Of Marathon Training, Automobiles, and Dogs

Today I went out for my 'Long Run' and noted a couple of things worthy of discussion. First, Long Runs are stupid, especially when 'long' is over 20 miles. Who the hell decided that marathon training should include ridiculously long runs in the first place? Anyway, I digress, the topics I was speaking of are autos and dogs.

Autos:

Why is it that right turners never look right? I know the AUTO traffic is coming from the left but what if??? Say there was a construction zone to your right that was funneling traffic into your lane? Or maybe, just maybe, a pedestrian or runner was coming from your right? Wouldn't it be good to know these things before pulling into the oncoming traffic's lane (don't laugh, I saw it happen) or running over the poor pedestrian or runner who may be coming from your right? Are we so 'anti alternative transportation' that we don't care? "Nothing could be coming from the right besides a stupid pedestrian or even more stupid runner after all", cars are way more important.

Another thing, there are no sidewalks, or even wide shoulders, on any of the rural roads. Don't people in the suburbs walk? Well no, of course they don't walk! There is no damn place for them to walk! My run today involved running on a lot of 'fog lines' through these areas and autos were honking and folks in their F150's were leaning out yelling at me to "get the hell off the road".... WTF? I pay as much, or more, road taxes as anyone, why shouldn't my needs be just as important as anyone else's?

From the United States Department of Transportation:

"It is the policy of the USDOT to consider walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes: The primary goal of a transportation system is to safely and efficiently move people and goods. Walking and bicycling are efficient transportation modes for most short trips and, where convenient intermodal systems exist, these nonmotorized trips can easily be linked with transit to significantly increase trip distance. Because of the benefits they provide, transportation agencies should give the same priority to walking and bicycling as is given to other transportation modes. Walking and bicycling should not be an afterthought in roadway design."

My feelings? It's about damn time! This means that new transportation projects that receive federal funding will have to put just as much emphasis on foot and bicycle traffic as the automobiles. Thank you USDOT. Maybe this could be catalyst for change that we need to encourage folks to get out of those cars and do a little walking or maybe get on a bike.

Dogs:

OK, I love dogs, I even have 3 of them myself, but why is it that people can't understand that dogs treat runners different than walkers? A walker comes by and maybe the dog sniffs his/her leg but a runner comes by and as soon as the runner passes the dog bolts for the runner, attempting to immobilize the runner with a quick bite to the hamstring. Come on people! This is a natural instinct of dogs to catch prey. They haven't always been fed "Wagon Train", these critters were once very effective hunters. I really don't appreciate that rush of adrenaline that I get every time I pass you and your dog and he, unconsciously, decides to go for my hamstring. Not his fault but it's still going to hurt mightily if he ever actually connects. Hold that leash tightly please.

Thank you for your time and please look right before turning right and hold that leash tightly as I pass. ;-)

Cheers!

Random Musings:

• Homes and Financing

Over the past year we completed the construction of our beautiful Edmonds home. It is absolutely amazing with a view to die for and a price tag that I almost died because of.

Immediately after completing construction on the new home, we had the comps done on the old Lynnwood home and, based on those comps, did a near complete remodel. Well, in that short time span of construction, the value of the Lynnwood home has fallen about $60K due to short sells and foreclosures in the area.

All of this was done in a struggling economy with a business that definitely suffered from the effects of the poor economy. Try getting financing for a jumbo loan with all of this hanging over your head! Yep, very challenging indeed. I am really looking forward to things actually getting back to normal.

• Business

PGS has actually done quite well over the past 8 months, considering. Profits are challenging but we are eking out small ones. We had gotten so far behind financially that it will take years to fully recover but we are, at least, in recovery mode. This has been a very difficult time and our good fortune is no indicator of the state of economy for our industry.

We are doing well because of extremely hard work combined with the fact that we are the best at mapping in our niche market. We can’t relax though….. we are just the loss of a job or 2 away from another collapse and we don’t have the reserves to survive another so soon.

• Leisure

What I miss most right now is leisure time.

The ability to take off and do a trip on a whim. Even 3-day weekends are hard to come by these days. The effects of all of my personal projects combined with the challenges of running a business at this time, just doesn’t leave any time for play. Not that I could afford to do much anyhow.

