had an unused cabin that was just the basics that slept five. Matt and I jumped on the offer and we now had beds and best of all heat. For $25 bucks per night per person, who could pass that deal up?
Although still quite rustic, and not up to par with my typical stays at the Hilton resorts, it was all we needed for a good nights rest.
Saturday morning came all so fast and would soon put our bodies to the test. Knowing that I still had two races ahead of me, one being a half Ironman, I made sure to go out steady and not push it too hard. Well overnight the temperature dropped, and the water temperature dropped as well into the mid to low 50's. Suiting up the already wet wetsuit my core temperature was at an all time low. Regardless we set off on the 1500 meter swim. I really felt awesome all weekend in the water and all this swimming I'm doing is starting to pay off. I was out of the water in under 20 minutes, and had a new PR for a 1500 meter swim. I moved quickly through transition and set off on the 25 mile bike course. I should probably mention how ridiculously hard this course is. The bike course takes your through the Shawnee State Forest on double lane wide fire roads. Traffic was kept to a minimum on the course, and the views were simply spectacular. I came off the bike averaging around 21mph, and set off on the 6.55 mile run. The run was the same out and back course for the entire weekend and was also extremely challenging. The run was on an off road dirt fire road with ruts, rocks, and other obstacles to run over and avoid. I ran very solid on the hard course and finished in 2:18. I know....doesn't look fast for a Olympic distance, but considering the Pro's that were there barely broke 2:10 (when they typically finish in 1:50) I was extremely happy. Matt finished not far behind me with a very solid 2:25. The morning was complete and Matt and I were in recovery mode also known as "Eat everything in sight". HFP racing had a nice food spread that we devoured, and then we went back to the cabin for some R&R and more food. We broke out the cast iron skillet and grilled up some chicken breasts on the Colman grill. Who ever said we couldn't fend for ourselves?
We napped for a little over an hour and started to get prepped for our afternoon race. The Saturday afternoon race was the same distance as the morning race, but with a twist. Instead of the normal swim, bike, run......the race began on the 25 mile bike course, followed by the 1500 meter swim, then finished up with the 6.55 mile run. I felt like we were riding in the tour (minus the starting ramp) as we went off single file. The afternoon bike course was flat and fast with a couple big climbs. It was at this time that I began to wonder if we just went back in time over a hundred years. At one point I blazed by this house on wheels and a guy was waving his confederate flag cheering for the bikers. It was classic. I didn't ride as well as I wanted and started to think that I went out too hard on the morning race. Regardless I pushed through the pain and made it to the swim. I don't know if any of you have ever tried swimming in 50 degree water after biking 25 hard miles, but let me tell you it's hard as hell!!! Also trying to put on a wetsuit as fast as you can....forget about it. There's no easy way to do it. After a slow transition I set off on the two loop swim. Let me tell you, having warm muscles enter cold water is a recipe for disaster. My hamstrings and calf's cramped the entire swim. As I was coming out of the water there were men hunched over in the shallow area screaming in agony from the cramps. But that's what makes this race so unique. It's a sure test of endurance and mind over body. Those next couple miles on the run were extremely difficult. My calf muscles kept going into tight spasms, but eventually it went away. I pushed through the run and called it a day with a sort of slow 2:28. Matt had a really good second race with a total time of 2:24, and cut into my seven minute lead....not like we were racing or anything. :)
Saturday evening began a long road to recovery from the two extremely challenging, slightly longer Olympic distance races. We made sure to eat as much as we can, and met some friends for dinner up at the lodge. When Matt and I got back to the cabin we both looked at each other and said "How and the hell are we going to do a half Ironman in the morning". We were both spent, out of gas, and just plain exhausted. Regardless we were fast asleep and up bright and early at 5:00 AM. Arriving at the race site was quite comical. It looked like the walking dead were about to race. The race was set to start at 7:00 AM. 7:00 AM came and went and we still weren't even close to getting started. Everyone was moving in slow motion, and the race directors were having trouble getting everyone to move down towards the water. The air Sunday morning had to be about 10 degrees colder than Saturday. I zipped up the cold wetsuit, didn't even warm up, and braced myself for the long hours to come. This time Matt and I decided to go off on the swim together, and I'm glad we did. We both pushed each other through the swim, and believe it or not after two days of racing, we both PRed in the 1.2 mile swim. I came out of the water in 29 minutes (4+ minute PR) with Matt. We both set off together on the bike and we each took turns setting the pace. Matt is a really great ride on the flats so he pulled me (with 3 bike lengths between us of course) and I pulled Matt up the climbs. This bike course was by far the most challenging course I had ever raced. Again to put in in perspective, only one pro had ever broken the five hour mark on this course. We kept it steady on the first loop and as we began the second loop I yelled over to Matt to look at my back tire. I must of had a slow leak, and now had to pull over to fix the flat. I've never had any luck with tubular tires but am getting better at changing them, because we only lost about 5 minutes. We were back in action and now playing catch up with those riders that passed us while we were stopped. It was really cool that Matt waited up and helped me with the flat! We stayed together the rest of the 56 mile bike leg and were soon pulling into transition. Now for the 13.1 mile run! I was shocked at how great my legs felt at this point. Our first couple of miles were around an 8 minute pace, but eventually the long weekend caught up to us both. Matt and I worked together and we pulled each other eventually to the finish.
