Mornin' everyone.
Wednesday's workouts:
Tramps (5 dark miles)
Stumpy (1 hr of shoveling cross-training)
Quickadder (7.2 early AM miles at 8:54 pace, including a collection of road rash)
RunnerKSA (2.1 early basement TM miles + 2.4 post-work TM miles)
Henrun (morning elliptical work + snowshoeing)
Fatozzig (45 min of core/ST, working on the knee)
Twocat (1 pre-work hr on the elliptical)
Anzlo (9 morning miles in evolving/blinding sunshine)
Holly (6.5 TM miles of intervals & fartleks + post-work 'Burn & Tone' class)
Surly Bill (4.6 miles, including 3 1K cutdowns at 4:30-4:00 pace for a 'speed Wednesday')
Spacityrunner (5 cold & windy miles(
Evanflein 2.2 sunny miles, followed by some leg pain/swelling)
Falconfixer (6.3 chilly pre-work miles + 5.1 chilly & windy post-work miles +teaching spin)
Mike (11 nighttime miles, including 9 at tempo pace)
StarrRuns (3.4 sunny afternoon walking/wogging miles in 58:10
Tammy (4.5 post-work miles)
Wildchild (Pi [3.14] trail miles in 36 min in shorts/t-shirt - elevation change of 500 ft)
Sorry about the road rash, Quickadder. Glad it was only a rash.
Tammy, I've never made a Pi. I'll work on it...
Perfect day with snowshoeing, pastry & hot chocolate, Henrun & Marj.
How are you coming with that part, Twocat?
Anzlo, racewalking only hurt because you were using muscles that you don't usually use. Just like I hurt after a too-rare day when I run part or all of a workout, for the same reason. Racewalking does take patience and practice - you've been walking one way your whole life, and now you're telling your body to walk a different way. Give it time to adjust. Once one gets into the rhythm, the speed (relative, in my case) will come.
Stumpy, the best reason for not having a snowblower is having a neighbor who does, and who will do the worst of the work for you. Do you give him a 6-pack or a bottle of wine every once in a while, just to keep him motivated to do the end of your driveway?
Nice Speed Wednesday, S. Bill.
RCG; Anzlo's name is the condensed version of the back end of "old and slow." I could be an 'anzlo' too! Have you been cooking Brussels Sprouts again? Good for you! Sounds like a fabulous dinner with Liz!
Good luck in Sunday's Marathon, Falconfixer! I guess you're done with your training for the race...
Good Pi workout, Wildchild.
Good luck with the deadline/audit, SteveP.
I woke up a little early, so got in an extra mile or so this morning: 7.6 RW miles in 30° with a little light snow at the start. I didn't look at my watch the whole way, thought I was faster than I was but I wasn't, but it was still a good workout.
Have a greta Thursday!
Jay
Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos.
Trails are hard!
We've been known to have a beer or two after the driveways are done. I've also done the blowing when he was laid up with a new knee.
Not that I need much of an excuse (like none) to NOT run these days, the sidewalk around the lake hadn't been cleared yet and there's not much of a parking lane yet, so I continued to sleep in.
Need a fast half for late fall. Then I need to actually train for it.
Stayed inside again this morning- avoiding the wind and not sure how great I was feeling due to some stomach issues last night. Good move on my part. I was really dragging- perhaps a little dehydrated. Eked out a slow 4 miles. Now- getting ready to head to the airport for Florida flight.
Racewalking amazes me. Such focus and speed. I'm always surprised how different walking is from running anyway. I had a co-worker back in Dallas who could walk SO much faster than I could, even though I was the runner! I never was a good walker, which is why injuries are hard for me. Jay is THE MAN!!!
March Madness starts today and my brackets are nestled all snug in their pools.
Out there running since dinosaurs roamed the earth
Okay, I see I need to pop in and explain the issue I am having at work. The thing about the broken part was just an analogy. Here is what is really happening.
