One Run Does Not Define the Season

This morning's run was really difficult. It was already in the 80's when we started at 5:15am. It was super humid and sticky (95% humidity). Sweat was just sitting on my skin and not evaporating to help cool me down. My pace group is 10:30 - 11:30 minutes per mile; however, on long runs they say we're 11:00 - 11:30 minutes per mile and suggest that we should slow down further to adjust to the hot weather. Well, this is MarathonFest and apparently MarathonFest is always in badass beast mode because when they say we should slow down, we don't or we run faster. During my 10 miles this morning, I was wondering why it felt challenging to keep up with my group.  At the end, I found out that we were maintaining a 10:38 per mile pace!  Clearly, that's on the fast end of our pace group. Furthermore, the 10:38 pace includes walk breaks and water stops, so we must have really been booking it when we were actually running. Nonetheless, I survived another "long" run even though I didn't finish as strongly as I would have liked to. One run does not define the season. I'm sure there will be more difficult runs along my journey to the finish line in NYC. After all, the reason I'm training is to make race day easier. If it wasn't for my group, I would have quit at mile six. I should embrace difficult runs and be proud of the fact that I got out there and ran 10 miles today. I'm stronger for it!

Yes, Take a Cookie for Your Brother

While I was in line to get a cookie at Savanna's VPK graduation tonight a little boy asked me if he could take a cookie for his brother. I nodded my head and confidently told him, "Yes!"

My supervisor's mother passed away last week and my supervisor has been out of the office since last Wednesday. She'll be returning on Monday. I have just a little over two months of experience and I've been on my own at work. Executives have been coming to me for my input and comments on contracts and markups. Project Managers and Project Assistants have been looking to me to lead negotiations. Our vendors have been contacting me with questions and having me manage the process to get mutually agreeable contracts executed. Usually, I tell my supervisor my opinion on these things and ask her questions to better understand the issues and she tells me if I'm right or wrong, and then she explains our company's stance on the topic to me. This is how I've been learning in this position. Since she's not there, there's no one to tell me if I'm right or not. Don't get me wrong, I love the excitement of my job; however, I can't help but feel like I did when I told that kid he can take a cookie for his brother. Who am I to tell you what to do?  People are looking to me for answers, guidance, and solutions. Unfortunately, it's not as easy as telling them they can take a cookie for their brother. I'm doing my best and making, what I believe to be, thoughtful business decisions. Only time will tell if I've been doing a good job or not.

Sink or swim
Pass or fail
Get fired or get a raise

Rough News and a Shitty Run

My mom had an eye appointment a couple weeks ago and she found out that diabetes has worsened her eyesight. She took the news pretty hard and was a bitch while she digested the news. She didn't really talk about it, but was angry at everyone regardless. It was unsettling to me because no matter what bad news I get about my own health issues, I do not take it out on others. In my opinion, she acted like a child. Well, last week she went to a different eye doctor to get a second opinion. This doctor noticed it was her peripheral vision that was affected and ordered her to get an MRI because sudden loss of peripheral vision can indicate a stroke.  She got the MRI and will get the result this Thursday. In the mean time, she is not allowed to drive. Thankfully, she has taken this news in stride. Although I can't imagine how frustrating it would be not to be able to drive. As much as we butt heads I never wish for anything bad to happen to her. I love her even if our relationship is twisted. We had a family meeting and so far everyone's taking turns driving her around.

I had a really shitty run on Saturday. I was already unmotivated Friday night because the weather report said it was going to be raining Saturday morning. I found the following quote to help motivate me: It's hard to beat a person who never gives up.  I started my eight mile run as soon as the sun came up. Surprisingly, it didn't rain, but the overcast created wicked sticky humidity to run through. After three miles, I took off my shirt and wrung it out because it was drenched in sweat. I need to start working out my abs so that I feel comfortable running in just a sports bra. By mile five, I was ready to quit and that's when "it's hard to beat a person who never gives up" popped into my head as motivation. After six miles, I wanted to cry. Running is hard and it's easy to forget that sometimes. I slowed my pace way down and walked more often than I probably should have, but I somehow managed to log eight miles. Even though it was a shitty run, runs like that will make me stronger and mentally tougher. Hopefully, next time I won't want to quit or cry.  Running is a love/hate relationship.

A New Chapter Professionally

Tomorrow will mark one month since the Contract / Risk Specialist opportunity came my way. If I could have looked through binoculars into the future, I'm not sure I would have had the guts to envision where I am today.  Even though my official start date for pay rate purposes is Monday, I trained with my new supervisor again today and I will train with her again tomorrow. I finally got the offer/transfer letter from HR and signed it, so it's really official! This is a huge opportunity I have in front of me and I am extremely thankfully that my new supervisor and Wharton-Smith want to invest their time and money in me. There's no doubt it will be challenging, but that's part of what makes it appealing.

I wrote my payroll supervisor a thank you note for being an amazing supervisor.  It was sad turning over all of my payroll access (passwords, key cards, keys). I am super thankful she supported me during this transition to the extent of coming in really early and staying really late in order to allow me to transfer quickly. Seriously, she needs a cape with a dollar sign on it. I'm glad I have someone like her in my corner.

Social Media Trend - Ice Cubes, Buckets, and Water

Unless, you live under a rock I'm sure you've heard and seen people all over social media accepting the ALS - Ice Bucket Challenge. I'm not a hater, I'm just disappointed that this huge, viral campaign to raise awareness and funds for the horrible disease called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig's disease has turned into just mentioning the letters ALS before dumping a bucket of ice water on your head. How many of these ice dumpers have actually looked up to learn more about the disease? How many of these ice dumpers even considered donating to the cause? Watch this video for a better understanding: http://youtu.be/JNZcC_3YLuo  I was shocked to learn that the average life expectancy after diagnosis is from two to five years. I can bitch all I want to about Crohn's, but I can almost say with certainty that Crohn's will not kill me within the next five years.

I also wonder why the ALS Association hasn't received way more donations than $15.6 million with how many wealthy celebrities that have "taken" the challenge. I am now aware of ALS. I heard about it through the challenge videos folks are posting,  but I learned about it by researching it myself. I've seen very few creative ice water dumps. It's like watching the same thing over and over again. I can criticize all day long, but when it comes down to it I haven't done it yet. I was just nominated by two of my cousins, which is what sparked this topic. Basically, this post is to build hype about my challenge video I'm hoping to post on Friday and to inspire you to learn more about ALS like I did.

I will kind of participate in the ALS - Ice Bucket Challenge by making a video or two and eventually mentioning it. I am now aware of ALS. No, I do not plan to donate to the cause because I have another cause that's near and dear to my heart and wallet. I plan to make my challenge video funny. In fact, I've  already started working on the script. I hope to raise awareness and at the very least I hope to raise a laugh.

Read more about ALS and/or make a donation here:  http://www.alsa.org/about-als/