Florida & work

When you live in New England, a trip to Florida in February sounds like paradise. But not so much, when you have to work. It could have been a lot worse of course. It's silly to complain when I could have been sent to the Edison, NJ facility or Cambridge, OH plant.

It was Physical inventory time (a little earlier this year...) and my first time to our Florida facility!

I was also fortunate to travel with another co-worker, Michele. Traveling is always less stressful when you are with someone else.

Our flight was early Friday morning - 6:30 am. Weather was a little dicey (mixed rain/snow), but there was no delay - yippee!! We had a quick layover in Charlotte, NC (no direct flights when you can save $$ for the company) and then we were in sunny Tampa, Florida!

Absolutely Love the water - it is everywhere!!

Driving over the causeway.

Our Florida warehouse

The plant manager of our Florida facility used to work with us at headquarters. It was good to see him. And I was able to check out his latest medals (he's also a triathlete, every once in a while)

Friday afternoon, we spent the day doing a fixed asset audit. Wow, there are a lot of machines & it is really cool to see them work. A lot of cool photo ops, but cameras are a 'no no' in the plant.

Friday night dinner with the plant manager: a cool tapas restaurant

Saturday, I was up early and went out for a run. It was so nice to run outside in shorts! The weather was a little cool - only in the 50's, but it was still a nice run. It was one of those mornings where I could have run forever. Nice easy pace; quiet roads; beautiful scenery....

But reality always sets in. I had to get back to the hotel and get ready to go to work.

Physical inventory audit - oh joy! It actually went really smoothly. We only had to audit the finished goods section - no raw material or wip to review. There were plenty of warehouse employees available for any questions and there were no major errors or corrections needed!!

We were done by 1:00 and out the door at 2:00. Our flight wasn't until 7:00 pm, and there weren't any earlier flights. We decided to have a nice long lunch and go for a walk on the beach. It was pretty windy & cool for Florida, but warmer than New England!

Lots of jellyfish washed up - this was one of the biggest ones that we saw:

Cool shell

Very nice home - sweeping staircases & neat pools. My pick for best beach house.

We headed to the airport a little early because we still had work to do - lucky us!

Our flights home went smoothly and we were back in MA by 11:00 pm Saturday night. A nice short work trip.

It was nice to be home for Sunday - to sleep in and go out for breakfast. And of course - a major workout: Sweat Test - 3 hour bike ride, with the last hour at race pace. We had to turn up the heat (to simulate a race day) and adhere to our race nutrition plan. I lost 3 pounds of water that last hour - And I had even drank 22 ounces of water, and had 2 gel packets. Wow!

Sunday evening - Relaxation (oh, and do some more work on the computer...)

Ahhh, it's nice to be home...

Starting to feel like spring, so let's do a snowshoe race!

It was in the 40's this past weekend - and sunny! Really enjoyable, and you know that spring is coming! 3 weeks until daylight savings - yippee!!

We headed to the yacht club on Friday night for TGIF! OUr past commodore, Peter, got our attention soon after we got our first beer. 'I'm running a snowshoe race on Sunday, and I already have Ray & Peter M to commit. Do you want to join us? It's going to be a beautiful day, sunshine, a nice rolling hill course in western Mass...' Chris & I already had plans to run a 10k (per our schedule), and we weren't signed up for a race (we were planning on running the same course that we did in January). So, silly me, say's 'Sure, we'll join you, why not!' Of course, we were attending a benefit for Haiti on Saturday night, and we had a triathlon club meeting on Sunday night. No problem driving 3 hours to Dubuque State park on Sunday morning, running a 4 mile snowshoe course, and then driving 3 hours back. I clearly wasn't thinking clearly (and this was after only 1 beer!!) Fortunately our friends Linda & Joe called us to invite us to dinner - before I could sign me & Chris up for something else!

We drove over to a local pub & had many laughs with our friends. So all in all, our Friday night was a success!

We were up early on Saturday because we had to get in the pool. The gym opens at 7 am, and swim lessons start at 8 am. So we have to be at the gym at 7. Lucky us! Our Saturday workouts were pretty easy, since we were racing on Sunday: 1 mile swim; 35 min easy bike; 15 min easy run.

Then off to breakfast!! One of my favorite weekend activities. We were then planning on attending the New England Boat Show. It's so much fun checking out all the new gear; and climbing all over the new sail boats. But we decided to stay home for once. I really needed to clean - and I did! Nothing feels better than a clean house. Chris worked in the garage - getting ready for our new hot rod: 1934 Ford Roadster.

7:00 - Haiti benefit. I work with a girl who's great aunt is a missionary to Haiti (and has been for 40 years - wow!) Sister Ailene is a principal at a school on the outskirts of Port au Prince. Her school was severely damaged in the earthquake, so her family organized a benefit to raise $$ for her school. All the money raised on Saturday night was going directly to Sister Ailene. Chris & I were excited to attend this benefit. I mean, how often do you actually see where your charitable contributions are going? (especially when they are going out of the country?!?) There was great food, dancing, and many many raffles. Chris & I didn't get too crazy though, since we had to be up at 5:30; drive to western Mass, and run 4 miles in snowshoes (sigh).

