Changes

Instead of teaching Sunday school, I get to go to a teacher improvement class today which means that for the first time in what seems like ages I have a free Sunday morning.

I’m not really sure were to begin with this post. So much has happened over the past few months, and it would take pages to recap so I’ll just hit the highlights.

First and foremost I started a new Job. I’m back at IBM as a cross brand channel manager and couldn’t be happier. Essentially I help a few of IBM’s top business partners sell IBM software. It is different, challenging, and I get to work from home which is a huge bonus.

I left IBM because I had been doing the same thing for 10 years and really needed a change. I looked internally but never found the right role, so after several months I decided to leave and go to a different company - NetSuite. Suffice to say, I did not thrive there. There are certain environments that bring out the best in me both creatively and emotionally and this was not one of them. One night in fit of frustration, I sent out several emails to various people I knew and eventually found this job. The funny thing is that a year ago I actually interviewed for this role but didn’t get it. Life has a funny way of working out if you keep trying.

I’ve been working / traveling so much that I’ve almost completely put racing to the side. I was scheduled to race Xterra Indian Peaks yesterday, but didn’t because my fitness is way off but more importantly I didn’t want to be away from Hannah or Cate for most of the day. I made the decision not to compete last week, but I’d been thinking about it for a while. One of the reasons I race is because it gives me motivation to train and while I sometimes have to force myself to get out there, most of the time it’s enjoyable. Lately though, it all felt forced and the race started to feel like an obligation rather than a reward for training. I love it too much to let myself hate it so I’m taking a break.

I’m still getting out there, but I don’t have any structure. I do what I feel like doing. Yesterday morning, I went for a run, and just pushed it. My hart rate was sky high, I was breathing hard, my legs burned, but I was having a wonderful time. Last week I did a few barefoot runs, and even did power Yoga twice. I think I’m going to play the rest of the season by ear and just do what sounds fun. I might race or I might not. I might just focus on running / biking for enjoyment and put racing on hold until next year.

Oh. As some of you know, I started another blog focused more on training. The idea was going to be that this blog was going to be family focused, but that has been put on hold for the time being.

With the change in focus, I’ve been able to spend much more time with Hannah and Cate. In July we went to two family reunions – one in Utah and the other in Oregon. It was great to see family and spend time with everyone. The best part for meA was showing off Cate. For several members of my family it was the first time they had seen her. She of course loved the attention, and hated to come home were she only has two people to play with.

Well that is all for now. Hope everyone is have a great summer.