Race Report: Donner Lake Half-Ironman 70.3 distance event (July 25, 2015)

Posted on July 31, 2015 by | 6 comments

Overall Results: 32/122 Overall | Age Group (AG): 8/22

Swim: 18/127 Overall, 2/22 AG
Bike: 47/127 Overall, 13/22 AG
Run: 19/127 Overall, 4/22 AG

WHY THIS RACE?

It’s been nearly a year since my knee surgery in September. For a couple of months following surgery, I didn’t think I’d ever return to race form. When my friend Kim (more on her below) registered for the race as her first triathlon, I felt compelled to do the race with her. Of course I couldn’t just do the Olympic distance race. I had to push myself to the Half-Ironman distance because, well, why not? I knew the elevation changes and altitude would be a big challenge and my training would require some rigor and discipline. When I registered back in March, it had been nearly two years since my last triathlon (Ironman Asia Pacific) and it was time for me to get back to it.

THE VENUE & RACE COURSE

For all of the years I’ve been in Northern California and all of the times I’ve been to the Lake Tahoe area, I never spent a moment at Donner Lake. The race is long storied in the area as a wonderful race, well-organized, and a big challenge for any triathlete. Couple that with a reason to head to Tahoe for a weekend with the family, and it all came together as the decision to make.

RACE GOALS

This was undoubtedly by “A” race of the year. I’ve consistently finished under six hours for 1/2 Ironman distances, ranging from 5:20 on an easier course and 5:50 on more difficult courses. With this my first long distance triathlon in more than two years and considering the difficulty of the course, I had these time goals:

  • Sub-6:00 – Minimum goal. Anything over six hours would have felt slow regardless of the course.
  • Sub 5:45 – Push goal. I thought with three good segments I could get there.
  • Sub 5:30 – Stretch goal. This would be close a hitting my 5:20 PR which would be ridiculous considering the altitude, course, and training. But heh, why not?

* Note: The run course was posted as 13.63 miles, a 1/2 mile longer than the standard 13.1 mile course.

2015-07-24 18.12.22

Now on to the race report…

SWIM

Glorious. I took time on Saturday to swim a couple hundred yards to feel the water and temperature. The water was downright perfect – just a little chilly in the middle of the day on Saturday. On Sunday morning with the air temperature in the high 40s/low 50s, the 65 degree lake water felt like a warm bath.

There were several race start waves, and I was in the first group. The course was a simple triangle. Swim out to the right, make a left turn, swim to the next buoy across the lake, turn left again and then back to the beach. I picked a rock face way above the first buoy to use for sighting, the race started and I was off.

At the Tri for Real about two months ago, I started way to quickly and I had just introduced a new swimming stroke at the time which led to a frustrating swim time. Today, my big focus was to begin with long, slow, smooth strokes and I succeeded. There were about 50 competitors in my wave start so there was plenty of space to spread out, though somehow I found myself tucked between two other racers after a few minutes. This seemed a little ridiculous to me so I pulled up my stroke, let them move forward, then guided myself to the left and found open space.

After the first buoy, I pulled up again to sight for the next buoy and took a few  breast strokes. It was a good way to stretch out my chest, gain my breath and think about swimming strong the rest of the way.

I found a really nice rhythm between the first and second buoy, and focused on rotating my body and alternating my swim stroke pushes. I let my right arm lead for a while, then switched to my left. It felt like I had the entire lake to myself. I saw orange caps ahead and behind me and the ones behind me seem to be falling back further and further. I felt strong, hit the second buoy and headed for shore.

The finishing gate looked close, almost like I could touch it. I kept with my pace and continued stroking until my knuckles dragged on the bottom then headed to T1.

Swim time: 32:08

Swim-to-Bike Transition (T1):

It’s always a welcome site to see lots and lots of bikes in transition. A fellow that racked near me who was racing the Olympic Distance was still in transition. He even said – “Good job, mate. Solid swim.” Made me feel good.

Meh. Again I was a little slow, taking more than three minutes when I should have taken less than two. I dallied a little and also knew that I wanted to get everything right before heading out for a 3+ hour march on the bike through the hills. I loaded up and out I went.

T1 Time: 3:14

BIKE

I thought of the 56 mile bike course in six segments –

  1. The climb from Donner Lake to Donner Summit (3.8 miles)
  2. Donner Summit to the first turnaround at Cisco Grove (12 miles)
  3. Cisco Grove up to second turnaround at Sugar Bowl (12 miles)
  4. Back down to Cisco Grove (12 miles)
  5. Cisco Grove back up again to Sugar Bowl and Donner Summit (12 miles)
  6. Donner Summit back to the transition area (3.8 miles)

T1 to Donner Summit: I didn’t find this climb bad at all. It was long and persistent but I found it very consistent in terms of grade. I just kept spinning along and monitoring my heart rate. I knew exactly where I was on the climb because it was the first 3.8 miles of the course so I could knock off a mile here, reach a visual milestone there, and in about 25 minutes, I was at the top and ready for a long rapid descent down to the first turnaround near Cisco Grove.

Donner Summit to Cisco Grove turnaround #1: The grade was steeper than I expected and all was great when I looked down at one point and saw I was speeding at 43 mph and going faster. Even the level parts and small rises were nice to ride through to stretch out my legs.

Cisco Grove to Sugar Bowl (turnaround #2): The first 4-5 miles were a distinct incline, but I was still able to stay down in an aero position from time to time, and when I hit a steeper hill and I just locked in and spun.

That all changed on the climb out in the section from Kingvale exit to the turnaround point at Sugar Bowl. I felt like this is where the journey began for me.  I fond the this section to be somewhere between brutal and soul-crushing. After a long slow climb from Kingvale to the Soda Springs exit, I felt like I was nearly to the turnaround point, even though I knew I still had three miles to go. It didn’t seem that hilly on the way down or even on Saturday’s drive, yet every turn introduced another hill and another small climb ahead. Probably 5-6 in all. This was mentally rough. I hit the turnaround hoping for an aide station and there wasn’t one there. Bummer. Good news was that I only had 25 minutes back down to the next turnaround and access to an aide station 4 miles after that. Bad news was that was still 45 minutes from now. I had drink mix but no water.

At the turnaround, I pulled over to pee in the parking lot. That would have been a good spot for a port-a-john. I just didn’t feel like dealing with it while descending and also felt like I could use a little break. It cost me a minute or two, but I also think it saved me mentally a little bit.

Sugar Bowl to Cisco Grove (turnaround #3): I just focused on resting my legs and getting ready to head back up the climb in about 20-25 minutes.  One more climb and I was done. Knowing what was ahead of me for the final climb sucked most of the fun out of the descent, but not all, because hey, I hit 40-45 again and you have to try pretty hard to not have fun with that.

Cisco Grove (turnaround #4) to Donner Summit: Now that I knew what was ahead, I focused on milestones – getting from Cisco Grove back to the crossover under the freeway – from the freeway to the Kingvale exit – from Kingvale to Soda Springs exit – from the Soda Springs exit to Donner Summit.