----------Start Really Looong Explanation----------
I received a research grant to purchase an expensive database that essentially has most home sales in the US going back to the 1980s. (Yes, it is all public information. Thank you property taxes.) As you might imagine it is a very large database. When it arrived it had to go on its own data server. My IT group first loaded it up and set every field as a text field. That meant the computer thought things like 12/03/1994 was a set of character and not a date. That is a problem if you want to pull just data from 1994. Sale prices were things like 121000 as a string of characters meaning the computer could not perform numeric functions on it. Want to know the tax rate? Take the property tax field say 2000 divide it by the assessed value field 121000 and you have the tax rate. Not if the computer thinks they are text strings! It is like entering two/four in your excel spreadsheet and hoping to see 0.5 as the result. Next IT reinstalls the database and this time gets some of the date, money and numeric fields coded in properly. (Some but not all. That despite being given a key telling them what field type to use! ) Now the sale date field was a date! Well, yes, but they somehow converted all of the sale dates to 1901/01/01. Oh joy! They reinstalled the data again and again the dates were all 1901/01/01. The third time's the charm!
Finally the dates are right. Sounds good, right? I have my data. Just one more problem the research server on which most of the work using the data cannot communicate with the data server holding the data. This problem leads IT to decide they have to reinstall of the research server's software from the operating system up to clear up conflicts that have developed over time. They do that. (at the cost of nearly another week.) We try again. The two computers still cannot communicate. I try to find out what is going on. They insist that the computers can communicate. I show them my two lines of code that test that along with the computer's output. Guess what? The computers cannot communicate. After that I get a response that is nearly unintelligible. At that point it was time to complain to the head of IT. That was what my meeting was about. The head of IT tells me he is going to get a new computer to hold all of the data and all of the software I need to work on it with. If they do that and if I can get all of my computer code running soon enough I will yet pull off the work I need to get done by my August deadline. But, at this point, it is going to be close.
----------End Really Looong Explanation----------
My daily extortion to join the Rosie Ruiz Fan Club for this year's Reach the Beach Relay on September 14 and 15! We need you!!! We are not looking for speed. Just a group to throw a 30 hour party with in a couple of vans. So join today! Just send me a message via the RA messaging system and I will get back to you. If you have my regular email or prefer sending a Facebook personal message that is fine too. I can guarantee you will have a great time or your, or your, or your clearly in need of psychiatric help!
Live like you are dying not like you are afraid to die.
Drunken Irish Soda Bread and Irish Brown Bread this way --> http://allrecipes.com/cook/4379041/
Rose Colored Glasses
Jay et al,
Thank you for answering my questions. Love the origin story for Anzlo! Way back in 2004 or 2005, I found Cool Running and the Boomers and Beyond. I signed up with the handle "irunslowly". When folks gave me a hard time for that moniker, I thought about changing it. When folks started abbreviating it "IRS"... I changed it. I changed it to Rose Colored Glasses because I have been accused of being an eternal optimist or something like that. This name stuck. But when Cool Running fell apart, I had trouble remembering passwords and email accounts and all of that and just applied to Running Ahead with my last name as my handle.
I had a similar problem with the ELL looking like an EYE in Buehrle. Read B U E H R L E. So. Friends. Please continue to use any variation of Rose Colored Glasses as you wish.
Starr. Oh Wow. I am so glad you suffered no head injuries on the ice! Sounds like you are progressing nicely. I have been reading research articles about opioids vs acetaminophen and ibuprofen for pain relief. The results of the chronic pain studies are very interesting. One research paper explored post-op pain, too. Interesting reading. One side effect that can be avoided with the non-opioids is constipation! Butt. It sounds like you are doing very well with walking or "wobbing". So that should keep things moving in the right direction! Be well.
There are a lot of new faces here, well, new to me. And I am so happy to read about your adventures! Won't be able to include everyone but, I love the names Surly Bill and FalconFixer .
Tramps Thanks for the update. I was perplexed as to why my house smelled like Brussels sprouts when none had been in my house for months... and then I noticed King Leonidas was resting at my feet... stinking dog gas.