• Running

Training for the Vancouver Marathon on May 2 in Vancouver, BC.

Training has been going extremely well and I am at least a month ahead of my training schedule right now. This week has been a very short mileage week for me due to my hectic schedule but I’ll up the mileage again next week. I want to take it a little easy for the rest of February anyhow, just to make sure I don’t peak to early. The goal is first, to qualify for Boston, 3:35:59, with a secondary goal of finishing in under 3:30. I’ve been working on speed much more in this program than past and am feeling pretty confident right now. It helps that I have completed 3 runs in excess of 18 miles, with 2 in the 20-mile range, and haven’t bonked yet.

• Motorcycles

It is really hard to find the right one (ones). In the past 5 years I have gone through no less than 15 motorcycles. Of course 1 of those was due to a catastrophic failure (mine) resulting in the destruction of the motorcycle and a few personal structural features. It’s good to have a dedicated small dirt bike, big dirt bike, sport tourer, performance sport, and adventure tourer. I do believe that I am finally at the point where 3 bikes should be enough and have pretty much decided what those bikes should be:

1. BMW R1200GS Adventure –

This bike is the Swiss Army Knife of bikes. It will do anything you ask of it and do it well. You can head off cross-country with it and ride in total comfort, carrying enough gear for months of living off of the bike, humbling sport bike riders in the twisties, all while not worrying whether the road is dirt or asphalt.

2. BMW F800GS –

Great for around town and commuting but also makes an excellent big off-road bike capable of long days of asphalt to get to the dirt exploring. It has just enough of a hooligan tilt to satisfy the non-conforming side in us all.

3. Performance Sport Bike –

This is probably the only bike that I’m going to have to accept as an ever changing desire depending on the latest/greatest in go-fast technology. Right now my dream bike would be the HP 2 Sport:

This bike is sooooo expensive though that it isn’t even on the list of possibilities.

The BMW S1000RR sure looks amazing:

I have got to get down and test ride this bike!

And the older BMW R1100S Boxer Cup Replica would be really cool garage art:

Any one of these would be a welcome addition to my garage.

You will probably note that all of these bikes are BMW models. Yes, I have drunk from the BMW cool-aid. It’s just that once you have driven the BMW’s everything else just isn’t as inspiring. Kind of like driving a Porsche. If you don’t get it….. you never will.

• Automobiles

The lease term on the Jeep that I use as a business vehicle ends next month so I will be car-less. I have made the decision, in the interest of finances, to borrow Sue’s Smart Car to use as transportation in the short term. After the business finances improve I will need to come up with a different option, as the Smart will not be great for doing project recon…. Sue will shoot me if I damage that little guy! I’m not sure if I want to go with a pickup or a car right now. I do know that I hate the motor in the new Jeeps and would not go that direction again.

I really want to do a full rally conversion on a classic mini if I could find a project car.

That would make a really cool car to show up at client meetings with. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the year brings.

Enough rambling for now. I wish everyone a happy and prosperous year!

Cheers!

Questions…..

Seems I have a lot of queries concerning the whys of my life of late so I thought this might be a good blog subject. I’m kind of a dense guy, might be senility, not sure because I wasn’t real bright even back when I had a memory…. What were we discussing? Oh right, brain density. Anyway, since I can’t seem to answer my own questions I thought I would throw it out to both, OK fine, my only follower and see if you can answer these deeply puzzling questions.

1.) Why do I run? Not only, why do I run, but why do I run far?

Here I am, once again, training for one of these blasted marathons. On 1-10 I went out and ran 19.3 miles on the Sammamish Trail (at least it was flat). It felt pretty good so, instead of finishing off feeling all strong and stuff, I decided to push the last 2 miles at race pace. Yeah, that was smart. Heart rate shot through the roof and I ended the run feeling completely spent. Damn!

This morning 1-17, I decided to drop a little mileage off and limit myself to 18 miles. Seemed like a good idea, right? The route I chose was challenging, lots of big hills, but I thought I could just take it easy and run something in the 9:30 range. Yeah, right….. What I ended up doing was running this hilly route at only 1 second per mile slower than my 19.3 mile run on the really flat trail last weekend. Dense.

