public

Microsoft finally made a public announcement/unveiling of the next version of Office, so now you can see what I've been working on for the last two years.

introductions

Again, I would just like to mention that it would be really nice if you could TELL ME WHO YOU ARE when you come to my office to ask me a question and I have NEVER seen you before in my life.


Unrelated note: For goodness sake, could we all start walking on the RIGHT HAND SIDE of the hallway? Come on people, it's not that complicated.

Paul Travels

Exciting News! Jet Blue will be starting non-stop flights to Boston, from Seattle, in November. I jumped on their promotional fairs to book holiday tickets. I also have some other trips planned, here's my schedule:

Sept 23-25th - In Boston, just for fun. Who wants to go to S&S?

Oct 1 - Oct 4 - In Troncones, Mexico (staying here).

Nov 18 - Nov 25th - In Boston for Thanksgiving. Possibly side trip to New Haven for Harvard-Yale football game, but that's very much up in the air.

Dec 24 - Jan 1 - Christmas comes a day early for everyone in Boston as I arrive on the morning of the 24th.

I think that's enough for now.
Oh - and if anyone wants to come to Mexico with me, there's stil time!

Run For Fun?

As you know last Monday was my first half marathon race. For a day or two after that, I was trying to figure out why so many people enjoy such things and do them on a repeated basis. By Thursday, I was itching to start running again, as I flipped through some fliers I picked up at the race for more upcoming races. Go figure.

Friday after work, I went with Kapil to a BBQ for people who had volunteered at the Tour De Cure, which is a fundraiser for the American Diabetes Society. I was chatting with a woman there who had also run in the same race I did, and we started talking about training, and more upcoming races, etc. By the end of the conversation I was all pumped up to get back into the training groove and get ready for more long distance races.

My basic plan is to keep doing about the same number of runs per week I was doing (4--5 usually), but to continue to gradually increase my weekly or bi-weekly long run so I'll be better prepared - both mentally and physically - for long races (for now I'm still thinking mainly half marathons, but who knows...).

I already knew - and learned by experience in the race - that runs of more than 75 minutes or so require water breaks for sure, and, if possible, some sort of fuel. So saturday morning I went to REI and got a small water bottle, plus a bunch of Gel/GU packets, which are basicaly liquid power bars, except they are designed to be easy to digest, and they are all carbs, so they give you energy much quicker (than say, protein). I also stopped by Target while I was out, where they small water bottles for only $1! I figured they were pretty low quality, compared to the Nalgene one I got for $5 at REI, but I got a couple anyway.

Now that I was fully equipped, i filled up my water bottle and headed out for a super long run of about 14-15 miles (I never know exactly how far I'm running around here, but it was just under two hours). I took water every couple miles, and had one of the gel packs about an hour into it. It went really well. I expected to have some stomach sloshiness after eating it, but that didn't happen at all. My hamstring did tighten up a little bit with a few miles to. It was the same spot that was tight for a few days after the race, so I guess there is some microscopic damage there. After a while I stopped and stretched it out for a minute, and then it felt fine the rest of the way.

So, barring any unforeseen circumstances like a major back injury (ugh), I am once again a runner.

Paul Runs!

This morning was the Super Jock-N-Jill (that's a running shoe store) Half Marathon that I told you about recently. It started at 9AM at the Redhook Brewery, went North into Bothell, then looped around and came back down the Sammamish River Trail.
I got up at 6:15 so I could have some breakfast and time to digest it before the race. I ate light, yesterday as well, to try and avoid getting any stomach cramps/side stiches during the race.
I had planned out the paces I want to run to try and finish in around 1:40. Basically I would run the first 5 miles in 7:50 pace, then drop down to 7:40 for 4 miles, then run 7:25 for the last 4 miles (man that's a lot of miles...). Here was my pace chart:

I wrote down the cummulative time I wanted to be at for each mile mark so I wouldn't have to do the math on the run. I pinned it to my shirt for easy reference, but I made the mistake of putting it on the right side, which is the "water side." Water stations are on the right side, so at each one, I would grab a cup, drink about one ounce, and spill the other 5 ounches on my shirt, soaking and rendering illegible my pace chart.
Amazingly, I was *exactly* on pace for the first three miles. 7:50, 15:40, 23:30. I was pretty impressed with that, and I felt pretty good. The next mile was a little rolling, and I ended up dipping under the pace a little bit, and at 5 miles I was about 15 seconds under. Then the 6th mile was slower than planned, but it was hard to tell because I was still passing lots of people (that's what happens when you run an even pace). Around 5.5 miles these two young Asian girls caught up to me and I paced off of them for the next mile and a half or so.
When I saw the 6th mile was slow I started to pick it up a bit, trying to get down around 7:35 - 7:40. This was the time when we hit UW Bothell, including this relatively steep 300 yard hill. Despite that, I ran around 7:15 for that mile, probably because there was a big downhill after the uphill :)
At the end of the downhill (after I moved ahead of the Asian girls) I started to feel some pain in my side. I wasn't surprised because this seems to happen pretty frequently when I go to fast on downhills. So then it flattened out and I tried to relax and slow down a bit and just stay on the 7:40 pace I wanted... But I think the momentum just carried me through and I ended up running another 7:15 or so for the next mile. Around the beginning of the 7th mile I caught up with this guy who was running a good pace and I stuck with him for a while. We were battling back and forth for the next two miles, and for the first time in this event I actually started to feel like I was racing rather than just running for a time. The cool part was that while we were pushing each other, we were passing tons of other people along the way. I moved ahead of him slightly after the water stop just before the nine mile mark, but then I started feeling a little tired (after running three miles around 7:15, much faster than I had planned. He caught back up to me, and motioned for me to pick it up and come with him, but I was spent and knew I had to just relax for a while. I hit the ten mile mark at 75:55, which is about 7:36 average mile pace so far. So I was pretty pumped to have hit that mark. I knew if I kept under eight minute pace I'd be right around my goal time.
At mile 11 we passed through this park on the Sammamish River Trail in Bothell where there were a lot of people cheering, so that was uplifting. But shortly after that I really started to fall apart, and my pace slower even more. My legs felt okay, my upper body was a little stiff, but I just felt like I didn't have a whole lot of energy left. Another problem was that I started thinking too much. I knew around 11 miles that I should be able to run right arond 1:40 without much trouble, and since that was my goal, I knew I'd be pretty content with anything around that time, so I lost a little bit of motivation (for some time I was able to see the guy i had been racing with up ahead, but by about 11.5 miles he was too far ahead).
I just tried to keep up a steady pace and not completely fall apart. In the last half mile, the two girls I had been running with easier caught up with me. Well, one of them caught up, and the other one was a little behind me. I looked at the results later and was surprised to see they were 18 and 15! Wow.
I was able to pick it up a little bit the last few hundred yards and passed one guy a little before the end, so I was happy my sprinting skills were still there :)
After the race I was completely spent. I walked around and drank water for a while. I was so sore, especially my upper body, I just had to lie down on the ground for a while and stretch out. I had some bananas and clif bars that they were giving out, went and put on a sweatshirt, and walked around and stretched some more.
Then I went home and took a short nap. Mainly because lying down was the only comfortable position I could get in. Standing hurt my feet and legs, sitting hurt my back (not real back pain like i had before, just muscle soreness).

All in all I was pretty happy with my run. I just don't know how people run twice that far. Well I guess they train better. For now this is long enough for me though.

Results here.

Game Navigation

If you're interested in exactly where we went during The Game two weeks ago, I've posted a few maps and the directions we used here.