All About the Skills

So, your sometimes blogger is back again.

My new position has been somewhat overwhelming. Definitely not a job I've been able to leave at the door when I come home. A position so far out of my comfort zone, it's been a struggle.

Am I learning a lot?

For sure! The skills I am acquiring  will (hopefully) serve me well in my future endeavours.

Am I enjoying it?

Ummmm.....I wouldn't say that exactly.
There are many parts I do like. I have met some wonderful people, people I maybe never would have interacted with.

More often though, I find myself floundering around, playing catch-up. (Me and Dory "Just Keep Swimming....")

I just finished my first major event last week. So much work, and so thankful to those that lent a hand to help ( love you guys). Without my hubby, and some very special friends, I'd never have pulled it off.

It was a pretty good night, with a few bumps (of course).

There were some details that I goofed on and missed, one which led to a less than pleasant email waiting for me at the office this morning, on what is supposed to be my day off.

I am trying very hard to concentrate on all the good of the evening,and not let the mistakes I made cast a shadow that. It's a work in progress.

So, today I will cook for my family, which I have not been able to do on regular basis.

I will go to Zumba.

Tomorrow, I will start on the next project, and work on learning from my mistakes.

That Time We Tried-A-Tri

This past June, the Fabulous Running Buddy and I completed our first Triathlon. I won't say it was "just" a Try-a-Tri  (shorter than a Sprint Tri, just a taste to see if you like it).

250m swim, 10k bike, 2.5k run.

It was all new to us. Setting up our  transition area, getting the body markings. It was nerve wracking and exciting all at the same time.

We were obvious newbies, watching everyone else and trying to do something similar.

The race itself was hard, for me at any rate. The swim wasn't bad, except for the big gulp of pool water I took in near the end. The bike ride wasn't awful. A couple of big (for me) hills on the out and back route. The run,short as it was, was the hardest part of the race for me. For the first kilometre at least, I had a horrible cramp in my right calf. It was a drag-your-leg-like-a-zombie type of cramp. I honestly thought that I might not be able to finish the race! Thankfully, the cramp finally let go, and I shuffled along until I crossed the finish line.

High Points of this Race:
*The people! The volunteers were fantastic. Encouraging, friendly, and so very positive. The volunteers really make the race I think. Without them none of it would be possible.
*The competitors! No matter the ability of the people racing, everyone was welcome. Cheering other competitors on, smiles and supportive words. A great energy throughout the race.

Low Point:
*The timing. This race was chip timed...or, at least, it was supposed to be.

"We experienced some technical trouble with the results of the 2014 race.  A number of timing chips were issued to the wrong participants by mistake resulting in missing times in some cases and widely inaccurate times in others.  We have done the best we can through review of the timing database and consultation with athletes to arrive at the most accurate finish times possible.  Unfortunately we will not be able to supply split times for the race segments, and some participant times were not retrievable.  We apologize for the inconvenience."

This was the explanation given by  Human Powered Racing, the company that planned/ran/organized this race for the inaccurate times announced and posted for the race.

It was very disappointing. Neither of us had checked the time when we started and finished, so we don't know how long the race took, or what our splits were.

Lessons Learned:
1. Always time your own race,even if it is a chip timed event.
2. Bring a basin to keep your stuff in at the transition point.
3. Train more.

Overall,it was a really good experience....enough so that I am planning to do the Sprint Tri next year!

For Now

You know that thing....when the lights go out, you're stumbling around in the dark, and even though you feel like you should know where everything is, you still hit your shins on the ottoman.... I am doing a lot of that lately.

Learning how to do this job, oh! My poor metaphorical shins!

I get a handle on one thing, start feeling pretty smart,then....oh yeah, there's all that other, all very important stuff  that needs to be taken care of as well.

While I am sure I will be successful in this new foray into the working world.....I hate not being good at what I'm doing. Drives me nuts! It's unfortunate, since so many things I do daily are a work in progress.

(I also think that one of these would make work way more fun!)

Image from the Costco website

For now I will just be thankful for:

Our family...
Our health...
Our home....
That tomorrow is my Friday (TGIT!)...
....and that I made it through another outdoor workout!

Bullet Points & Good Intentions

I keep meaning to catch-up here, and I 

keep having other 

things get in the way.

So,bullet points it is, with 

every intention of coming 

back & fleshing it all 

out later.

Loved Color Me Rad , we had so much fun!
Sadly, one of the gals had to head off for work mid-race,
but we got a great group shot before she left.