I felt like the second time up the hill from Cisco Grove was easier mentally. Might be that I knew the course now or that I knew this was my last climb and it would all be over in under an hour. Hitting Kingvale and knowing the climb ahead to Soda Springs, I spotted a small landmark like a sign or a bend and then counted pedal strokes in groups of one hundred – “one, two, three…” When I reached “100,” I let myself look up and find the next marker. Sometimes I got to 60 or 80 and looked. This gave me sometime to focus on other than the hill and the climb.

Donner Summit to T2: A 1100’ descent in less than four miles. Mostly I covered my brakes on the hairpin turns and just relaxed. I didn’t want to think about making up time as much as resting my legs and getting to the bottom of the mountain without flying off the edge of the cliff. Definitely the most scenic descent I’ve ever done.

I did my full stop-foot down-tap the box and then headed over to transition. I heard Benjamin yell – “Daddy!” and saw Lena and Benjamin sitting on the ground waiting for me. That was very energizing to see them combined with knowing the bike course was behind me.

Bike Time: 3:25:08

Bike-to-Run Transition (T2):

This was a combination of elation and a quick reality check of how I felt physically. While my legs felt tired, I was excited to get to the run course, especially for the first three miles to set a solid pace that would dictate the rest of the race. I did a pit stop, made sure I had everything – race bib, nutrition, sun screen applied, take salt pills, adjust race bib with running belt, then I headed out. Again my transition time was slow and I wasted a minute or two more, but again I needed to make sure I was all there before heading out for the last segment.

T2 Time: 3:54

RUN

Coming out of transition, I saw Lena and Benjamin again, gave them both a kiss and off I went.

I wanted to start strong and set a good pace, knowing that the first mile was critical to how I would fare the rest of the run. I was expecting at least an 8:30 pace for the entirety of the run course, and with the first three miles being flat, I knew I needed to put some time in the bank. After I got a rhythm going, I looked down and saw I was at 0.40 miles and running a 7:52 pace. Perfect, if not even a little fast. This was my steady state, so I pulled back just a little but definitely kept at a 8:00 pace or just under.

I rode the run course on Friday afternoon, and after the first three miles, the course meandered through campgrounds, boat launch area, and then to the other side of Donner Lake. The first hill greeted me around mile 4. It was the biggest hill on the course and I’m glad that I took time to scope it out on Friday. I all but decided that I would walk the hill, and I stuck to that plan as soon as it started to incline – a fast walk with arms swinging, and again counting steps – “One, two, three…” I got to about 150 when I hit the first peak and then I jogged a few steps before the second rise to get up and over. I walked again, then found the aide station, caught my breathe and started chugging along again. I took a couple of salt pills and then definitely helped me with some lift.

The rest of the run course was a series of smaller hills and undulations. Up and down without any flat sections for the next 2-3 miles until reaching finishing area. I spotted the ropes that lead back through the transition area and right past the finishing gate to begin the second lap around the lake. Lena, Benjamin, Kim and Josh were all there waiting for me. I gave them all high-fives awhile keeping stride and glanced to my left to see the race clock. 4:59:20. I was at exactly five hours with about 6.5 miles to go on the run.

This was the first time I saw a race clock and I started doing the math, using 7 miles as my baseline. At a 9:00 mile, I’d be just over six hours, and an 8 minute mile, I’d be just under. At an 8:30 mile, I’d be right on six hours. While I knew I could push hard for the last 1-2 miles with a strong finish, I also knew that my legs were tired and my quads were burning. An 8:30 mile might be a lot to ask if I burned out, so I treated the second lap like the first – get in a good first three miles, bank some time for the back side of the course where I knew I’d need to walk a hill or two.

I hit my stride again and saw I was running roughly an 8:00 to 8:12 pace, so if I could hold this through the first three miles, that would afford me a 9:00 pace for the final 3-4 miles in the worst case.

I hit the three mile mark and headed through the trail, through the campgrounds and boat docks, up a small rise and to the big hill. I tried to eat a few bites of a Clif Bar and couldn’t get myself to swallow. I spit it out and just focused on my liquid nutrition.

That segment of the course felt like the transition from “the run” to “the final stretch.” Once over the big hill, I knew I was home free – just focus on a steady pace and then push hard for the last mile and I could finish under six hours. I made sure to run the tangents, and it always baffles me why more competitors fail to do this. In fact my final run distance displayed as 13.3 miles on my Garmin, instead of the 13.6 advertised.

I pushed within reason, rounded the final bend, saw the ropes, and crossed the finished line just after the clock flipped to 5:55:00. Done.

Final Time: 5:55:02

SUMMARY:

What I did well:

  • Swim – I relaxed and found a rhythm and my time showed it. I had the 4th-best swim time in my Age Group (AG).
  • Bike – I stayed patient and while I knew I was getting passed (again and again and again…). I stayed within myself instead of trying to “race” other competitors.
  • Run – This was rock solid. I had the 2nd-best run time in my age group (2/22), which is damn good.
  • Nutrition – I’m very happy with my nutrition plan and execution throughout the day. I was plenty fueled for the ride and used my salt pills consistently. I had my running belt for the run, which I was VERY happy to have for the calories vs what was available in the aide stations.
  • I hit my race time goal of sub-6:00.

What I’d do differently:

  • More hills in training. I focused on base miles and consistency in March, April, and May. It wasn’t until June that I started hitting any hills of significance for training, and even then they were modest as compared to the race course. More repeats on Cardiac and a few more sessions on Mix Canyon.
  • Road bike vs Tri Bike – I’m still undecided on this one. I chose to ride George (my Tri Bike) instead of Pedro (my road bike) because it handles better on turns and downhills, and achieves more speed on the flats and downhills. Though I do wonder the trade-off between having a road bike for the climbs, and if I could have shaved a few minutes off my bike time. I ultimately made the decision to ride George because I felt more confident ride George than Pedro, and that’s a big thing mentally in any race.
  • Practice my transition – My transitions just plain suck. I’m slow because I like to collect myself and make sure I have everything. The latter is the problem. I need to get to a point that I’m not thinking at all. The transition should be mechanical.

GRATITUDE

To Lena, my darling wife – That you for your support on my endurance endeavors. We decided on this race way back in March, knowing that the timing was just a month away from your deadlines at school. It wasn’t just the weekend away, it was all of your support on Saturday and Sunday mornings so I could work in my swims, rides, and runs to prepare for race day. A thousand thank yous to you my love.

To Benjamin – You are a champ. You were great all weekend and I was so happy to have time with you on Saturday as we drive the bike course together. Throwing rocks in the river and wading knee deep in the cold water is my favorite.

To Kim B. – Choosing Donner as your first triathlon is crazy and awesome. By registering, you got me motivated to take on this race challenge and I appreciate the kick in the tail.

To the race organizers – Solid job guys. From the registration process through to the finish, you had your stuff together. I’m sure no one appreciates the work and logistics that go into organizing these events, and I’m particularly grateful that you pushed the race distance to include a 70.3 distance this year. This was a true challenge and I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to compete in such an event.

To the random people along the bike course. It was lonely out there on the bike course, and seeing the same people in the same places down and up and down and up the mountain was very calming. Thanks for spending your day watching everyone and cheering us on.