2.) Why isn’t it OK for a run to just be fun and not push my limits?

This one seems like it should be a simple question. It eludes me though.

3.) What’s this whole ‘over-achiever vs beach bum’ thing I’ve got going on about?

I don’t believe I have ever come across someone who was as conflicted over these two traits as I am. I tell you, all I want to do is go play but yet I seem to take on more responsibilities than Mother Theresa. If I’m not excelling at something I feel lost but if I’m not lazing around shirking my responsibilities I feel cheated. What’s up?

4.) Why isn’t one motorcycle enough?

OK, easy…. See number 3.

5.) Why don’t I ‘get me’?

Obviously if I did, I wouldn’t be asking these stupid questions…..

‘Till next time,

Cheers!

Ron

A New Year, a New Opportunity

Good bye and good riddance to 2009. I don't regret having to endure calendar year 2009 but I am sure glad it is over.

2009 was both challenging and rewarding and, while financially difficult, it has been a year of learning and building for PGS, creating a much more secure business. I still have a lot of learning to do to understand why I was hit so hard by the current recession. It is so easy to just say "we have had a hard time because we are in a recession" but that is only partially true and does nothing to help move us forward. I really believe that a good business plan adapts to conditions rapidly and finds new opportunities in challenging economic times, foregoing the big financial hits. It took longer than it should have for PGS to adapt and find these new opportunities causing me to think that some revisions to the business plan are in order.

Things really have improved considerably over the past 5 to 6 months for the business. We are working with a reduced staff but easily keeping everyone busy and chargeable. Profits are still really meager and I need to do more to reduce operating expenses and to improve revenue generation. At this point I am really optimistic about the upcoming year but very cautious at the same time. That is the great thing about the New Year, it gives us hope and a whole new year of opportunities.

And I'm ready for it!

2009 was such a challenging year on so many levels and it is a wonder I came through mentally as well as I did. I don't even think I developed any new ulcers from all of the stress. Here's a quick recap;

• The worst financial year since starting the business…. Let's just say that I don't have to worry about an income tax this year.
  
• Investment portfolio was a complete disaster…. The losses would make a nice deduction on my income, if I needed it, which I don't.
  
• Constructed the mega-home 'El Edmonds Castillo' in the midst of my financial collapse.
  
• Did a full remodel of the Lynnwood home to prepare it to sell for far less than it was worth a year ago without the remodel.
  
• I am boatless in Seattle because I sold Allegro, my sailboat and refuge from reality, to reduce my monthly expenses.
  

On the other hand there were many very positive aspects to the past year and, in some ways, it has been one of my most productive years. Here's a little recap of the positives:

• It is 2010 and I am not bankrupt.
  
• PGS has actually been profitable since August, albeit on a very meager basis.
  
• PGS has developed relationships with some fantastic new clients.
  
• PGS has entered 2010 with the largest backlog of work in the past 2 years.
  
• My investment portfolio still has 'some' money in it and it is slowly getting better.
  
• I completed the construction of 'El Edmonds Castillo' and now live in an absolutely fabulous home with a view to die for.
  
• The bank may even be convinced to convert my construction loan to an actual mortgage on the new home.
  
• I got to do some really fun exploring via motorcycle travels.
  
• I am married to the love of my life…. And have been for over 30 years…. And she still likes me!
  
• It is 2010 and I am not bankrupt!
  

2010! And I am ready for the voyage. I will not allow this year to be negative and I will not dwell on my past failures. What a wonderful, privileged life I have been afforded. 2010, one more chance to get it right!!!

Happy New Year and cheers to all!

Don't Delete Those Links Yet!

I got to thinking last night, "what if some errant reader, who had saved a link to this blog back when I kept it updated, accidentally clicked on that link and happened by". Would they think the blog had been abandoned? Or maybe that the blogger had passed in some gruesome manner via a mad adventure? Well, just to keep someone from wondering what on earth may have happened, I have decided to attempt typing up some coherent update.

