Breakfast - Best part of waking up....

One of the advantages to hotel living - at least here at any rate - is breakfast.  They have a pretty good breakfast buffet (of sorts) here.  I am usually one of the first customers when they open at 6AM.  My usual course is to grab a waffle, a muffin and a cup of decaf and imbibe that.  Then I usually go for a helping of scrambled eggs and / or a piece of fruit.

That amount of food is usually enough to cover me until nearly lunch time. In fact, I've hardly put a dent in my snack drawer at work the past few weeks.

I am surprised I am able to tolerate the waffles, however.  As some of you know, I am allergic to barley / malt, particularly in liquid form (so beer is a major no-no for me).  They use the Golden Malted brand of waffles.  Usually I can last a day or two with barley, at most three before having problems (ingredients).  So far, I've been eating the waffles every day with minimal side effects which is good, because I do like waffles (and pancakes)

They usually have the Weather Channel playing on the TVs and most of the early customers seem to work for the railroad.  Apparently they have a training or a school out here and they get sent in from all over the country.  They are interesting to listen to and find out where they are from.  Sadly they are here one week and gone the next.  Last week I met someone from Wisconsin and this morning one from Los Angeles.

Either way, this is one of my highlights of the day and so I figured I'd take some foodie pictures and share them.

Start the day with a waffle and muffin

Right hand view of the kitchen

Left View of the Kitchen

Wrapping up with some scrambled eggs

2013 Year in Review and looking forward to 2014

2013 has certainly been an interesting year.  This was my first full year in Utah and while I thought 2012 was the "year of change" this one continued the process and brought about a lot more change, some good and some still in "development"

Tom Leykis: I've been listening to Tom (Blow Me Up Tom - semi-NSFW) since 1988.  To say that he has had a mild influence on my life and political views would be an understatement.  While I certainly don't practice / hold true everything the man preaches; a lot of what he does teach: living life to the max and to the fullest has certainly rung true for me.  He was the inspiration in making the move out here when I couldn't tell the difference between one day and the next.  He still guides me on a near daily basis.  I am nothing short of thankful he is back on the air and putting out new shows nearly every day.

Work:  I started the year at one major education player and they were the reason why I came out to Utah.  Sadly, the job wasn't a good match for me and while I liked the company, the people and the opportunities, the project just wasn't for me.  In a nutshell, I was reading more about software development rather than programming software.  One year after arriving I decided that I had had enough and decided to move on.

I was very tempted to go back to my previous employer, but I found another fast-paced and growing company that was still in the educational arena that I felt a real bond with right away.  Finally a place where I could make a huge difference and be kept busy.  To be honest, this is the first job in my entire career where I am busy from the minute I sit down until I leave on pretty much a daily basis.  While no job is perfect, most days fly by and I honestly look forward to going to work.

What was a pleasant surprise is that I had multiple offers (from different companies) and I still regularly receive recruiter emails on a daily basis.  Where as in Illinois, I heard nothing but cricket sounds when I applied.

I am also fairly happy to report that my skill set has held up pretty well and I felt I have adapted to two very different environments quickly.

Running: I thought 2012 was rough, but this one was even tougher in terms of performance.  While in the fall of 2012 I was running "well" I started off 2013 taking another hit to my speed.  I think age and altitude took it out of me.  While I was still able to place in many of my 5K races, I found that my half marathon times went down about 5 minutes and many of them became death marches.  When I race I am still assuming I am in 2009-2010 shape, which clearly I am not.

I did some very cool races, including 3 full marathons: a cold and soggy Ogden marathon, a "hell with it" Idaho / Utah marathon 3 weeks later at Bear Lake and of course Las Vegas this winter.  So I knocked Idaho off my to-do list.

I also did some traveling races, including a trip to Vernal Utah (truly a unique place) to run a half marathon and Summerlin, NV.  I also did a super challenging Race to the Angel half marathon with a 2700 foot climb in Wells, NV.  Again, this was a turn off my watch race and just enjoy the experience.

Post race at Race to the Angel Half Marathon

Freezing Cold and wet after the Ogden Marathon

Finish after the Dino Half in Vernal Utah.