Over 300 tickets sold!

Me & Chris

The bar (which we only frequented once)

Erin! Her great aunt is the missionary to Haiti and she is the hostest with the mostest!
Some of the items up for auction... There were a lot more tables and so many items! Restaurant gift certificates; salon packages; liquor packages; sports packages; baby packages - you name it, they had it.

Food table - good stuff: meatballs; scallops; shrimp; cheese; sandwiches...

Sunday started early - too early. We were on the road at 6 am. The snowshoe race started at 10 am, so we had plenty of time.
Our friends were all coming from Rhode Island, so we told them we would just meet them at the race.

Getting ready

Chris off for a warm up run (I went too, but it sure didn't help...)

Getting ready to start - about 50 participants. I was surprised. We were quite a bit off the beaten path - the northwest corner of Massachusetts.

Our friend Peter finishing

Chris had a super race - he took off & didn't look back! He finished in 33 minutes. He said he pushed himself; started hyperventilating; but then settled in :) The course was definitely rolling hills - you were either going up or down. My race didn't go as smoothly, but I was glad I raced. I finished in 39 minutes, which is ok, but I wish I had been at least a couple minutes faster... And even though it was only 4 miles, it felt much longer than a 10k (6.2 miles). Why? Because, you had to wear snowshoes, and it was like running in sand. Ouch. I was huffing and puffing the entire race - even had to walk about 5 minutes in the middle; through the orchard where the course wasn't packed down. Good grief, it's only 4 miles, but it felt like 26! During the race, I sure didn't feel like I've been working out all winter. I felt more like I had been sitting on the couch all winter. Guess I'm going to have to really focus on those upcoming workouts. Because there is no worse feeling - than feeling like crap during a race. And we have a really big race coming up in 5 months!

Race over - time to chill!

After the race they had chili & hot chocolate. Much needed!! (see the frog hanging from the ceiling? He's upside down - not quite sure what he's doing there...)

Then we had our own tailgate party. Had to hang the yacht club banner! (Ray is getting oysters ready...) I'm not a shellfish person, so I didn't partake, but everyone else did.

Fortunately, we also had sandwiches; chips; beer; wine & cheese. Can't remember the last time I ate this good so soon after a race!

We were late leaving, since we had so much fun tailgating. By the time we got home, it was too late to make it to our triathlon club meeting (the board meeting started at 4:15) See, my making too many plans doesn't always work - we can't fit everything in. Sorry Andy - we feel really bad about missing the meeting.

We got home at 5:30 (still light outside - yippee!!); and watched the remaining Nascar race.

Ahh, it was a very satisfying weekend!

President's Day weekend

Yeah for a long weekend!

Chris sent me flowers (yellow & purple tulips) for Valentine's Day, so our weekend started off really well!!!

We spent the rest of the weekend in - you guessed it - New Hampshire!

Less snow, more ice so not the best conditions for skiing.

So we rode our bike trainers (for almost 5 hours...); watched Nascar (yeah, it's back on!)

and went for our daily hikes

Toules is still loving New Hampshire. He gets so excited when we take our morning walks to get cofffee.

We also spent some quality time at the athletic club, swimming, and swimming, and chilling in the hot tub!

Topped off the weekend with a great cheeseburger at Diamond's Edge - with our favorite bartender Steve!

Garage Night

Where it all began:

Hot Rod weekend in the middle of the winter! Mostly consisted of guys standing around the popular Rolling Bones Hot Rod shop, and talking about new car projects, and summer hot rod destinations.

Location - Saratoga Springs, NY

Sounds like an evening only a true hot rodder could enjoy, but I still had a pretty good time. I've learned enough shop talk where I can hold my own with even the most dedicated hot rodder. Chris had the best night he's had in a long time. Guys (and a few girls) from all over New England, and from as far away as California hung out for hours. Chris doesn't get to see many of these guys very often, as everyone lives 2-3 hours away. Very different from Reno, where all Chris' friends were 20 minutes away. He could stop by anyone's home and chat about car stuff any time he wanted. Now, because everyone is spread out across New England, Chris only gets to talk shop at a few events each year.

Chris is one happy camper!

We all had to bring something for the 'food table'. Just what Ironman triathletes need - not! We brought Subway sandwiches. They went down with our Corona's very well!

Chris chatting with our friend Charlie. This guy remembers everything, and knows everything - really!

Grill for an English Anglia

One of their current projects:

Another project:

Their shop has some very cool hot rod stuff on their walls:

It's Burt from New Zealand!

Anthony Hopkins plays Burt in the movie 'The World's Fastest Indian'. Even if you're not a Bonneville, go fast person, you will still enjoy this movie.