It was a great ending to a fantastic weekend. Finishing together was the way the weekend was meant to be.
Lord Stanley, Lord Stanley, bring me the Brandy. So I just got back from the Penguin game and wow was it great! As you may or may not know, today the Pen's clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Finals. It's the first time the Pens made it to the finals since 1992, and I couldn't be more thrilled. When the Pens won their first two cups, I was only 11 & 12 years old. I became a Penguin fan at a very early age in the late 80's, got my first hockey stick around that same time, and fell in love with the sport ever since. Even though Triathlon is a great sport and I love it to death, Hockey is still my sport. So the Pen's went into today's game up 3-1 in the series against the hated Philadelphia Flyers. Bringing the series back to the Burgh for game five, the Penguins did not disappoint. In stunning fashion, the Pens went on to win today's game 6-0, and won the series 4-1!
So I have about a week off from being a fan before the finals start. I can't wait!!!
On a side note, I think I'm getting sick. This weather is just BAD! My head is all congested, and I can't breathe out of my nose. Good news is, that hopefully it shouldn't prevent me from working out. I took some medicine, and plan on going to bed early. Good night all.
It's that time of the year when the spring season should be coming to an end....but here in Pittsburgh all it's been lately is cold and rainy. Every now and then we'll get a 70 degree day, but then it'll drop right back down into the low 50's (upper 40's in the morning). Needless to say the week started off slow. Work has really been stressful trying to learn the new job in addition to trying to transition out of my old job. I was so worn down this week that I decided to take off Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Geez, lately I haven't taken any days off let alone 3 days in one week. I think mentally I needed the break, and it showed this weekend.
Friday night was supposed to be a long workout, but yep you guessed it, it was raining. I opted out of my longer workout and locked myself in the basement in front of the TV set spinning my little legs as fast as I could for two hours on the trainer. Usually by now, the trainer is tucked away in the garage, and retired for the summer, but not this year.
Saturday was my bounce back "Get your butt back in the zone" day. With Triple T only a week away, Eagleman two weeks away, and IM Placid only two months away, it was time to start getting serious.
Our plan was to ride a solid 5 hours on the bike, followed by a 20 minute off the bike run. My friends Doug and Paul showed up around 8:15, and we were off. The first two hours were fast and furious. Averaging over 19mph (on a hilly course) I started to wonder how long we could hold this pace. Three hours in....yep still holding. Four....still holding. The fifth hour we began to cool down but our final average was still just under 19mph. And best news yet, I felt like I could have hung in there at that pace for at least another two hours. My legs felt great (probably because of the light training week), and the run directly afterwards went off without a hitch.
As the afternoon came and went, my eyes became really heavy. I retired to bed around 8PM, and was up for another installment of "Chad's training diaries" bright and early Sunday morning. I met up with some of my running buddies, and ran just under 16 miles with them. Again, my legs have never felt this fresh after a long weekend. Maybe all this training is paying off. We shall see come July!!!
PS: I wanted to say good luck to Beth S., and Eric L. in Columbia today. Also good luck to my friend Patrick whose running his second ever marathon today in Cleveland. I'm sure you'll all do awesome. Run fast and go hard!
Well since my last post things have been hectic as always. Saturday night coach Kev and his family invited over some of their friends for a Bar-b-que party. About 10 guests showed up in addition to coaches family, and we all chowed down on chicken, hamburgers, fruit salad, awesome homemade salsa, and my favorite "CHOCOLATE CAKE". The night flew by faster than I could believe, the guests left, and I was off to bed.