And thank you for the FB information. I gave up on FB because I had no restraint on replying to trolls. Which was stupid on my part. BUTT. Mainly, I quit because I was learning too much about people. I think some people feel like they have a hall pass excusing them from good manners and civility when they spout venom on FB.
Holly and Tammy and Leslie dear son Blaine is finishing his paralegal studies in May. He is the guy who got a BS in Biology and never really pursued a career in Biology. So he has been going to VCU for paralegal. He loves his classes and is excelling academically. They started with 19 students. 17 women. Any advice you might offer to Blaine is welcomed. He has been working at a pre-school/ daycare for the past 2 years. I think he needs to volunteer in a law office or something? He is a dedicated employee.
Thank you in advance. ralphswife at g mail.
Wildchild The rocket scientist (my DH, Ralph) and DD, DS1, and DS2 and GS1 are all well! Oh and dear SonInLaw (SIL) is also well. How are you and yours? The newlyweds?
0906
room temperature
No running but I plan to do some aerobic housework in preparation for an honored houseguest...
Modified to fix grammar.
"Anytime you see the word "inflation" in the news, replace it with "record-breaking corporate profits" and you'll get what's happening."
2 miles on a sunny cold morning being cautious about the few icy spots. They do a good job clearing the sidewalks here and part of my run is on the very clear bike lanes.
Hi RCG - as far as advice that I would give - yes, he needs to get his foot in the door at a law firm. doing anything! When I was pursuing my paralegal degree (after I, too, already had a 4 yr degree in a different field), I applied for a receptionist job at a PI law firm in Seattle. I was persistent to the point of the owner finally gave me an interview even though he had hired someone else but that person had not yet started. He and I just 'clicked' and he hired me. I worked my way up from receptionist and ended up being his right hand person for almost 10 yrs before I moved. So, he just needs to get his resume out there to as many law firms as he can and then follow up, follow up, follow up.
No run for me today. working and then it's the "Mr. Mustang" competition at David's HS (Hidden Valley Mustangs). Basically, the male equivalent of a "pageant" for lack of a better descriptor. David's talent portion is stand-up comedy. Each contestant also had to create a video, they have interviews with a panel of judges, even a "swim trunk" portion to the evening. All meant in good fun and is a fundraiser for Children's Miracle Network (they've been doing various fundraisers throughout the year and community outreach as part of this Mr. Mustang competition). I am sure this will be quite entertaining!
Tammy
RCG - I echo what Tammy said about finding a job. If other places are like they are around here, everyone wants to hire someone with experience. But how do you get experience if no one will hire you? I, too, started at the bottom and worked my way up. I asked questions and let it be known by my bosses that I wanted to learn and to grow.
Brussell sprouts and bacon . . . add some onions and a little garlic - oh my!
Tammy - The pageant sounds like a hoot!
SteveP - Good luck with the audit. (Ugh!)
4 miles this a.m. in a steady but not heavy rain. Knee a little achy, but so far no pain going up or down stairs (fingers crossed!). I'm working hard on strengthening the chain!
15 min before I left for work, The Hub called and said the truck wouldn't start. *sigh* I am praying it's something simple like the starter needing to be replaced.
Speaking of King Leonidas doggy gas, our host served corn beef and cabbage at Bonkos last night. I'm contemplating putting a sign on my office door that says "Enter at Own Risk."
Leslie Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain -------------
Trail Runner Nation
Sally McCrae-Choose Strong
Bare Performance
..hiya Rosie.......
...........well,
you KNOW the FluSeason was bad
when you get locked in a room with coughing and sneezing pharmacists
for a 15-hour Seminar
USUALLY
we don't get sick
that much as a group
.........and they gave me TheCrud.......
=============
..yesterday...stayed inside
....50-min x-bike, just barely broke a sweat
....today...
60's and windy........stayed Bundled Up to Sweat It Out
50-min HH 3-4s on soccer fields
normally
Breaking a Sweat means I'm Well...................here's hoping
...............Good Running to Ya
..nothing takes the place of persistence.....