Next morning, we had 1:30 run scheduled. It was only 5 degrees outside, so we debated about heading back to MA and doing our run there. I said it would be fun to run somewhere different - see the sights of Saratoga. So, we bundled up and went for our run. Again, it was nice to actually run outside. We've done so many runs on treadmills, we're starting to feel like hamsters!

Downtown Saratoga

We ran easy because I have to keep my heart rate in it's zone, which is so difficult!! One little hill, and my heart rate is over 170. I did manage to keep my average heart rate in my zone -whew. And the run was very fun. We zig zagged all over town - past the horse track, and all it's out buildings; past the horse racing museum & statue of Seabiscuit (on of our favorite movies); through the farmers market; Skidmore College; Columbia Park; and the quaint downtown. We felt like we really saw Saratoga Springs, and we can't wait to come back next February for Garage Night! We might even try to come back one weekend during the racing season (late July-early Sep). Our friends from the yacht club live in town and have invited us to visit before. We might have to take them up on the offer this year.

Horse Racing Museum

Statue of Seabiscuit!


Entrance to Horse Racing track:




After our run & shower, we went to breakfast. We parked outside this store. Poor Toules, he stayed in the car, and growled at this fake dog the entire time!

Good intentions

Frozen waterfall

Triathlon training season is in full bloom, and we now have semi-big workouts on the weekends. So, we had good intentions of getting some good workouts in this past weekend, but...

Chris' boss was in town for the weekend, so we took him skiing. He's from Austria, and skis regularly in the Alps, so we knew he could handle the small mountain resorts in New Hampshire.

We knew that we would have a hard time fitting our workouts in.... On the schedule: 3:13 bike ride on Saturday; 1:30 bike ride on Sunday; 1:20 run on Sunday.

Weather prediction - cold, very very cold - a high of 5. Brrr! Fortunately, it was sunny, and not windy. A couple people from Chris' management team also came up, so a nice group went skiing. I stayed inside & did a 3 hour bike ride on the trainer. Chris came home a little early, and managed to get 1 1/2 hours in. Pretty good, since he skied all morning!

Frozen lake

Town Square getting ready for a cross country ski exhibition. Too bad there wasn't much snow.

On Sunday, we met up with the management team early - for coffee and pastries. Then Chris & I headed back to our apartment for our 1:30 bike ride. No time to fit the run in though....

After the bike ride - back with the boss & the management team: The skiers were still cold on Sunday, so no one wanted to hit the slopes. (besides, there hadn't been any new snow, and the slopes were very icy). Instead, we took a nice walk, and then headed out for a yummy breakfast! (no exercise & lots of food...hmmm, something seems wrong with this picture)

Management team on the walk

Stream with frozen water beneath the rushing water.


Stopped in the hockey rink to watch some kids...

After our late breakfast, we spent some nice relaxing time at one of the management team's apartment - they have a beautiful view of a river and the mountains. Then we headed back to MA. The weekend went by very quickly. We got some of our workouts in, but not all. Monday morning - back to the gym to get the run in that we missed!

View from our friends' condo - nice!!

10K

Last weekend, our workout schedule had us completing a 10k road race (6.2 miles). There was only one race that we could find in New England, and it was 1 1/2 hours away. So we decided to run our own course - we could run whenever we wanted, and it would be close to home. Chris has been doing some of his weekly runs outside, while I've been on the treadmill for 8 weeks!! I have to run so slow to keep my heart rate down, so I've been sticking to the treadmill, where I can manage the speed and hills. So, I was a little concerned on what it would feel like to be running outside again. The course that we chose had some rolling hills, but nothing steep - and quiet country roads with little traffic. I was excited to run - I was going to wear a heart rate monitor, but I wasn't going to slow my pace to keep my heart rate at a lower level - so I was excited to run 'free'! Chris has the opposite problem of me - he has a hard time getting his heart rate up....
We did a nice easy warm up mile, then we were off! Chris took off ahead of me. He stayed close for a couple miles, then pulled away. Fortunately, he was in my sight, so he could wave when he hit the mile markers (he was wearing a GPS watch that beeped at each mile). The run was fun and I felt I was running pretty smoothly for the first 3 miles. The last 3 were more of a struggle, but my pace didn't really fall off too much. The effort to keep my pace up (44-45 steps every 30 seconds) seemed to be greater. The road was curvy the last 3 miles too, so I couldn't see Chris to know where the mile markers were. But we did it! Chris finished in 50 minutes. I finished in 51:30. We were pretty happy with our pace this early in the season. (I'm actually happy with that pace late in the season too!!)
We had the sore legs to prove that we had done a race, so we know that we pushed it pretty good. Chris' average heart rate was 155 (he was in his zone 1 of training!!) Mine was 179 -yowza! I can't see that heart rate during training - it's way above my zone 2. Good thing we can let it fly when we race - else it was going to take me 1:12 to finish that race.

The rest of the weekend, we spent looking for investment property. We're hoping to buy a couple multifamily homes - keep our portfolio diversified. There are some good buys out there - just trying to find the right one - where the tenants won't be too much of a headache.


Next weekend, we are back in New Hampshire!!