We had a lot in store for Sunday. I set the alarm for 5:15 and was fast asleep. The alarm sounded way too soon as I pulled my butt out of bed. I met coach Kevin in the kitchen for a quick snack and we were off for our run. Our run began on this really cool 7 1/2 mile loop trail which bordered the perimeter of two small lakes. I took off and felt really good on the first loop setting into a comfortable 7:09 pace. The second loop was even better as I settled into a 7:00 minute pace. Before I knew it, our run was over, and I had logged 15 miles right around a 7 minute mile pace. I was happy considering the entire run was done in zone 1/2 with little effort. After our run we headed back to Coaches house to some very fluffy warm pancakes coaches wife Cindy cooked up while we were gone. After breakfast me and the family packed into the minivan and headed to church. I'm typically not a church goer, but their church was actually kind of cool. It was the first time I've ever gone to church and wasn't watching the clock or hoping for the service to end. The average age of the people at the church if I had to guess was around 25. After church I took the family out to lunch at this really cool deli.
After lunch we headed back to the house and spent some time going over previous workouts in detail, and other coaching stuff.
Before I knew it, it was time to leave The weekend went so fast, but I was glad to finally meet coach. Before I left I just had to get a picture.
The flight home was very long, and I didn't walk into my front door till after 2:00 AM. Regardless, no matter how long the flight took, it was well worth the trip!
Well I'm finally here! I still can't believe how fast this weekend has come. I also can't believe it's already 6:30 PM EST. Where has the time gone?
So for starters, so far my time spent in Nebraska has been fun...but that almost wasn't the case. I arrived Friday night (late of course) thanks to United airlines, and coach picked me up at the curb. My bike had made it in one piece, and my luggage made it too. Once coach picked me up we headed to his gym, a very nice 24 hour fitness. Once at the fitness center coach wanted to see me swim. OH NOOOO!!! "Let me see you swim 100" he said. After I swam a 100 he began to tell me everything I was doing wrong. haha. That's what I came here for right? He videotaped my swim, and played it back to me. All of the sudden I saw how I was swimming, and he then began to show me some drills that would help improve my stroke. I think my main problem is I don't keep my elbow bent as I start to pull. Anyways, we swam (mainly coaching stuff) for about an hour and then changed into our running clothes. A nice path lead straight from the 24 hour fitness center in Omaha, and we ran an easy out and back 40 minutes.
After the run it was time to set up the bike. Coach has a little off-site biking studio equipped with big screen TV, and two Computrainers. It was pretty cool. It was time to take out the bike and get it together for the long indoor ride tomorrow morning. You see, the rain must of followed me from Pittsburgh, and the forecast for Saturday called for rain all day. I began to put my bike together, pedals on, aerobars on, seat clamp on........SNAP!!! The seat clamp sheared right down the middle and broke into two pieces. OH NOOOOO!!!! What now we thought. We had the night to sleep on it, but our options looked pretty grim. Who else in Nebraska has a Felt DA? Bingo, we'll go to the local Felt dealer, and just get him to loan us a seat post clamp for the day. Problem solved! Time to go to bed.
I got a really solid nights sleep and after we woke and ate breakfast, we headed to the studio. Kevin was meeting another tri guy there and told him that the plan was to start at 8:00 AM. No worries Kevin said. You can just run a quick 8 miles while we start our bike ride. I ran a very solid 8 miles and by the time I got back to the studio it was time to head off to the Felt dealer.
It was about a 20 minute drive and we pulled into the parking lot right on schedule. We told the mechanic my situation, and he said you're in luck. I have a 2008 DA bike and you're more than welcome to use it for the day. We took off the clamp and what do you know.......Felt changed the design for 2008. You see my bike is a 2007, and the new clamp would not line up.
Plan B.....we didn't have a plan B. Our plan A was flawless. After much deliberation, we finally came up with an idea. I'll just say it was a combination of Saran wrap, and zip ties. I bet you have never seen an expensive bike held together with Saran wrap!!! I'm sure you'll all laugh at this one, but here are the pictures! So I was in business. We headed back to the studio and biked on the trainer for just about 4 hours. So in a hard days work I got a solid 5 hours of training in with Coach Kev!
This week seems to have come and gone. Tomorrow morning I board a plane to Nebraska to see coach Kevin. But first let me tell you about the past 3 days of training.