I am still running:

I did have to back off considerably for a while due to nagging issues from my little "get off" and subsequent collision with a guardrail at speed. Fun stuff but I digress. So, for the past couple of months I have been trying to rebuild the base miles and seem to have finally gotten over the hump. Now begins the fun of building up to the really big miles in preparation for a spring marathon. Not sure why I do these damn marathons. No matter how much I train they just plain hurt. I use the excuse that it forces me to stay in shape but guess what? I could do just as well holding a steady 30 mile per week base and lifting a few weights. I damn sure don't need to run 26.2 miles in one effort to stay in shape. Stupid, I say.

PGS is still in business:

As a matter of fact, things are actually looking fairly promising for the winter. We have a bigger backlog of work for this winter than we have had in several years. We are a smaller group so it does take less work to create a backlog but we have a backlog none the less. The work we are doing these days is really interesting and ties into our niche market more than in the past. The projects are also larger than they were in the past. What is missing from our work load is the smaller private clients that we used to do a lot of work for and without their return it is going to be hard to truly stabilize for the long term. On another bright note, we have actually been profitable again for the past few months. It is nice to see the bank account balance rising rather than being on the steady decline that we had become accustomed to. Yep, things are looking promising indeed.

El Edmonds Castillo:

Finished! And we have moved in.... well at least mostly moved in. We still have a lot of organizing and figuring out what to do with things and I'm still working on the whole permanent financing thing, but we do live here now. The house really is a work of art and I have come to respect my architect more and more. He and I worked hard to make this house what it is and I believe that there is a big piece of both of our souls in the finished structure. It is so wonderful to wake up in the morning and look out upon the Puget sound and the Olympic mountains from my bed. Everything about this house is just relaxed and peaceful...... finally!

Motorcycle travels:

I was able to get a couple of really fun motorcycle trips in this fall. The first was a birthday trip with my son and Steve over the mountains and a lot of dirt between Leavenworth and Winthrop. Let's just say wet and cold is an understatement but an absolute fun trip with some amazing roads I didn't even know existed. The next one was a 5 state trip I did with a really good buddy, Steve. We covered a good part of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Oregon and a good part of that on dirt, A stretch across Idaho and into Montana called the Magruder Corridor which is one of the most remote and longest continuos dirt roads in the US and a big part of the Oregon Desert that was the most deserted piece of road I have ever experienced..... and rough! Another trip was with my son. We used the excuse of picking up a motorcycle lift from my pal JW at the Bearcat lodge to haul the dirt bikes down to Seneca for some dirt exploring. And explore we did! I had a great time just trying to keep that kid in sight. Not an easy task.

Well those are the highlights of my life for the time being. Not much but enough to keep this old dog happy.

Until next time,

Cheers!

Blog Discussion Thwarted

Sometimes I begin a Blog discussion that I realize is probably best not discussed. I just spent an hour putting together a somewhat coherent post only to realize that my thoughts were a little too personal to air on the WWW. Yep, sometimes the thoughts in my head are best left deep within the dark crevices of what little brain matter remains in my skull and not shared. Sorry!? I probably shouldn't have teased both of my loyal readers, (OK, really there's only one) with a post at all but after all that work I couldn't just delete everything..... now could I?

'till next time,

Cheers!

Hmmmm.... 50

So this is what it feels like to be 50. I would say it's a little anti-climatic, really not much different from being 49, to be honest with you.

Yeah, I turned 50 over the weekend. You know, today's 50 is a lot like last years 50. I don't know but maybe I just built it up to something more than it is. Everyone talks like it is such a big turning point in your life but I was a little under-whelmed by it all. Is it because we expect to live longer than our predecessors? Maybe, but all I would have to make it to is the mid 50's genetically, to out live my immediate predecessors so I'm pretty damn near that now.

I'm a little surprised that I don't feel an urge to outdo some past achievement in some way. Or maybe go explore something I've never explored before. Nope.... I would like to do some of the things I was really planning to do sometime in the near future anyway. Maybe sail across the pacific in a little sailboat, or spend a little more time in the canyon lands of southern Utah, or maybe stand atop another high mountain peak, or maybe...... just continue to do what I have always done.... explore!?

50's not any different than any other age at this point.....

Cheers!!!!

Ron