Look not at the fat guy, but at the photographer's reflection
Injured!
How can it be?
Actually, I am pretty much all better now. But a very bizarre incident involving my ankle sidelined me for about ten days at the end of march and I'm feeling fatter than ever. With the new job (I got a new job BTW), I can't say I've spent a lot of time thinking about my exercise, and much less my diet, but it is something that I need to think about.
I still haven't run a step, but that will change this weekend as I do my last long run in preparation for my first ultramarathon, a 50K in connecticut, in two weeks' time. The strategy for that race will be just to hang out in the back of the pack, go as slow as I need to in order to complete the 31 miles in relative comfort. I actually am pretty well-trained, and feel rather unconcerned about my ability to complete the 50k, however having an extra LSD in the bank this weekend buys me a little insurance, something that can't hurt.
I've not been completely without exercise though. My new job is close enough to home that I can walk there, and I've logged a total a 5 miles walking on the bad ankle. Also did a power spin class on Wednesday, and completed it without incident.
So yeah. In case you haven't heard, I got a new job.
I'm pretty psyched about this. It's more of a pure java development position than what I was placed in at GE. And I feel like I'm really contributing to the team and learning a ton at the same time. The situation at GE was that they were hiring developers and putting them in positions that largely included end user support and monitoring tasks - a situation that resulted in an employee turnover rate pretty close to 100%. The new job is not like it - and there's something nice about the fact that all I'm expected to do when I come to work is write code. Even better, in several cases I'm also tasked with designing the solution and that the guidelines are not restrictive - effectively allowing me to choose how I implement things. It's a lot of fun.
Oh, and the job is located here in Suffern. 1.8 miles away - I can (and do) walk to work.
The consequence of this, by the way, is that I've had to juggle some plans. The job started very quickly - 8 days from initial interview to first day on the job - GE waived my two weeks notice requirement - and as I result several things I had been planning on got canceled. There will be no keg-schlep up Tuckerman Ravine - because I don't want to take a day off work in my second week. As a result, there will also be no Death Race for me in 2008 - though I might go there anyway and help out. My ski season is also pretty much done - which is a particular drag considering I have some unused ski tickets. My running of course has suffered due to the injury for sure but also the mental strain of a new job (this is true for me in general) leaves me exhausted and, injured or healthy, exercise is not exactly something that I'm eager to do - this will go away when I settle into the routine.
So, bringing this full circle, I am pretty psyched about the plans I'll have this summer. I am going to push over the next couple of months or so to get back to my pre-Christmas weight by Memorial day, and then continue until I'm actually starting to get lean by labor day - which happens to be when I'm doing a 50 mile mountain ultra. And professionally, If I continue learning at half the rate that I've been this last week, perhaps I'll be a somewhat competent java developer by then, too. So things are exciting and I'm looking forward to seeing things develop.
Oh, and if you're interested in getting different than the 2 or 3 one-page updates per month this blog will provide, you can always follow me on twitter - http://twitter.com/stevetursi - and get 2 or 3 one-sentence posts per day. nice.
Totals through april 1:
Jan 2 mi
Feb 20.5 mi
Mar 49 mi
Total: 71.5 mi
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