Well, all two of you that have this blog in your feed reader need to move on with me. I've moved over to my very own domain, www.runningnotes.net
Yancy got me all set up on Planet Lotus, so I am good to go!
I've been told my blog may go down at a minute's notice, along with Duffbert, Paul Mooney and some others, but I have faith! :)
Some of you (okay one of you) may have been with me on my old blog and may be thinking what is with this woman? Well, this time I am switching to my own domain, so this should be the last switch for a while! :) Thanks for sticking with me!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Running Secret
Psst. Wanna know a secret? It’s about running. And, it’s a little crazy.
I hate hills.
That’s not the secret, that’s the set up. I would guess that most runners dislike running up hills. It’s hard work, your legs burn, your lungs burn, it sucks. You want to slow down, or walk. But I don’t. And it’s not because I’m a great runner, or really strong or any of that. It’s because I’m stubborn. I refuse to walk. I refuse to slow down. It really is mind over matter. That is the biggest lesson I have learned from running - what you decide, is what you can do. (Consider that a bonus tip since that isn’t the main tip in this post).
Back to hills. My secret is to get mad. Here’s where the crazy comes in. I get angry at hills, especially big hills. My run at home includes a lot of hills. Here's the elevation graph from my Garmin.
Some are long, some are short, some are steep, some are not. In my opinion, the short, steep hills are easier. You can see the top, it’s not that far off. You can push and once you get up there, you can recover. Long hills, on the other hand, are mentally *and* physically tough. You can see just how far away the top is, and you know it’s going to be a while before you get to recover. You can’t just sprint up the hill. Especially if you hit a hill with what I call a false peak. You *think* you’re at the top, but there’s just a little dip and then more hill. F%$&ing hills.
A long hill mentally and physicall defeats you. So I get mad. I refuse to let that hill beat me. I look at the road (I try not to look up to the top of the hill) and I think, “Screw you hill. You won’t beat me. I will kick your ass.” And I run. I warned you, I said it was a little crazy, but it works! I’ve sworn at hills. Whatever it takes, just get up that hill.
I am not a fast runner. I am not a great runner. I am a middle-of-the-pack runner. I don’t win races, or even my age group. I don’t even come in top 10 or 20. BUT, I get compliments on my hills. I’ve passed many people on hills and had them catch up to me later and compliment me on getting up that hill. So get out there, run those hills and GET MAD!
I hate hills.
That’s not the secret, that’s the set up. I would guess that most runners dislike running up hills. It’s hard work, your legs burn, your lungs burn, it sucks. You want to slow down, or walk. But I don’t. And it’s not because I’m a great runner, or really strong or any of that. It’s because I’m stubborn. I refuse to walk. I refuse to slow down. It really is mind over matter. That is the biggest lesson I have learned from running - what you decide, is what you can do. (Consider that a bonus tip since that isn’t the main tip in this post).
Back to hills. My secret is to get mad. Here’s where the crazy comes in. I get angry at hills, especially big hills. My run at home includes a lot of hills. Here's the elevation graph from my Garmin.
Some are long, some are short, some are steep, some are not. In my opinion, the short, steep hills are easier. You can see the top, it’s not that far off. You can push and once you get up there, you can recover. Long hills, on the other hand, are mentally *and* physically tough. You can see just how far away the top is, and you know it’s going to be a while before you get to recover. You can’t just sprint up the hill. Especially if you hit a hill with what I call a false peak. You *think* you’re at the top, but there’s just a little dip and then more hill. F%$&ing hills.
A long hill mentally and physicall defeats you. So I get mad. I refuse to let that hill beat me. I look at the road (I try not to look up to the top of the hill) and I think, “Screw you hill. You won’t beat me. I will kick your ass.” And I run. I warned you, I said it was a little crazy, but it works! I’ve sworn at hills. Whatever it takes, just get up that hill.
I am not a fast runner. I am not a great runner. I am a middle-of-the-pack runner. I don’t win races, or even my age group. I don’t even come in top 10 or 20. BUT, I get compliments on my hills. I’ve passed many people on hills and had them catch up to me later and compliment me on getting up that hill. So get out there, run those hills and GET MAD!
Friday, April 17, 2009
The Value of Twitter
A LOT of blog posts have been written questioning the value of Twitter. A lot. I know. So move on if you aren’t interested in reading another. But, I think (hope) mine has a slightly different slant.
Many proponents of twitter will argue that they get value by following like-minded individuals, mining through the worthless tweets (“I’m at the grocery store!”) for the valuable nuggets (“Oh, to fix that, just do x”). And I agree there is value like this to be had on Twitter.
However, the greatest value I get from Twitter is the community. I work in IT. IT departments can be small. Mine is. We’re well-suited to the size of our company, but still, there’s only three of us. I am the only developer (as I may have mentioned about 50 times on this blog). Twitter provides me with a virtual water cooler. A place where I can vent about silly, but frustrating things TO PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND. Seriously, if I said half of the things I say on Twitter to people “in real life”, they would look at me like I have two heads. Or at the very least, their eyes would glaze over, they would mumble something incoherent and walk away.
Twitter is a place where I can “hear” about other people’s similar frustrations. We can all laugh about stupid end users (not mine, of course, users of my applications are all brilliant). I can vent and rant, and read other people’s vents and rants. I can be frustrated and tired and not thinking clearly and tweet about it and get back six snarky and hilarious replies. The value of Twitter is that I can laugh and move on, get back to work refreshed and ready.