• Spartan Sprint! So hard,so amazing.
   Can't wait to do it
  again next year!
  

Still need to fill everyone in on the
Try-A-Tri.....no
 idea what happened
 to our times for that one. 

That's all for now. 

Working on getting enough sleep to keep 

my energy levels up....

like so many things in life,it's a 

work in progress.

Making Memories...Hoping for no Permanent Scars

Boy, I have been busy!

New Job: Yikes! It's been a bit overwhelming. Almost 2 months in, and some days I still feel like I'll never get a handle on things. I planned and pulled off my first official event. There were some hiccups, but overall the feedback has been good. Thanks again to my parents,hubby and kids for helping me out. If not for them, I would have fallen flat on my face.

Since I last posted something here we've been training (not enough) and have run a couple of races. The Women's Run (10k) in Edmonton, and we completed our first "Try-a-Tri" on June 15th ( I have dubbed it the race with no time....more on that later). There's a story for each of these races, but that will have to wait.

This weekend is a biggie. Tomorrow my Running Folks and I will be heading into the city for Color Me Rad. This is the race we had planned to run last summer in Calgary, but unfortunately there was all that flooding,so.....it should be a lot of fun. I am curious to see if the colour washes off of me after!

Then, on Sunday, my Fabulous  Running Buddy and I will be participating in the 5k Spartan Sprint race. *GULP*  I am feeling pretty nervous,with a heaping scoop of fear on top. I am pretty sure I will be glad we did it at the finish line, but the anticipation is hurting my tummy a bit.

So, this weekend,while my former school mates are recalling the "Good Old Days"over some adult bevvies in BC, I'll be getting pelted with colour bombs and crawling through the mud. Pretty sure everyone will come away from the weekend with a bunch of new memories.

For Me and Mine

I was awake before 6am today. It's Saturday morning. It's just not right.

I'm not sure what woke me. Maybe it was the sun peaking through the curtains, or the dog that was barking down the street (really neighbours? Why is you dog out barking that early in the day?), I'm not sure. I do know what kept me from snuggling back down in the blankets: my brain.

It's been a busy couple of weeks. For the second time in 6 months, I have started a new job. Not only is it a new job, once again I am learning a whole new skillset. I used to joke that I had been out of school for so long that my brain had atrophied. While it may be running a little more sluggishly than when I was a younger version of me, I am happy to say things seem to be firing on all cylinders.

For the past two weeks I've been soaking up all the information I can from the woman I am taking over from. She is very, very good at this job. I go solo on Monday, and I have some very big shoes to fill.

The job itself is very interesting. Event planning, light bookkeeping, receptionist duties......and a thousand things I can't even remember right now. I foresee a lot of post-it reminders in my future to keep track of everything.

I am trying to keep my casual position at the bank as well.....pretty sure that's not going to work out for long. I spoke to my manager before I even started looking for a part-time job,so my change in availability wasn't a total surprise. Unfortunately, I'm just not as available as they need me to be now.

As I have said a number of times, I really like working at the bank. The reality is though, there isn't an actual position for me there. Six months of never knowing when or if I was going to be working has been a bit of a roller coaster (time and money wise).

More than that, this new position will open doors for me in the future...or get my foot in the door at the very least. As my Fabulous Running Buddy had said to me on a number of occasions, all I needed was someone to take a chance on me.  It's an opportunity I just could not turn down.

I hope there are no hard feelings, but, in the end, I had to do what's best for me and mine.

Next post: Training & Races.....

In the Spirit of Saying "Yes"

Or.....alternately:

What I'm Doing the Weekend 

of my 

20th High School Reunion

I couldn't decide on a title for this, and was unwilling to give one up.

Where was I?

Right, time to fill you in on the other news I've been keeping close to my chest.

My Fabulous Running Buddy is trying to break me  encouraging to step outside my comfort zone once more.

We have registered to participate in a Spartan Sprint race.  Not only have we committed to running this crazy race, it's the same weekend as the Color Me Rad we've been looking forward to since last summer. Back to back race days.  All of this falls on the weekend of my 20th High School Reunion (which I wrote about not going to here ).

So, while old classmates are sipping cool drinks and reminiscing about days gone by, looks like I will be:

*getting colour bombed
* crawling through mud

*attempting to climb over and under any number of obstacles

*bruising and bumping this old body

*making some new memories with my friends

I'm positive that no matter what, folks will be having a good weekend,wherever they may be.