Economy/Marketing:
Damn.... I am having a heck of a time figuring out the new rules. I'm sure our new President feels that he is doing the right things for our economy, and maybe he is, but his policies are killing me. My market sector has totally disappeared due to the 'Government' deciding that they can do the work themselves. Again, maybe they can, but not as efficiently as we in the private sector can and especially with the 'government employees' that I have experience with. And, why in the hell have they decided to hire additional incompetent personnel to do it?
I don't even mind having to readjust and find a new market but it sure would have been nice if the powers in charge would have at least warned me that my "existing" contracts were not going to be honored. I would also really like a little help in figuring out the new rules of engagement since there isn't any kind of playbook printed out there anywhere.
House Construction:
The new Casa is looking fantastic but the schedule is slipping. Exterior work is getting finished before the interior and that is very unusual. Seems a long list of poor decisions has led to a delay in the plumbing getting finished on time. As a matter of fact.... interior work has come to a complete and total standstill for the past month! Get to work guys.... this is costing all of us a lot of money and we are beginning to push our loan maturity.
The home really is going to be stunning. We stopped by tonight at near sunset and it was absolutely beautiful. Our Architect did an absolutely fantastic job of designing exactly what we had dreamed. The more time I spend at the house the more I come to realize just how perfect the design is. Rooms are exactly in the right position and size to take advantage of the view while at the same time blending wonderfully with the site. Brilliant! Thanks Steve!
Marathon Training:
I have been having a little trouble with my left foot especially since my last long run so I ended up taking a full week off to try to let it recover from my training. Today was my first run since my break and it was a big one, 24.7 miles. The run went well in the early stages but I had a pretty good indication at about mile 13 that it wasn't going to end well. The route ran along the Burke-Gilman trail from Log Boom park in Kenmore to Gas Works park in Seattle.... and back. I was trying to hold to my SO succesful 21 mile run a couple of weeks ago and holding an approximate 9:30 pace but, unlike my last long run, by mile 13 I was noticing that I was having trouble keeping my HR under 160 compare to my usual 140'ish at this pace. Well, by mile 18 I was feeling the bonk and by mile 20 I was a total wreck.
The last 4 miles was a constant transition between running and walking. Walking hurt just as much as running but took longer to cover the same distance but running would lead to cramping. I ended up running until the cramping would kick in and then walking until the cramping subsided and then back to running. That was one of the longest 4 miles I have covered in my life! I ended up with a somewhat respectable training run of 24.7 miles at a 10:03 pace. I guess that isn't bad considering but I hate having tragic runs like this one so close to my marathon date!
Until next time,
Cheers!
Ron