DEAR RACE ORGANIZERS

What was great:

  • Plenty of support pre-race from the check-in to transition set up on race day.
  • The swim course took you out to the right so that the sun was never in your face. Very smart.
  • The markings on the downhill portions of the bike course. I could see the orange paint well and it was appreciated to avoid a spill.
  • Run aide stations. They were numerous and always ready with water.

How to improve:

  • Port-a-john at the turnarounds, or at least at the Sugar Bowl turnaround for the half-iron competitors.
  • Place an aide station at the Sugar Bowl turnaround, even if it’s just water bottles. The most recent aide station towards the bottom of the hill was 45-60 minutes ago for most competitors, then there’s another 20-30 minutes of downhill and a turnaround and another 4 miles back up the hill before you hit the aide station again. That’s a long time to go without a chance to refill your water bottle.
  • Run aide stations: You promised cola at the run aide stations and there wasn’t any. I was depending on the cola pop for the second lap and you let me done. Ultimately, this was a good lesson in deepening on yourself and only yourself for nutrition.
  • A bag drop-off area would be nice.
  • Have a race clock visible coming out of the water and in the transition area. My first view of the race clock was after my first run lap. Just would be good to know where you are in parts of the race as you go in and out of transition.

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Race Report: Tri for Real I (May 31, 2015)

Posted on June 1, 2015 by | 1 comment

Yesterday was my first triathlon since Ironman-Melbourne in March 2013 – more than two years. The “Tri for Real” is organized by TBF Racing. These guys have been organizing races for almost 25 years and they are the best local races I’ve experienced. Major kudos to the team there.

My objectives for the race:

1. See how fit I really am (as to compared to how fit I think I am). I’ve been training since March for the Donner Half Iron race, upcoming at the end of July, and with about seven weeks of training to go, this race was perfect timing for a status check.

2. Be fast. I’ve been pushing hard in training rides and swims, and I wanted to see if the training is paying off in terms of speed and endurance. How hard could I push in the swim and have a very good bike? How hard could I push on the bike and have a very good run? How hard could I push on the run without cramping or blowing up?

3. Find a spot on the podium. I’ve aged up to the 40-44 age group (AG) since last competing, and in my last shorter triathlon three years ago (sprint distance), I was third in my AG and fifth overall in the race. I felt that if #1 and #2 were true, then I should hit the podium.

Planning & Pre-Race

On Saturday night, I reviewed last year’s AG times and comparing the results and my perceived fitness, I put time ranges around each part of the race for myself:

Swim: <25 minutes would be an excellent swim, and achievable considering wet suits, drafting, and recent improvements on my form. I’d consider 26-27 minutes to be good. 28-30 minutes would be disappointing.

Bike: Maintain a 21 mph average speed, considering I averaged 19.1 mph on my long ride on Monday that included 1500’ of climbing. This race course is mostly small rollers – no real flat arounds and no climbs. 22mph would be achievable under the right conditions.

Run: 7:30 pace. I’ve been running very well lately and even with my elevation training mask, I ran 7:30s in Monday’s training session, so I figured on a race after a very hard swim and bike, 7:30 would be my minimum standard.

Actual race times:

Swim: 26:27. 10th AG, 36th overall

Bike: 1:10:07 (21.7mph). 7th AG, 29th overall

Run: 45:22 (7:17 pace), 6th AG, 25th overall

Final: 2:21:56, 25th overall

tri for real

Race Details:

Swim: My swim was sloppy. I went out too hard, trying to stay with the lead pack so I could draft, and when I found myself spiking on heart rate and breathing, I scaled back and struggled to find a good rhythm. I felt like I was swimming erratically and couldn’t get the hip propulsion that I’ve been working on in recent swim training sessions.

I hit the first buoy and relaxed a bit on the backstretch. There, I found a bit of a rhythm from time to time, then it would escape me and I felt that I was swimming in a meandering path again, pulling myself constantly to the left. My right arm was doing way too much work and I found it all very frustrating. When I hit the far buoy and headed for shore, I was more relieved than anything. The final leg of the swim was probably the best overall in terms of rhythm and form, and I was just happy to get out of the water and start on the bike.

T1: Not bad, not good. No mistakes, just took longer than I should have. I took a minute to reset myself, but generally felt that I was an acceptable transition. In set up, I had my cycling shoes mostly pre-fastened so i could slip them on quickly. The air was warm and so I didn’t need to spend much time drying, figuring the air would do the job for me. I should have grabbed a Clif Bar to eat on the bike.

Bike: As usual, I had a couple of competitors pass me early on the course. These are usually much stronger cyclists that I simply out-swam. I’ve come to expect and accept this. The first 2.5 miles of the course leads through Rancho Seco Park to the main highway for most of the out and back course.

At least one of the racers that passed me was in my age group and I pretty much knew by mile one of the bike that I would be tough to podium given my swim and how early it was in the bike to get passed by an age group competitor.

Once I hit the highway, I started pushing and kept pushing the entire way. I felt like I was hammering pretty hard, and with the out course a slight rise, I was able to maintain a 22 mph average throughout. Counting the racers coming back before the turn, I figured I was in about 20th-25th place overall. Not bad, but a bad place to be for any chance at an AG podium. I thought that maybe I could eek out a fifth if I could find one or two AGers on the back of the course and a very good run.

While the back bike course was generally downhill, there was a steady headwind that made it a little tough. My legs were tired and I keep thinking about the interval training I’d been doing, and that I needed to keep pushing through to keep my time and pace targets.

After I hit the turn, I picked off a couple of racers. One was in my AG which made me happy to get a spot back, and the others were good mentally to know I took back a few overall spots. As I turned back into Rancho Seco park, I started thinking about the run and in a short rise into the park, I looked back and saw two cyclists gaining ground. It really didn’t matter if they passed me back, but mentally I wanted to keep them behind me because of the work I put into passing them. These last two miles are place on the course where it’s easy let down your guard and struggle into transition. It’s slightly uphill and mentally you think – “I’m done with the bike,” even though there are 2.5 miles to go.

T2: Very, very good. Racked my bike, slipped on my shoes and off I went. Ander a minute on T2. Very happy here.

Run: Keeping the 7:30 pace in mind, I wanted to start fast so my legs would just think – “Okay, so this is how fast we need to run.” The first half mile is flat, then there are a couple of rollers before the first aide station. I was passed pretty quickly by the cyclists that were just behind me coming into transition. One of them was a 58-year old that ended up finished 8th overall. Ahead of me I had one racer that I thought I might be able to pick off over time.

I was running a 7:15-7:20 pace which made me very happy knowing that my legs would smooth out after the first mile off the bike. The run course is a challenging one. The first 2.5 miles are rollers on a fire trail, then it flattens out for from 2.5-3.5 miles. The last 2.7 miles are a combination of an open trail run and returning to the finish line on the fire trails.

