5/6/08

Where has the time gone.

I have been so busy for the past month, I want to apologize for not posting more. In short, here is what I have been up to.

Running - Training for marathon in less than 4 weeks.

New job assignment at work

Running a PR at the Enviro 5K at the Phoenix International Race Way (Nascar track)

Carrying the torch for the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics

Preparing to move

Company from Germany

Birthday (25th again)

Moving the wife out of her classroom

Buying a new car. 08 Honda Civic (non-hybrid)

First off the Running - This week will be my peak of 40 miles this week running with a 20 miler on Saturday at 4am.

New Job assignment. I am a computer programmer/analyst that is now assigned to support the Police Department. I did this job about 5 years ago, and they asked me back. I have been so busy; they all seem to have requests for me to do my magic for them.

Running a PR at the Enviro 5K at the track, I was able to complete the 5K in 28 minutes 8 seconds. My previous PR was 30:20 which I beat by over 2 minutes. I would like to shave another couple of minutes off it in the next several months. Ended up coming around the last curve and a bunch of kids started to try and pass me, so I took off on a sprint and passed three more people before hitting the finish line. I was so close to being the first person to throw up on the track at PIR. That would have been an honor worthy of blogging about.
Friday I ran 5 miles with Tempe Police officers for the last five miles of the Special Olympics torch run. I did learn that one of our officers is a ultra marathoner, (maybe a new mentor, we will see)


We are moving to a smaller house a couple of miles away. As Jay-say would put it is still not close enough to them. But it is about a half mile from Lifetime Fitness. We needed to move into a one story house, and reduce our mortgage pmt, because my wife will be going through some surgeries over the next year. More on this later.


A couple of years ago, my brother-in-law and his wife sponsored an exchange student from Germany, the next year had her sister come from Germany as an exchange student. Now, their parents came from Germany for a visit and they came to Arizona to see some hole in the ground, which was caused by a lot of erosion and maybe even global warming. The Grand Canyon. They stayed a couple of days at our house and were really nice people. I told them that if I come to Berlin to visit, they have to take me to all their favorite hiking trails. They are avid hikers. They also inquired about my boys going to Germany as exchange students.


Yes, I did have another birthday, and I want to say that I am 25 again. Remember that age is relative; it is what is in your mind. My id says that I am now 39, but I do not feel that old.
Part of my wife's medical issues was her moldy classroom that was sending her immune system into overdrive. With the consent of her doctor, she resigned early from teaching. Thank God for that. Since she has been home, she is feeling somewhat better.


With great sadness, I have to retire my 1996 Ford Ranger with 177,000 miles on it before it made it to 200,000. It got to the point where the repairs each month were exceeding the value of the truck. We felt it was best for me to get a new vehicle. I did my research and decided to get a Honda Civic. I am now getting 32 miles per gallon compared to 13 in my truck. The dealer did not want my truck as a trade-in that is how bad of shape it is. I would not say that it is the car of my dreams, but it is nice and economical and that was the objective we were after. Also it is automatic; I have replaced the transmission twice in my truck from being stuck in traffic 2 hours a day going to and from work.


I will try and post more than once a month from now on. Sorry about that.


11 comments:

jay_say said...

YEA! He still lives... I was getting worried that you were putting too much on your plate since you weren't able to post an update... :-)

Marcy said...

Wow! It sounds like you've had a lot going on. I'm sorry to hear about your wife, but I'm glad that she was able to resign.

CONGRATS on the 5K PR!! And by 2 minutes!! Wow! That's awesome!

K80K said...

Happy belated birthday!

Congratulations on the PR. It has been a long time since I have set one myself, so I have ot admit I am sufferring from PR envy. :)

May not be the car of your dreams, but I bet it is the car of your wallet's dreams. Plus it will lessen your ecological footprint... that's always good.

Mendy said...

I hear ya, on the "busy" front. I've been a blog slacker lately too. It's no biggie. We are all here for ya when you come back.

Too bad about your wife and surgeries and all. Glad she was able to let go of the job that was causing all the issues. Hope she gets better soon.

You did GREAT on the PR for your 5K!!!

Jeff said...

4am for 20! Sweet!

Good luck for the big week. Then enjoy the taper until the big day.

J~Mom said...

Wow! You have been very busy! I hope everything is ok with your wife! Happy birthday! Update us more when you can!

Unknown said...

You looked awesome on that last stretch of the 5k.

Less than 4 weeks and we will be in San Diego, dude! Looking forward to seeing you finish your first marathon.

David said...

Good to see you back around. I'll bet that new car smell is better than the month-old-taco-bell-behind-the-seat smell of the truck. Funny how vehicles just develop their own BO.

Keep up the training! Glad to hear your wife is doing better after the change in atmosphere.

David said...

And Happy Birthday!

Nancy said...

Good to hear from you. We all worry, but sometimes it just gets busy. No apologies necessary. I hope your wife will start doing much better.

Happy Birthday and Happy New Car!!

there's a virtual race this weekend if you feel like doing a 10k. :D

Mary Gee said...

Wait til you start repeating 39.
Glad to see you are still among the living.