Tuesday 4 1/2 hour bike (a little crazy for a weekday)
Wednesday 2000 yard swim (my shoulder is starting to hurt. Hope it's just sore from lifting and feels better tomorrows) 90 minute run - semi hard
By far the craziest mid-week workouts I've done so far all in succession. So to sum it up in the past 3 days, I've spent over 10 hours of training, and am beat to a pulp. I'm completely exhausted, but in a good way.
I'll let you all know how my weekend at Coaches goes!!! VERY EXCITED!!!
Nothing new to report today. Life at work is going okay as I transition jobs. I have a feeling the next month or two are going to be crazy because I'll be doing both jobs for a little bit. Anyways, today after work was my longest swim of the year. 10 x 500 intervals was actually easier than I thought. After the swim I headed upstairs at the YMCA for my first weight workout in some time. It felt good lifting again, but I have a feeling it was a one time thing for now. This week marks some very long workouts. Tomorrow is a 4 1/2 hour bike ride (which I have no idea how I'm going to get that in), and Thursday is a 4 1/2 hour brick - 3 hr bike / 1.5 hour run. Then it's off to see the coach. Friday is going to be very exciting. Coach plans on video taping me in the water (so I can see how bad my form really is) haha, and then we're going to do some long training over the weekend before I head home late Sunday. Only bad thing is Coach Kevin has been sick now for about a week straight, and hopefully he starts feeling better for the weekend.
If I don't blog for a couple of days you'll know why. I'm going to be a very tired boy the next couple of days. :)
Well it's a week after the race, but better late than never. The morning started off very early as we had to catch a bus to the start. The buses left downtown Monterey between 4:00 - 4:15 AM, and we didn't want to be late. The long school bus ride took about an hour, and we were stuck sitting in front of these two girls that just wouldn't shut up. I was half tempted to tell them to quit down, but I didn't. I let them enjoy their marathon moment.
Once we arrived at the marathon starting line village it was time to find a place to sit, relax, and eat. I forced down about 400-500 calories before the start and figured I'd be good for the next couple of hours. I had a seeded number so it was very nice being able to warm up and do some strider's rather than being penned up in the mass of people. The start began with the National Anthem, a gentleman playing bagpipes, and the release of about 20 white doves. The gun went off, and I shot off like a cannon.
The first 10K of the marathon flew by. A good majority of the first part of the marathon was downhill, and I decided to take advantage of the terrain. Two of my first three miles were sub six, and I knew I was running on pure excitement and adrenaline, and it was time to back off and settle into a nice calm pace. I came through the first 10K mark sub 38:00, and was well on my way to a good race.
Around the five mile mark you pop out of the woods and can see the ocean in the distance on Highway 1. I tried to take in the scenery but knew I had to stay focused and on track. I maintained a steady pace trying to keep the flatter miles around 6:30 pace, the downhill miles sub 6:00, and the uphill miles sub 7:00. I used this philosophy up until mile 10. As soon as you hit the mile 10 marker you begin your climb to Hurricane Point. This is where I knew I would do my damage on the rest of my competition. I threw down the hammer and pushed it hard up this 2 1/2 mile hill. In 2 1/2 miles you climb over 500 vertical feet and people were dropping off like flies. I must of passed at least 9 or 10 people up the hill! Feeling good as I crested the top, the next two miles were downhill. Running sub six miles again I was able to make up the time I lost on the hill. As I came through the halfway point I glanced at my watch and it read 1:25:59. I quickly did the math, doubled the number, and knew I already had 8 minutes in the bank to go sub 3:00, and had a good feeling about this one! Feeling strong, I continued to run sub 6:30 miles on the flats / downhills all the way up to mile 19. The next five miles started to hurt, but I was still running 6:50 miles, and still under my goal pace. The last couple of miles creped a little over 7 minute pace, but I was running the race of my life. There were two guys that passed me at the 1 mile to go mark and I wasn't going to have any of that. With 400 yards to go I gave it everything I had and sprinted as hard as I could. The two guys that had passed me earlier had no response. The clock read 1:55:59, 18th place overall, 3rd in my age group, and even better, I PRed by 9 minutes and six seconds (21 seconds faster per mile).