I kept my pace the first 2.5 miles and was thankful for the flat part of the course to make up some ground and to give my legs a break. The same racer ahead of me kept the same distance. I couldn’t close on him. We hit the open trails and while I continued to keep him in sight, as much for pacing than anything. Behind me, there were two more racers that were about 50-100 yards and I definitely wanted to hold them off as much as I wanted to try to grab a spot ahead. At mile four, a racer came out of no where and blew by all of us. He was pushing hard and I thought maybe I could use him as a pacer, that maybe my 7:20 pace could be faster with someone to run with. I tried to keep up for about 50 yards and found that to be completely futile. My left quad was burning and feeling like it could cramp up at anytime, so I settled back into my rhythm and just thought about getting off the open trail and back to the fire trail for the last mile.

I hit the final aid station and still had the same racer ahead of me. There were 2-3 more rollers and I started pushing harder with 1/2 mile to go and just couldn’t close enough – too much gap to close. About 1/4 mile to go I looked behind me and no one was there. My age group spot was locked at this point, and my overall place could be improved because of the wave start, so I kept pushing to carve as many seconds as I could from the final time. I hit the finish, and that was that.

Summary:

I thought going into the race that I could vie for an AG spot and instead I finished 10th. I wasn’t disappointed, just surprised. With my final time, I would have placed 2nd in the 35-39 AG, so apparently I’m not the only one getting faster as he gets older. My hat off to everyone that competed, and especially to those that finished ahead of me.

Positive Focus:

1. Looking at the final results, I was under five minutes from a 3rd place AG spot, and I know where I can find those five minutes:

  • Two minutes on the swim with more form work and practice in the open water.
  • One minute on T1.
  • Two minutes on the bike upping to a 22.5 mph average
  • (I can’t see getting down to a 7:00 mile on the run quite yet. That will take some significant work for a one minute payoff so my focus right now is a more relaxed swim and continuing to improve on the bike.)

2. I had exactly the race I thought I could have – 26-27 minutes swim, 21-22 mph bike and <7:30 run.

3. Consistency across all three sports – 10th/7th/6th in my AG and 36th/29th/25th overall on the swim/bike/run. The bike is especially encouraging because this has been my weakest area in the past. The swim placement is a huge chance to improve.

4. Pre-race planning and set up. I was very relaxed and organized, and even got to the water in time to warm up and feel like I was ready to start the race. When I last raced these shorter distances three years ago, I was running to the swim start and jumping into the water with about 30 seconds to spare.

5. My transitions are improving. I’m super happy with my bike-to-run (T2) and I can see how to continue improving my swim-to-bike transition (T!).

6. My bike strength is improving. The interval training is working and so more of that please.

7. My run is really strong. Running 7:17  on that course is very good for me, especially considering I couldn’t run at at all fewer than six months ago following knee surgery.

8. My knee held up under pressure. Never felt a twinge or a blip and didn’t even think about it during the race, save one or twice where I thought – “This is awesome! I’m not even thinking about my knee!”

9. I scoped out the race and absolutely know this is family event for us, even with the early morning race start.

10. I woke up this morning barely sore, a great indication of my fitness.

What’s next?

  • I’m going to register for the Tri for Real II in late June/early July to compete again. I need to see how much of those five minutes I can shave, and as an outside goal, see if I can I get down to a sub-2:15. That’s seven minutes off my final time – i.e. three on the swim, three on the bike, and one on T1.
  • I’ll be ready for the Donner Half in July. Yesterday’s race gives me the confidence that with 6-7 more weeks of training, I’ll be good to go even with the elevation and course difficulty.
  • Lena and Benjamin are joining me at the next race. So many families out there and I felt a little lonely all by myself at the finish line.

Time to get to work.

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Scott's Personal Update: May 2015

Posted on May 29, 2015 by | Leave a comment

41I turned 41 this week. I told my parents on the phone – “I’m getting faster.” They thought that I meant that time is getting faster, expiring more quickly. I corrected them – “I meant was that I was getting faster – faster swimming, on the bike, and running. I’m 41 and still getting faster and until I start to slow down, I don’t consider myself to be aging.”

In January, I thought I’d never heal. On Monday (my birthday), I woke up to do 51 mile ride and 5.1 mile run, and learned that I am indeed faster and fitter than any time in the past two years. On Tuesday, I took a cross-country flight to NYC and found myself at the hotel gym at 1:00am working out and feeling good doing it. This weekend, on Sunday, I’m racing an Olympic distance triathlon, and I fully expect to win my age group.

Whether I win or not is irrelevant – it’s that I know going into this race that I am physically and mentally ready to compete and be fast. I don’t feel pressure to do well, I just know that if I am mentally ready and have a bit of luck, I’ll be fast and I’ll feel great, burning on the edge of what I know I can endure. I am happy and grateful that I’ve reached this point.

Lena’s been leading the massive effort to declutter our lives and she’s scary good at it. First working through clothes and now books, and eventually the remaining random items that take up space in the house. The criteria for keeping vs tossing an item is simple:

“Does this object bring me joy?”

If the answer is “no,” then out it goes.

It’s a good rule for life. I’ve started asking myself before any activity – “Will this bring me joy?” If it doesn’t, then why do it? Of course, there’s always some “work work” that needs to done and those tasks aren’t always joyful. But in thinking about my life, there’s nothing more important than experiencing joy everyday in everything I do. This is the path that Lena and I are finding for ourselves, and the path that I want Benjamin to take his for his life. Most things I thought I “had” to do aren’t important at all.

thor hammerMuch of life is a facade, an imagined wall, that’s constructed through expectations and social norms. I’m learning that once I start hammering away, the wall is brittle and hollow. It cracks when I take a focused swing at it, and that can even be a little scary. Debris flies everywhere and I feel like everyone around me is watching and wondering what they heck I’m doing. I have to tell myself that no one is watching me, that everyone is just staring at their own wall.

I believe that if I persist, the wall will crumble into a pile of dust and I learn there was never any wall at all, just a personal barrier of fear – fear that I won’t be “successful.” Fear that I won’t be able to provide for myself and my family. Fear that failure matters to anyone.

There are days where the sun streams through the cracks of my wall, and it’s beautiful and glorious. There are days when I go back to my wall and find that the very same places I’ve demolished the day before are rebuilt and reinforced. When I pick up my hammer and swing again, there’s nothing there – it was just my fear.

So today, right now, this morning, I’ve got my hammer in hand and I’m about to take a few massive swings. I see a crack. I see a hole. I see parts of the wall about to crumble. Soon the wall will be gone.

I’m getting faster. This brings me joy.

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Scott's Personal Update: April 2015

Posted on April 29, 2015 by | Leave a comment

Been meaning to post for a couple of days as April ends. I had visions of whipping out a post after a late evening home workout last night, except that I felt absolutely awful after my workout – laying on the floor sweating profusely from 20 minutes of cross-fitting in the backyard at 9:30pm. Then I started shaking and feeling nauseous. Then eventually, after joking on Twitter that I felt like I was going to puke, I actually did. Not fun, though I did feel a sense of accomplishment for pushing myself hard enough to make myself puke. Oh to be me…

As always, let me know if you need anything. I’m here to help. Seriously. Call, text, email, whatever. If you think I can help you, please let me know.  I’ll do what I can.

