Random Thoughts and Stressed Induced Ramblings

The Job …

My Company announced a reduction in force last week. Approximately, 800 employees were slated to be severed from the company. Over the past few days there has been a lot of meetings and rumors of who got terminated. Everybody has been walking around in a daze, silently praying that they were not one of the designated employees. I survived the reductions in force but I lost a few friends and cohorts to the cuts. Hopefully the carnage is over.

The Economy …

I have taken a lot of economics courses, I read the Wall Street Journal and many other business publications but I just can't get a grip on what is happening. Today, I looked at the 3 week Treasury Bill Rates. They are paying 0.01%! This is equivalent to stuffing money in a mattress. How do we encourage saving for a rainy day with rates like this. Obviously, the government does not want people to save. We need to get out and spend money to stimulate the economy. This is a hard thing to do when you are part of a kamikaze workforce where "every paycheck could be your last." I have considered cancelling my upcoming vacation to Vegas, but with the extremely cheep hotel rates and using frequent flyer miles for free 1^st class airfare; I can't afford not to go.

I need a Vegas trip to decompress and reload for 2009 and will do my best to stimulate the local economy.

Training…

The most dreaded time of the year is approaching. Soon and without preamble, a plague of soon to be new year's resolution breakers will infest gyms throughout the nation. Like locust they arrive on schedule and die off in a few weeks. This is one of the reasons I take the first week of the year off, I just don't want to deal with the overcrowded gyms.

Training is going very well. I won the company's Shape up the Nation competition by logging over 300 hours of working out in the past 12 week. I am the proud owner of a new IPod for my efforts.

My personal trainer has been a godsend. She knows what I need to do and I obediently follow her instructions to the letter. She has made significant corrections to my posture. We still have a long way to go but I look better than ever. I feel alive and invigorated. People are noticing a new aura of confidence in the way that I present myself. Likewise, the Swim Coach is working her magic with me in the pool. I am a lucky man to have these professionals assisting me in my training. I am going to reengage their service for at least 3 more months.

I have started to add sauna training to my daily workouts in preparation for possible heat at the Rocky Raccoon 50 in February.

I am feeling very strong with my running. I am diligently running 10 miles every morning followed by a spinning class prior to going to work. I think the spinning is helping me increase my running cadence. We will see if this helps with my attempt at the Angel 50 in 3 weeks. If my knee holds up, I think I should be able to break 10 ½ hours which will be an hour better than last year's performance. The quicker I get done, the faster I will be able to get to enjoying Vegas.

The MAC is offering a Triathlon Training Program to start in the early spring. This program will be lead by 2 dynamic instructors and will consist of 8 hours a week of group training over an 8 week period. I am looking forward to this program to help me kick off the 2009 season with a bang.