...........well, you KNOW the FluSeason was bad when you get locked in a room with coughing and sneezing pharmacists for a 15-hour Seminar USUALLY we don't get sick that much as a group .........and they gave me TheCrud.......
If you would please try to refrain from coughing and sneezing on your monitor (which we all know will cause the crud to spread to those who are reading your post), it would be greatly appreciated. BTW - Soak your toothbrush in Listerine.
I know not many of you (or maybe any of you?) are country music fans, but this song came on Pandora and I absolutely love it. Some good ole classic country that reminds me of a number of amazing musicians and singers who are gone from us now - Johnny Cash, George Jones, Waylon Jennings, Patsy Cline, Merle Haggard, Tammy Wynette . . . .
TwoCat - Not to be disrespectful of your IT department but likely unless you have some "old guys/gals" in your IT department who have actually had to convert pre-2000 databases in their work history using lower level coding into the new object formats this might be either new territory or rarely explored territory for them. I wouldn't hold my breath on them getting this one completely right for awhile unless you are lucky with some real talent in IT.
CoastWalker - I am glad you enjoy and can do real racewalking but I did try it enough to know it was not my cup of tea. On the other hand I just naturally walk fast normally and usually after a mile loosen up I clip miles off at about a 14:30 mpm pace without thinking. By race standards this is nothing, I know that, but when casually walking with other people I need to focus on slowing down to keep from being rude. Run/Walk works well for me partly because I don't lose as much as some when I take the walk breaks.
I like brussel sprouts boiled, fried, or with a little cheese sometimes. Not bad with basil and pepper either. Yes, they do smell up the house, but so does cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower.
I did 5 EZ miles this morning, nothing of note about it. I do feel some running rhythm coming back which has been lost since last summer when things started going sideways for me. If I can keep my nutritional balance in check without decline again with my adjusted diet I will be back to where I was a year ago ... I am hoping.
Sounds like you all had a great ... 355/113 ... day yesterday.
Have a great day, its Friday tomorrow, and the weekend follows ! ...
65+ Bests: 5K-26:11, 10K-TBD, HM-TBD
Marathon Maniac #957
RCG - I don't really have any advice about getting a job as a paralegal, since that varies depending on where you live. I did two internships as part of the paralegal program and was hired by one of them, and worked there for 11 years before moving on to my current job when that attorney retired. However, there are certain skills that I believe to be important to be a good paralegal:
1. Good writing skills, including the ability to creatively write a logical sequence of thoughts
2. Knowledge of grammar, spelling, and formatting rules for drafting basic documents - misspelled words and grammatical errors are unacceptable (proofread, and proofread again)
3. Detail-oriented, and well-organized
4. Skilled at follow-through, circling back around the cases to ensure that steps have been completed and the next step begun
5. Skilled in the software and equipment of the office
I wish him the best of luck. One thing about being a paralegal, once you have the basic skill set you can change areas of practice and vastly change your day-to-day job if you get tired of where you are.
4.5 miles on the TM today.
Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, "Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapenos."
I tried to keep it mainly east/west today to avoid the 30 mph south wind. 1.5 mile warm-up, 9 miles at marathon pace, 1 mile cool down. for a total of 11.5 miles run.
Paul
Paul's blog
'' BTW - Soak your toothbrush in Listerine.''
...........actually
I had mixed up
a Listerine Nasal Spray years ago
for air-borne Cold and Flu exposure
but
forgot to use it.......duh
RCG- I’ll weigh in on the paralegal job search. I would tell him to expand the search. I am a VP/lawyer for a major corporation and our licensing department falls under my watch. I have 2 lawyers working in that department who are NOT lawyers for our company. I would hire paralegals into that department in a heartbeat. The department deals with a lot of regulatory issues, motor vehicle licensing, propane dispensing requirements, the sale of live poultry and more other issues than I could list. It is a great quasi-legal work area and could easily be a springboard for something else. Similarly, in HR there is a huge need for paralegal-types for compensation areas and leave of absence teams. Another area is in procurement and purchasing. Look way beyond law firms.