Meditation Practice:

I’ve read that people who practice meditation and acceptance develop a higher tolerance for pain. Here are a few studies on the topic:

From “The Impact of Acceptance versus Control Rationales on Pain Tolerance:”

Subjects in the acceptance group demonstrated greater tolerance of pain compared to the control-based and placebo groups.

From “The Effects of Brief Mindfulness Meditation Training on Experimentally Induced Pain:”

 Changes in the mindfulness and anxiety assessments suggest that meditation’s analgesic effects are related to reduced anxiety and the enhanced ability to focus on the present moment.

From: Pain and pain tolerance in professional ballet dancers:

Like sports professionals, dancers were found to have higher pain and pain tolerance thresholds than age matched controls in the Cold Pressor Test.

Tara Brach continues to be my go-to for meditation on a train or plane, and when at home or a hotel, I sit in silence. She also has some wonderful recorded lectures are accepting life’s intricacies and challenges. Definitely worth checking out.

I’ve been persistent on my end-of-day journaling on top of the Morning Pages. It’s a nice closure to the day and it’s rewarding to see all that I manage to push into a day.

Triathlon Training

The meditation partly might, at least partially, explain why my triathlon training seems to be going well. Donner Lake is about three months away.

I’m pushing myself with interval workouts in the pool – usually something like:

– 1000-1500 yards warmup
– 10 x (50 sprint, 50 slow)
– 500 yards cool down

On the bike, I’m mostly doing rides to Winters and back (25 miles) at a strong pace and intervals, and now beginning to extend the rides out to Pleasant’s Valley Road (40 miles) to start some small hill work. Next, I need now to get out to Cantelow and start working heavily on the hills and climbing and bringing along my elevation training mask. Which brings me to running…

2015-04-19 14.32.20I do a short run after every bike ride now – usually 2.5 miles and now all of my runs are with my elevation training mask set to 6000 feet. It’s absolutely a different experience. I can run close to a decent pace. The biggest difference is setting my breathing rhythm needs to be much more deliberate and much deeper breaths, which is the whole point. I do get a bit light-headed sometimes. (Don’t tell Lena…)

When traveling for work, I use the hotel as an excuse for in-room cross-fit workouts. They usually take the form of 4 x 25 pushups, sit-ups, and squats, and usually are a morning workout after I’ve been up early to write my Morning Pages and meditate, and generally feeling twitchy from drinking too much coffee early in the morning before a long day ahead.

I’ve completely eschewed using my Garmin and heart rate monitor. At first this was to avoid embarrassment in myself as I got restarted in my training. Now it’s more a matter of principle. I planned to use my Garmin for the aforementioned Central Park run, more for measuring distance than anything, but dropped the band from my heart rate monitor on the floor entering the elevator and it found it’s way through the crack in the floor and down the elevator shaft. Oh well. I was accepting…

Home Life

It’s life as usual. Lena continues her focus on finishing her PhD research. She’s flying a bit here and there after taking off for a couple of months (no pun intended…). Makes me happy to see here happy, and now that she’s current again, we can do a day trip or even an overnight camping trip sometime soon.

2015-04-17 19.38.43I’m usually home two days a week and in San Francisco the other three days. I still like the early train for time in the city before the workday gets crazy. Weekends are filled with trips to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday and general errands on Sunday, getting ready for the week ahead.

Benjamin went a phase for a few weeks where he absolutely did not listen to anything Lena or I asked him. That was rough staying patient and now he seems to be over it completely. I explained to him that we’re a team and we need to listen to each other, and now when he’s not listening, I ask him if we’re a team. He usually answers that we are and that means he should be listening.

Business travel is generally light and mosty focused on industry conferences this past month (Orlando and New York City). Upcoming is a couple of trips to the midwest – Chicago and Des Moines, then Chicago again, for another conference and targeted sales meetings. I’m generally good with the travel – I like the long plane time for quiet focus on my work or reading or writing or whatever. While in NYC, I did a 7-mile run through Central Park which is always a fun place to run.

I don’t like being away from home for more than two nights. It’s tough to be away and feel like I’m not part of life back here. Blah blah blah – all normal and knowing it’s normal doesn’t make it any easier.

We’re coming up to fun stretch at home. We have Mother’s Day in a couple of weeks, then Lena’s birthday, then my birthday, then Father’s Day. It’s kind of holiday season for us here at home, and it’s a fun stretch of 5-6 weeks for us.

By the time we get Benjamin to bed most nights, I’m completely wiped out and that’s gratifying to know that I’m spending the energy I have and sleeping well to be ready for tomorrow.

Lena and I decided last week that we deserve to take a day off this week and do a day date. That day is today. It’s been too long since we just hung out and did fun things or nothing together, so today is that day. Of course, “Planning Scott” has a number of activities in his mind, while “Present Scott” is trying to just himself to chill. Sadly, I suspect “Planning Scott” will win the day. I’m going to resist as much as possible. And  just as I’m about to publish, Benjamin woke up with a croopy cough, so maybe we’ll all be home today.

Side Projects

I’ve been leading a few workshops here and there to help out local startups, including the Women’s Startup Lab in Menlo Park, the BASES Program at Stanford, and The Nordic Innovation Group in Palo Alto. Fun stuff for me to teach what I’ve learned. I just downright enjoy it. It’s hugely gratifying to help people that want to be helped instead of spending days on end trying to show people why they need help. Being in a room of excited, motivated, creative entrepreneurs energizes me. I generally get home or to the office amped up and gratified knowing that I’ve helped someone.

I’ve made it a sort of personal mission to help people that want help. This past week, I’ve talked to a couple of students that wanted help with finding and deciding on internship opportunities – one from Stanford and the other from Claremont McKenna. Smart kids that really wanted some advice and had the wherewithal to ask for help. I like that. Gives me some confidence in the generation behind me. I’m sure every generation feels like they need that confidence.

On the coaching side, a couple of entrepreneurs want a little push so I’m working out how to help them. Short phone calls and couple of strategy sessions to help them think through hard problems or identify problems they don’t know exist. The next project is some training at LinkedIn corporate for their “Business Leadership Program” – Thursday evenings for a few weeks and should be a lot of fun. The people in the class have really interesting backgrounds academically and all seem to have a personal bent on contributing to social programs. I’m sure I’ll learn as much from them as they will from me.

I’ve also started podcasting on the topic of sales and startups, posting to my SalesQualia website for now. These will eventually make their way to iTunes.

So that’s life as April draws to a close. Thanks for reading this far.

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Scott's Personal Update: March 2015

Posted on March 24, 2015 by | Leave a comment

In yesterday’s Morning Pages, I reflected back six months to see how my life has changed.

I’ve accepted that my personal happiness is my responsibility, and by recognizing this responsibility, I’m a much happier person. People around me have even told me I’m much happier. It’s very gratifying to live more presently in each moment every day. I still experience plenty of moments of anxiety, stress, fear, regret, and anger. It’s more about reducing the magnitude of these negative emotions and the time I spend in these emotions.

