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June 14, 2010
North Olympic Discovery Marathon – Finisher (Again)!
Last Sunday (6/6/2010), we ran the North Olympic Discovery Marathon. (I ran this marathon 5 years ago; race report is here) Runner’s World calls this marathon a “boutique” event due to the smallish nature, which was part of the attraction after running San Antonio in November with 30,000 other folks.
Training for the NODM was a bit more haphazard than my last marathon. Between injuries and cold/flu/allergies I felt like I missed half my training (although my running log tells me I made all my long runs)
Like last time, we flew into SEA on Saturday and drove out to Port Angeles, this time making a detour through Port Townsend. Very scenic drive with gorgeous weather (which wouldn’t hold). We hit the tiny expo, picked up our numbers and then were off to the excellent pasta feed (note: when the pasta feed is sponsored by the Sons of Italy, it is going to be a good meal).
The race started at 9am (!) and we had to catch a bus to the start. Heading to the finish line, we caught the bus at 6:45 and around 7:15 arrived at the starting line. The weather was threatening rain, but the temperature was a very nice 55 degrees and the race sponsors had a nice dry largish building open for the 400 marathoners while we waited for the starting gun.
Initially, we ran a 5 mile loop, which took us south-east of Sequim and then back to the start. From there we headed in a westerly direction, across some incredibly beautiful terrain. The course was very similar to the last time I ran this race, however, the Olympic Discovery Trail has expanded somewhat so we spent less time on the streets of Sequim. We crossed several rivers/creeks with wooden bridges and great views.
Like last time, the 3 ravines were larger than life, especially the last one at Mile 20. The weather starting spitting around Mile 16 and finally turned into solid rain around Mile 25 (which was ok with me). The finish was great, even with the rain. We cooled down for 30 minutes or so, headed off to Starbucks (I am *not* the mayor of Starbucks in Port Angeles unfortunately) and then hit the Y for a shower. One long drive and big steak dinner later, I slept like the dead until it was time to catch a flight home the next morning.
Overall, here's how the run rates in my book:
Organization – Well-organized with the course clearly marked. Mile markers were accurate. Grade: A+
Course – Incredible scenery Miles 0 – 5 and 8 – 26.2. Grade: A
Aid-stations – Water and Heed at every station, which were staffed by local organizations which made it a lot of fun. Grade: A+
Swag – Long sleeve, dri-fit shirt. Grade: A
Posted by davehod at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)
June 09, 2010
Lunch with the Interns
I was recently invited to attend a luncheon for new Microsoft interns. They wanted me to discuss my background and thoughts about how to be successful in a tech-focused career.
After thinking about it for a while, I came up with three points to share with the group – I thought it was interesting enough (based on the questions/feedback) to share here:
- Be passionate about what you do – the best work experiences in my life have been when I’ve worked on things I am extremely passionate about. Conversely, the least favorite experiences have been when I’ve worked about things where my interest level is lukewarm.
Life is short; spend your time working on things for which you have a true passion. These will vary by person but have similar characteristics. You’ll know you’re in deep when you don’t notice/care what time/day it is. When your bills start piling up because you’re never home. When your significant other starts calling herself a “startup widow”. When you’ve lived in the same place for three years and you meet some neighbors who tell you that they thought your place was “vacant for the last three years”.
If you find yourself in a position that you aren’t passionate about, move on and do it quickly.
- Stay up to date – Mary Meeker states (Slide 5) that there will be more Smart phones shipping in 2012 than desktops/laptops. There wasn’t an intern in the room whose undergrad curriculum focused on this – the point being that things are forever changing in technology. Whatever your area of passion is (from #1 above), once you embark on a career you have to constantly work to stay abreast of the changes via blogs, thought leaders on Twitter, etc.
- Get your hands dirty – experience increases your value immensely. Whether this means choosing from a wider variety of projects within a company and/or ability to raise venture and start a company. The best way to gain experience is to dive headfirst into a project and immerse yourself. If you’re a developer, the best thing (IMO) to do is to write code as much as possible. Sitting in meetings all day won’t get you to the magic 10,000 hours you are going to need to become an expert.
Posted by davehod at 04:02 PM | Comments (0)