Seriously, isn’t that incredibly valuable to a company? Rather than pumping me full of crappy coffee in the hopes that I can caffeinate my way through the day, we should have mandatory Twitter breaks.
Many proponents of twitter will argue that they get value by following like-minded individuals, mining through the worthless tweets (“I’m at the grocery store!”) for the valuable nuggets (“Oh, to fix that, just do x”). And I agree there is value like this to be had on Twitter.
However, the greatest value I get from Twitter is the community. I work in IT. IT departments can be small. Mine is. We’re well-suited to the size of our company, but still, there’s only three of us. I am the only developer (as I may have mentioned about 50 times on this blog). Twitter provides me with a virtual water cooler. A place where I can vent about silly, but frustrating things TO PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND. Seriously, if I said half of the things I say on Twitter to people “in real life”, they would look at me like I have two heads. Or at the very least, their eyes would glaze over, they would mumble something incoherent and walk away.
Twitter is a place where I can “hear” about other people’s similar frustrations. We can all laugh about stupid end users (not mine, of course, users of my applications are all brilliant). I can vent and rant, and read other people’s vents and rants. I can be frustrated and tired and not thinking clearly and tweet about it and get back six snarky and hilarious replies. The value of Twitter is that I can laugh and move on, get back to work refreshed and ready.
Seriously, isn’t that incredibly valuable to a company? Rather than pumping me full of crappy coffee in the hopes that I can caffeinate my way through the day, we should have mandatory Twitter breaks.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Lotus Temper Tantrum
(Commence Temper Tantrum) I want to go to Developer/Admin2009! I live 45 minutes away! I went last year and had a great time! Waaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! (End Temper Tantrum)
Okay, I'm okay now. I will just have to live vicariously through everyone's tweets. And sit and wait and be patient and hope details come out for IamLUG really soon, so I can have something to look forward to that is sooner than Lotusphere!
Okay, I'm okay now. I will just have to live vicariously through everyone's tweets. And sit and wait and be patient and hope details come out for IamLUG really soon, so I can have something to look forward to that is sooner than Lotusphere!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Weird Behavior in Designer Client?
Anyone else have this? When I am in the Designer client (8.0.2) and am working on some Lotusscript, say in an action or something, if I get an email in my Notes client, the focus in Designer is taken from the action and puts me up in the "Window Title". I don't have popup notification (because it's too distracting!), just the icon in the system tray. This behavior drives me a little nutty when I'm in the middle of coding something and it loses focus. I have enough trouble keeping focus!
Has it really been over a week?
Oops. I ran the half marathon on Sunday, April 5th...and haven't run since. I took training easier this time so I wouldn't get burned out. I don't think I did. I didn't run on purpose for the first few days. Then, I just got lazy. It was too cold, or too rainy, or too windy. Basically, I needed to HTFU.
So, today, I am running. In about an hour. It is a sunny and windy 49 degrees out. I am looking forward to it, which probably means it is going to be a terrible run. But, I am okay with that.
I've only got a few 5ks and a couple of 10ks planned this summer, so I'm thinking I may try to increase the number of days I run, rather than the distance. Three miles/5 times per week, with a 10k thrown in once a week. Sounds good.
The Redhook Memorial 5k is my next planned race. I had a pretty slow time on it last year. It was hot, and I realized I run my slowest on the flats, and this race is nearly pancake flat. I've done a lot more running this year than last year, so hopefully I can have a better time. I'll never be fast, but I like to beat myself! (that doesn't sound right, but you know what I mean)
ETA: Just back from run. That was horrible. My legs hurt from my hips to my feet. Bad combination of half marathon last weekend, no running for over a week, eating horribly the last week, not hydrated and brand new shoes. Starting to get a migraine now...ugh. But the weather was really nice. :)
So, today, I am running. In about an hour. It is a sunny and windy 49 degrees out. I am looking forward to it, which probably means it is going to be a terrible run. But, I am okay with that.
I've only got a few 5ks and a couple of 10ks planned this summer, so I'm thinking I may try to increase the number of days I run, rather than the distance. Three miles/5 times per week, with a 10k thrown in once a week. Sounds good.
The Redhook Memorial 5k is my next planned race. I had a pretty slow time on it last year. It was hot, and I realized I run my slowest on the flats, and this race is nearly pancake flat. I've done a lot more running this year than last year, so hopefully I can have a better time. I'll never be fast, but I like to beat myself! (that doesn't sound right, but you know what I mean)
ETA: Just back from run. That was horrible. My legs hurt from my hips to my feet. Bad combination of half marathon last weekend, no running for over a week, eating horribly the last week, not hydrated and brand new shoes. Starting to get a migraine now...ugh. But the weather was really nice. :)
Thursday, April 9, 2009
WOW! Amazing account of an incredible journey
Some of you Lotus peeps might know Tim Lorge, well he Tweeted this:
Her story is phenomenal. Parts 1 and 2 are up now and it is an amazing read! Check it out.
Wanna read a great running story? My GFs friend ran the 6 day 156 mile Marathon des Sables in Morocco. http://sportsrlife.wordpress.com/
Her story is phenomenal. Parts 1 and 2 are up now and it is an amazing read! Check it out.
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