Six months ago:

  • I was barely walking normally after knee surgery in early September.
  • I was about to embark on a crazy work travel schedule that brought me to Dallas eight out of nine weeks leading up to Thanksgiving
  • The idea of doing workshops, coaching, or speaking gigs seemed in the very distant past and very distant future.
  • The only time I could spend with my family was on the weekends, and even then mostly with B so that Lena could spend the weekends working on her dissertation.
  • I was generally excited about my work at Blend, though that attitude preceded the massive travel schedule I didn’t know was coming. By November, I was feeling pretty burned out and frustrated.

Today:

We’ve hired a customer success team at Blend to take over the onsite implementations for our Dallas-based clients, including a project manager and three relationship managers. They are all kicking major butt in their own way at Blend and it’s enabled me to extract myself from the day-to-day project management and focus on pure outbound customer development and selling activities. It’s better for me because that’s the work I enjoy the most and it’s better for Blend because that’s my superpower. We’re seeing the fruits of this transition with two new customers on boarding through June, two new customers eminent, and numerous new customers in the pipeline including several significant lenders – some of the top lenders in the country. This gives me a renewed sense of excitement about Blend and my work after some tough times last Fall.

This is giving me a huge boost at home. I’m traveling far less now, and while I’m good with some travel and even enjoy it because of the solitude and the face-to-face time with customers and prospective customers, last Fall was a little ridiculous. I’ve been much more present at home, and Lena told me the other day that B in noticeably happier in the last couple of months.

I split my weeks – three days in San Francisco and two days working from Davis. On the work-from-home days, I get up with B, make breakfast together, take him to school, pick him up, make dinner, and play together in the evenings. It makes me so happy when I can be present and appreciate the happiness in the moments like stirring eggs, making coffee, reading a book, and playing “catch me” at the playground.

It’s also a huge boost for Lena because on the work-from-home days, she can stay on campus longer and get more done and now there’s some light at the end of the tunnel for her.

B caught a nasty cold in January, then again in February and I was the one that took him to the doctor’s office. I took a couple of days to work from home when he too sick to go to school so that Lena could concentrate on her research. This gives me a certain sense of pride that Lena and I are truly sharing the parenting responsibilities.

2015-02-22 11.20.33

We rented a cabin near Clear Lake in late February. Benjamin called it the “cabinet.”

I’m racing again. Registered for the Donner Lake 70.3 in July. I took the motivation offered by a friend. She’s gunning for an Ironman before she turns 40 and this race will be her first triathlon. I’m registered for 70.3, a distance generally referred to as a “half-Ironman,” which is a grand disservice because 70.3 miles and 5-6 hours swimming, biking, and running isn’t half of anything.

I got back in the saddle for a couple of short rides this weekend, and started swimming a couple weeks back for general fitness anyway, especially after my surgically-repaired knee felt a little balky. I was up to 18-20 mile running weeks and more recently, have felt some throbbing and discomfort so I’ve laid off the running for a couple of weeks, replacing it with swimming.

All in all, I think I’ll be plenty ready for the race at the end of July. I’ve got four months and the 70.3 distance offers some freedom in my training to skip a day or two per week without serious repercussions. I’m not going for a PR or anything, especially considering it’ll be my first race in more than two years, not to mention the altitude at Donner Lake (7500’). The goal is to have a healthy, solid race day and feel like I was ready for the challenge by race day.

I also registered for a swim to Alcatraz. It’s a 2.5 mile swim from Crissy Fields to “the Rock” and back. Will be serious fun to get out there and look back at San Francisco from the Bay. There are no sharks in the Bay… There are no sharks in the Bay… There are no sharks in the Bay…

This also means that Ill be packing all of my gear from travel that does arise – cycling shoes to take spin classes at local gyms, goggles for swims at area YMCAs, and running shoes and my Garmin for runs. This is fun for me. 🙂

I was invited to do a couple of small speaking and coaching gigs with startup organizations, including Startup Weekend Sacramento: Women’s Edition, the TINC/Nordic Innovation House, BelCham and Stanford University starting in Fall.

So far in 2015, I’ve now done startup selling workshops at Hult and SARTA, and am invited back by TINC in April for the same. In May & June, I’m teaching an extension campus class through UC-Berkeley at LinkedIn. Fun, fun, fun. I love how the workshops stretch my brain to develop new ideas to apply at Blend for our customer development and sales work there.

I’ve expanded my daily routine from six months ago*:

– I’m continuing my daily practice of Morning Pages + meditation. I’ve realized that there are three things each day, that even if I do only these three things and nothing else, I’ve had a successful day: 1) Morning Pages, 2) Meditation, 3) Workout. That’s it. On any single day, those three things alone make me happy. At a minimum, I almost always do at least two of the three.

With the neighborhood pool open now, I can find time for swim or at home I can drag myself to the back patio for a 15-minute Cross-fit workout of some kind.

 – On city days, a workout is tougher so I focus on morning pages and meditation as my two important things. On occasion, I stay overnight in San Francisco if I have back-to-back days. This offers one of my favorite runs – early morning through San Francisco and its hills – Telegraph Hill, Lombard Street, Gough, California, to name a few…

– On weekends, I don’t always get to my Morning Pages because I try to sleep a little later. I can usually do a meditation in the afternoon while B is napping. – On city days, I arise early so that I can do my Morning Pages and meditation on the train or sometimes at home first before hopping on the train. Once in the city, I either work from the Ferry Building or a coffee shop near to the office before diving into the office for very full days there.

– On the bus ride from the Amtrak to the city, I’m listening to podcasts – Tim Ferriss, James Altucher, and Tara Brach. Same on the BART ride from SF to Richmond before I catch the Amtrak home.

– On the Amtrak ride home, I generally work until I get to Fairfield, the last stop before Davis,  then I close my laptop and then do my Evening Journal entry to record all that I’ve accomplished that day and it’s always gratifying and a little surprising to see what I’ve done that day. Then I engage in some self talk to transition from “work” mode to “home” mode so that when I walk in the door at home, I’m 100% focused on Lena and B. I’ll even turn my phone to airplane mode sometimes when I walk in the door to resist checking email passively and relinquishing my focus on things at home.

So yes, my life is very different in a good way from six months ago – much more focused and absolute time at home, more positive mental stimulation, more diversity in my days and weeks, and continuing to build on my daily practice. Life is good.

Wondering how things will be by September… 🙂

* I know I’ve described much of my daily routine in previous posts – just sharing for those that might have found me for the first time…

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What I'm up to lately…. February 2015

Posted on February 9, 2015 by | 1 comment

Read Time: 4-5 minutes What I’What

If we haven’t chatted in a while, feel free to pick-up the phone and call me. If there’s anything I can do to help you with anything, please please please let me know…

Work Stuff:

  • Blend is the focus of my work life. Lots of travel to and from Dallas, with occasional travel to NYC and Washington DC. It’s been more than a year since I joined the team full-time, and we’ve grown the team about 3x since last January – 30+ people now.
  • The work is challenging, mostly because of the complexity of the projects and our target clients. We sell software to banks and lenders in the residential mortgage market, which in today’s world of regulation and compliance, plus the path dependency of existing systems and models, makes the decision and implementation process highly complex. In one implementation, I’ve counted more than 75 people on the customer side that have been involved with the process. That’s just one project at one customer.
  • It’s not particularly difficult work, just challenging from the standpoint of balancing the self-interest of everyone involved with each specific sale, plus the extenuating affects on other systems and people not directly involved.

