First of all, congratulations to Tom and Sarah on rocking through the marathon in Phoenix last weekend! Both fell a bit short of their BQ goals but still made < 4 hrs and toughed it out until the very end. It was pretty warm and dry for us Oregonians. Not so hot temperature-wise but with the sun out it felt warm for running.
After the runners left around 6 am, I ate breakfast and wandered across the street to linger at Starbucks for a while. I could get used to being a spectator. At around 9:30 I met Tom at mile 13 and started to run with him. I thought it might be helpful to play "rabbit" and run a little ahead at goal pace. And I have plenty of experience playing a rabbit. We kept the 3:30 pace group in sight for a while, and every few minutes I'd look over my shoulder to make sure I wasn't pulling away as we were starting to gradually slow down. Then somewhere past mile 16 I turned around and Tom was gone- oops. Suppose dropping your runner is generally not helpful, but I knew I would see him sometime after stopping at mile 18 to catch Sarah. When Sarah came by she was a bit behind the 3:50 pace group, which I thought wasn't a good sign as she'd planned to stay ahead of them longer. As we started running she said she was doing OK, but around mile 20 started to fade. I carried her baggie of thermolytes and managed to drop the capsules on the ground twice, both times retrieving them within the requisite 5 seconds and before someone stepped on them. Hey- I was juggling the baggie along with the HHR (URC) keys, credit card, my Blackberry that I used to SOS text Coach Mark, and a water bottle that I carried so I wouldn't take water from a race I didn't pay for. I took some water anyway after I eventually ran out- like I said it was warm! Oh, I know they make those fancy belts now to hold all this kind of stuff but I forgot mine in Portland. Duh.
Finally, the finish line. Made a beeline for Einstein's bagels as Tom and Sarah did the finisher's thing that includes food, water, medals, photos and drop bag pick-up. We met over at Yogurtini as I had talked it up after my ride. Still good! Turns out they do have a smaller size container. Somehow I missed that the day before :) That evening, Mexican food including a killer margarita for Sarah. Then Dairy Queen for all, including me. I have placed no training dietary restrictions on ice cream mind you.
Back at the ranch in Oregon: today we got the news that Intel is closing a few factories including Fab 20 in Oregon and D2 in Santa Clara. I work at AFO (Aloha Factory Operations) which is a really good place to be. Imagine computer chips as doughnuts. We basically take doughnuts from other fabs in Oregon and Arizona and put on the icing and sprinkles. Because doughnuts don't work without icing and sprinkles. We try not to drop the doughnuts on the floor because a LOT of money has gone into making them by the time they get to us. And there's no 5-second rule.
Behold the finished product. The sprinkles are usually more uniform.
During hard times at Intel it's usually safer to have a job close to the doughnuts. My position is only two degrees of separation away. Although you never know.
Are you giving me that eyes-glazed-over look that I always get when I describe my job to others?