It's hard to believe that weekend is already over. Lately life has been stuck in fast forward and days turn into months and the months will turn into years. My weekend started off Friday after work with a nice easy 40 mile ride outside. Saturday was also a busy day. My friends Paul and Doug came over bright and early at 7:00 AM and we set off for a long ride. Things were going good until about 3 hours into the ride. Doug had some major bike issues to the point where he could no longer shift, and was stuck in the 11 cog. Around here it would be impossible to get home with only one gear so he called it quits and Paul and I rode on. We took the shortest way home but knowing Doug he'd find a way home before we did. Here he came blazing by in some ladies truck...whom I guess he hitch hiked with. I just laughed and kept going. So we finished up with a little over 4 hours for the day and a lot of climbing (including the famous 3 mile hill). This thing never ends!!!
As for today, Jen and I were up early again for our long run. Being only a week after the marathon, I was worried my legs wouldn't fair too well especially after a long ride, but it was quite the opposite. Even though I ran easy for 90 minutes, not once did I get cramped or sore. Very excited legs! Not long after I got home my friend Mike picked me up and we headed into town. The car left my house at 10AM in route to the Penguin game. We got some lunch at the local pizza shop and then watched an incredible hockey game. The Pen's won 3-2 in overtime and won the series four games to one against the Rangers. I'm looking forward towards the Eastern Conference Finals and wish them well!!!
Well it's now 6PM, and I still have to ride the trainer for an hour, eat dinner, and hopefully squeeze in a nap all before I go to bed.
So it's been five days since the marathon and I'm already 100% recovered. It's been a sort of light week for training, but that's a good thing because just when I think my life couldn't get more hectic, more stressful, more crazy, I get a call Monday afternoon by a guy at work that puts my life into absolute mayhem.
Ok, let me back up a little bit to last week. As you may or may not know, I work for Westinghouse Electric Company (we design, service, and build nuclear power plants) as a Quality Engineer. I've worked in this position now for about 3 1/2 years, and have enjoyed every second of it. I've been to San Francisco, Austin, Miami, Lake Tahoe....you name it, chances are this job has taken me there. Life on the road was fantastic but it was time for a change. A friend who works in another part of Westinghouse came to me a week and a half ago saying that there was a job that opened up in his group. I figured what the heck. I'm not really looking for a new job, but I figured I'd give it a shot. So last week before we left for Big Sur I met with the hiring manager for an interview. Interviews are always interesting. You know they ask you those silly questions like "What are your strengths and what are your weaknesses". "Give me five reasons for why we should hire you". ....you know stuff like that. I went into the interview very confident knowing that I still had a job if I didn't get it, and most importantly I still had a job that I liked very much. Getting this job was a long shot I thought. I was interviewing for a Project Manager / Project Engineer job, and thought at first that it was way out of my league. So the interview went well, we left for Big Sur and that wen't well, and what do you know as we boarded our plane for our return flight to Pittsburgh my phone rang. Yep you guessed it, it was the manager I interviewed with telling me that he'd like to make me an offer to join his group!
I was shocked, somewhat stunned, and had to tell him that the flight attendant was making me get off the phone because we were backing out the plane. I told him to give me a day or two to think about it, and I'd get back to him. Let me tell you, I've flown a lot and that flight home was the longest flight ever.
Once we got home I had some serious decisions to make. When we got home Monday night and finally made it to bed, I swear I don't even think I got a solid hour of sleep in. This was one of those life changing decisions that I had to make, and had less than 48 hours to make.
All I could think about at work the next day, was "What am I to do". I had talked to my parents, co-workers, other managers, and my wife, and they all said it sounded like a good move. The more I thought about it, it began to seem like a no brainer. Humans in general have a hard time adapting to change. Just the thought of change is sometimes terrifying.
So Tuesday after work I had to burn off some of this stress. I ran a very easy run after work and headed directly to the pool. Usually when I swim I think about Ironman, drafting off of the imaginary guy in front of me, but never work. Triathlon is my special time, and all of the sudden it was filled with work thoughts. I had to make a decision, and I had to decide fast!
Tuesday night was another sleepless night, thoughts of the new job once again filled my head, but I had made a decision. Wednesday I decided to tell my current boss the news. I really respect my current boss, and the guy is incredibly intelligent, and he reacted as I would have expected. He was very excited for me, for my career, and for the new opportunity to succeed at a new challenge. He even told me that if things don't work out, there is always a home back where I came from. When he said this, my stress level went from 10 to 0.
As I reflect on the week, and what happened, I tend to attribute a lot of my success to the sport of triathlon. Triathlon teaches you to be the best you can be. Triathlon teaches you what it takes to never give up. If you never give up, keep dreaming big, keep working hard, life will take you down a path of forever happiness and endless success.