Daily Practice:

  • Morning Pages: I wake up every morning and journal three pages – a practice I learned from Julia Cameron’s book “The Artist’s Way.” I’ve been doing this for more than a year now. Very effective to figure out what’s going on in my head before the day gets going, and writing out three full pages is enough to talk myself through whatever is bugging me.
  • Meditation: This started with 15 minutes of simply sitting still and focusing on my breathing. After about a month, I’m now able to go 30 minutes and about 25% of days, I do a guided mediation. Tara Brach has been my go-to on this so far. I download the podcasts so I can have little session even on a train or plane.
  • Evening Journal: The evening journal is a quick sketch of the day – what I accomplished. This is a very short exercise – 5-10 minutes. It’s been super useful to bookend the day, and offers some closure so that I’m not waking up and writing my morning pages about stuff that happened yesterday. I learned this from a Tim Ferriss podcast with Josh Waitzkin.

Helping Others:

  • I’ve made it a sort of personal challenge to seek and find people to help in achieving their professional goals.
  • Just before Christmas, I downloaded my LinkedIn contacts and I’ve started pinging 2-3 people every couple of days that I haven’t spoken with in a while. I send them a personal message to the effect: “It’s a been a while. Looks like you’re doing great. Need help with anything?” Pretty interesting to see the types of responses. A few (just a few…) haven’t responded. A couple people respond back with – “Great to hear from you. Hope all is well.” And then a good chunk of people send back specific requests, most of which are things for which I can actually help – connecting them with people I know, sending them articles and ideas, etc. Check out this James Altucher blog post on how to be a “super connector.”
  • Coaching, Workshops, etc. – I’ve gotten involved with lots of different groups over the past six months, mostly around entrepreneurship and startups. Meeting really great people from all over the world, literally. A few groups with which I’ve worked recently – The Nordic Innovation Group, BelCham, Startup Weekend, Social Venture Partners, SAGEGlobal, Women’s Startup Lab, Hult International Business School, and UC-Berkeley Extension.

Life Tips:

  • Free days – I almost always take a “free day” on the weekends – one day when I don’t check email, or even think about work, an idea I learned from Strategic Coach, a coaching program I tried out about a year ago. It takes some real discipline to avoid checking my phone during idle moments – whether short moments in line at the store or longer stretches like my son’s nap time over the weekend.
  • Naps – Yes to these. I try to nap every Sat and Sun when my son goes down.
  • Decluttering – Been tackling areas of the house to get rid of stuff I don’t need or use. Worked through laundry room, living room, and kitchen so far. Started on my closet. Found receipts and documents going all the way back to the mid-1990s. WTF… Liberating to throw stuff away, and give away that which might be useful to others – clothes, office supplies, etc.

Training & Racing:

  • Coming off knee surgery back in September. Took me much longer to recover than I expected (which is why professional athletes retire at 40…) I’m finally back to 5-6 mile runs and nearly 20 miles a week.
  • Planning on a half-marathon this Spring, a short triathlon or two this summer, then a marathon and ultra-marathon in the Fall.
  • Ironman? I get asked if I’m doing another. I usually tell people that I have another 1-2 in me, just not this year. But soonish…
  • Learned lots of cross-fit exercises over the past year – has really helped me with balance and running with more of my body, not just legs. Here’s an example workout from New Year’s Day.

What I’m feeding my brain:

  • Podcasts: Tim Ferris, Tara Brach
  • Blogs: James Altucher, Jason Lemkin
  • Books (recent & current):
    • “The Art of Asking,” Amanda Palmer – Indie punk musician that figured out how to ask people for help. Great lessons in here that you don’t have to do everything on your own. Here TED talk is a good summary, and thought I do recommend the book for the full story and context.
    • “Annals of a Former World,” John McPhee – A book about the geologic history of the US. It’s a tome that I don’t plan to finish. It’s really five books consolidated into one, and the book that’s most interesting is “Book 4 – Assembling California.” Big focus on Northern California and researchers based at UC-Davis. It’s good bed-time reading. Three pages and I’m ready to snooze. I’m amazed at the amount of research and learning that went into this book.
    • “Influence,” Robert Cialdini – Re-reading. Good airplane/business read on exactly what you’d think from the title. Research based – not a “manipulate people” book.
    • “Principles,” Ray Dalio – Dalio is the founder of Bridgewater, a huge hedge fund. Super interesting read on how he approaches learning and communication.

And a huge thank you to Matt Slater, a friend and former student for the inspiration for this post.

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Reducing my inputs

Posted on January 13, 2015 by | Leave a comment

I’m taking more control of when I receive messages and notifications from the external world.

I’m finding that when I received a LinkedIn “connection request” or “so-so tagged you in a photo” on Facebook” or “your answer was upvoted…” on Quora, even if I didn’t look at it or respond to it right away, the notification showing on my locked screen and on the app icons are just too distracted. It’s like having a loose string on a t-shirt. I can live with it for about three seconds before I need to deal with it.

(PRO TIP: Here is a VERY detailed post on how to turn off notificaitons on your iPhone…)

Taking stock of my iPhone apps, there are only a few content and communication apps that I use – Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, Quora, LinkedIn, Flowdock (work), and text messaging. I’m purging a few, and turning off notifications for others.

social-media-icons

So… decisions were made… Here’s the recount of my inventory taking:

FourSquare – Was on my phone home page and I only used it for airports and occasionally when I’m at a place like the Farmer’s Market where I like to snap a fun picture of my son of what I’m doing and post to Facebook. I never go back and reference places I’ve been. Who am I talking to here anyway?

Decision: Deleted

Facebook – Sorry friends. I really don’t look at what you’re doing all that often, and if I have a few idle moments of time – say in line at a store or airport, I want to fill that time with more targeted learning for my brain like podcasts or book reading.

Decision: Deleted

Twitter – This was a bit of a decision for me. I have a more focused list there of people I’m following, so in a way, it’s sort of learning through semi-curated content, except there’s still too much noise. The chances of hitting good content on the fly on my phone is too small. I have TweetDeck on my laptop and I have a few lists there, and whatever. I can find what I need when I need it.

Decision: Deleted

LinkedIn – This app made the cut.I’m keeping this one for now. I do use it when I’m going into a meeting (or in a meeting) to check out someone’s background and look for common connections and interests. (It’s also an app I keep open constantly on my laptop when I’m working.

Note: I’m also putting together a series of e-books on tips for using LinkedIn. Stayed tuned… You can sign up now right here and I’ll email you a copy when it’s ready.

Decision: Stays, with notifications disabled.

Quora – Somewhat personally curated content for topics that I chose. The quality is generally good, and mostly I use the mobile app to save questions that I might want to answer later on during a writing sessions.

Decision: Stays, with notifications disabled.

Flowdock – This is a work app that we use for internal chatter. This needs to stay on my phone, and I’ve turned off the notifications from showing on my locked screen. I have my account set up so that I receive an email when someone messages be here, and turning off the notifications prevents weekend interruptions.

Decision: Stays, with notifications disabled. 

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New Year's Day 2015 #crossfit #flying

Posted on January 2, 2015 by | 1 comment

Today’s rundown…

– Woke up at 6:53am, thinking it was 4:30am, and maybe slightly disappointed because it was 6:53am already which meant significantly less time to myself in the early morning for reading and whatever. Then I realized I went to bed at 11pm and it was much better to have had the extra sleep.  (Yes, this is my life… 🙂

– B woke up soon thereafter. Did FaceTime with my parents. Played with MarbleMaze. Breakfast.

– New Year’s Day Crossfit workout which I dubbed the “20-15 workout.”

20 reps of 15 exercises for time:

  1. Pushups
  2. Situps
  3. Wall balls
  4. Wall ball cleans
  5. Squats
  6. Snatches
  7. Burpees
  8. Candlesticks
  9. Lunges
  10. Mountain climbers
  11. Kettlebell swings
  12.  Pull-ups
  13. Knees-to-chest
  14. 20-second plank
  15. Dead lifts (I added these during the workout)
  16. 1500 meter run

** Note: Got the idea from a similar workout on Christmas we called “The 12 days of Christmas – 25 reps of 12 exercises.”

– Lena flew us from Davis-University (EDU), over the Sonoma County to the coast so we could see the Buddhist temple, then we flew up the coast to Point Arena, then back home.

– Now it’s late afternoon, and I’m thinking about dinner out – Thai, Indian, Irish place… Something, anything other than cooking.

– We cooked lamb last night, which was planned for the grill except when Lena opened the grill to cook, she found a rat’s nest complete with live rats. We eschewed the grilling part for dinner…

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The Ferry Building this morning

Posted on December 12, 2014 by | Leave a comment

“You need to put your shoes on.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re in a public place.”

The perpetrator is skinny and scruffy, and homeless. He’s probably more happy that he’s sitting inside so that he can take off his shoes instead of adhering to social norms. The arrester is a ferry boat worker. Maybe he has a reason for caring about such things. Maybe not.

A taller, skinnier version of Lou Holtz brings up the rear in this batch of ferry commuters.

Squeaky shoes.

Two guys wheel three empty beer kegs. One of kegs was labelled “Lagunitas.” That was a lot of recent inebriation.

The wretched screeches of the wooden chairs drag across the grey concrete floor. The screech carries an echo up and across the ferry building, and then dissipates across the cold concrete pillars above. A second screech when the patrons pull their chairs underneath them to sip their coffee and prepare to eat their breakfast.

A mom, dad, and a little tiny baby settle into the corner near the window. So much of the day ahead of them. Of course, with their little tiny baby, I suspect these particular tourists have been awake since 5:30. Their breakfast pastries seem more like lunch. Two naps, seven feedings, and 12 more hours precede a few minutes of rest for themselves. Except for this moment. The baby is quiet, and so are the parents, sitting and smiling at each other, then smiling at the little tiny baby, then smiling at each other again.

The ferry just backed out, did a K-turn, and is drifting away for it’s next batch of commuters.

The fog rolls from south to north. I’ve never noticed it do that before. Usually it tumbles and blankets the Bay from the west before settling.

A seagull stands watch atop the rigger used for roping in the ferry when it docks.

A second ferry just backed away from it’s port at Pier 1. It’s horn sounded like a nine-year old blowing through a used saxophone before the reed is wet enough.

Two women walked into Mijita, followed by a man dressed in black and orange Giants coat and hat. The women spoke in Spanish with minor enthusiasm. The man walked deliberately with his head fixed on the text message he was composing.

A blond woman with a long pony tail, white running hat, and pink shorts strode past in a jog. I suspect the cold moist air has made her legs pink too.

The seagull is gone, and the fog is lifting. A transparent orange rises just over the Berkeley hills hints that the storm might be over. The homeless man left and another ferry is arriving. More commuters. More squeaky shoes. I don’t see Lou Holtz.

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Dear Lena, It’s modus operandi while you're gone…

Posted on June 24, 2014 by | Leave a comment

Dear Lena,

We really miss you and hope you had a great presentation today in Washington! Everything here is clicking right along. I found the conference agenda and checked out a few of the other economists at the event. Hope it was okay that I sent them friend requests on Facebook.

I know we normally keep the AC around 76 or 77 degrees, and even 76 is a little warm for me sometimes. So in your absence, we’re running at a breezy 56 degrees. In fact, I’m wearing wool socks and a hoodie right now.

There is food in the sink, but not in the fridge. I discovered that bread is pretty good at soaking up moisture if covered with coffee grounds. It’s all kind of just sitting there squishy and spongy while I’m waiting for the garbage disposal to unclog itself. Apparently “The Badger” doesn’t take watermelon rinds too well. Some name for that thing. Pretty misleading advertising if you ask me.

I did some housework. Just basic stuff. The laundry for instance. I think you might be making this chore more difficult than you need to. I’ve noticed that you tend to separate our clothes into piles, then wash them in these batches you call “loads.” Did you know if you fill the washing machine all the way to the top, I mean really pack it in there with all your body weight, you can fit the underwear, jeans, towels, and all of the pink and red t-shirts all at one time? It’ll save you a ton of work.

dirty laundry pile up

Speaking on the washing machine, does it always make that “thud – thud – thud” noise and leak from the top? I was going to put towels down to soak up the water but they were already in the washing machine. I stood there thinking – “Isn’t that ironic?” Funny how life works…

I did fix the creaky door to the bathroom. Be careful not to trip on it when you come home. It’s leaning against Benjamin’s wagon in the garage. Sorry I let that little home improvement project go for so long. I tacked a bed sheet to the door frame for now. Otherwise it’s kind of chilly when you get out of the shower.

Benjamin is eating really well. You’ve mentioned it’s hard to get him to eat when I’m away, but I’ll tell you, he’s been eating like a grizzly bear since you left. If I had known it before, I would cooked him chocolate chip banana pancakes with maple syrup for dinner long ago.

Benjamin seems happy to go to bed a little earlier than normal too. He doesn’t mind hitting the sack at 7:15 when you skip bath time, give him the iPad and let him eat dinner in there. Though I will say that it took me until nearly midnight to get him to lay down tonight. Sometimes I just don’t know what gets into that kid…

I quit locking the door to the front house because the lock is “broken,” meaning that you need a key to unlock it from the outside. I figure the neighborhood is pretty safe now that the students are gone for the summer, and besides that, Benjamin threw the house keys down the sewer. I know you’re probably thinking this was my fault but it wasn’t. We were going to the park and he said – “Keys daddy.” I thought he just wanted to carry them or pretend to open doors or something. I couldn’t believe it. He darted from the middle of the street where we were walking and threw the suckers down there before I knew what was happening. That’s the last time I fall for that one. He’s one smart kid. I can’t believe he got me a third time.

Both Benjamin and I can’t wait to give you a big hug and a kiss. Especially Benjamin. He’s been kissing everything – the walls, his stuffed animals, the couches, and even the cats – since he found your box of lipstick.

See you soon! xoxoxoxoxo

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