The finishes I am most proud of this year are the Dino Half (aided by the huge downhill), the Sandy Midnight Moon 5K (course was short but still a solid performance) and of course being able to gut out 3 marathons.  You can check out all my races results on Athlinks.  Also, I've largely been injury-free for the past 18 months even with running consistent 40 mile weeks.  Sure I have had a smidge of plantar fasciitis and the occasional shin splint and sore hips, but nothing major...

Traveling:

I did a fair amount of traveling this year.  I hit up Vegas twice, I went to Vernal and I went to Wendover countless times.  I think the most memorable trip this year was going to Elko.  While not a major tourist destination stop, Elko has intrigued me for sometime.  Being an occasional reader of the Elko Daily I've always wanted to see the town.  In September, when I did the Race to the Angel I made a visit to Elko and visited Lamoille Canyon.

Overall, it was a wonderful vacation.  I had the open road, smooth sailing, good luck gambling and got to experience a slice of Nevada that I have had on my bucket list for a while.  I am hoping to revisit that place in early summer as well as hit up Ely, Nevada.  Sadly I almost talked myself out of going and I would've lost out on an experience that I will treasure for years to come.  I still look at my Lamoille Canyon pictures and can't wait to get back out there.

One of the lakes in Lamoille Canyon

Hiking:  If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you'll notice that I make a lot of trips up into Salt Lake City's canyons.  This was really awesome and where as before I was timid in going solo, I did make it up there a lot more and got familiar with the trails.  Many of them I've done multiple times and they never bore me.  I enjoy the challenge as well as the views.  I look forward to continuing this trend in 2014 and exploring some new areas.  It makes for great cross-training and the people are generally friendly so it will be a matter of time before I find a regular group to go with.

Wendover and Buffets:  While my foodie friends may cringe when I say this, but my primary restaurant of choice is buffets.  I remember showing a friend of mine my credit card statement and instead of McDonalds or Subways or Olive Gardens there was a slew of buffets: Golden Corral, Sweet Tomatoes, and a plethora of buffet offerings from Wendover.  I train hard, so why not enjoy the spoils.  It seems like I have an internal radar for all-you-can-eat smorgasbords.

Finally, Wendover is pretty much a monthly trip.  It isn't all about the gambling.  I enjoy the food (especially when it is free).  I can get a free room for the weekday and there's nothing like going out into the desert for a run in the early morning.  I also don't mind the 100 minute drive there.  I have a t-shirt that reads "Money won feels so much better than money earned" and sadly it holds true for me.

This year also gave me the opportunity to see Clint Black, Dokken, Firehouse, Joe Nichols, Lorrie Morgan and Pam Tillis (two of my favorites) in a very intimate and cool setting in Wendover.  No lines, tickets under $20 a piece, no headaches and no bad seats.  I've already penciled in some other shows coming this spring including Tracy Lawrence and Vince Gill.

Win or lose (and it's mostly lose) I always have a good time.  I see us going there a lot more in 2014.
 

Personal: this year was a lot about personal growth and more changes.  As evidenced by this blog and the sheer number of postings and pictures, I took advantage of everything that Utah has to offer (and then some).  I can't say how long I'll be here in Utah -- perhaps 3 years, perhaps forever, but when it is time to move on, I want to say that I "did that".  I can't say that about every place I've lived and while I don't hold many regrets in life, I don't want to regret not experiencing whatever life has to offer here.

I still have lots more to accomplish and more decisions I want and need to make but I am very happy with the way things went this year.  I think 2014 will have a lot more adventures so stay tuned.

Taking a break on an 8 mile run on a beautiful day on 12/15/2013.

Week One of X of Hotel Living Complete

Well it looks like I have survived my first week of hotel living.  In short, I am going absolutely nuts.  You don't know what you've got until its gone -- or so the saying goes.

I did check the house today and while they have the roof and some of the siding on and it looks like the fireplace is installed but is the house inhabitable: not in the least.  I am still betting on about 4 weeks - minimum -- before I can escape here.

Either way, my daily routine sort of looks like this:

Roll out of bed at 5:45 and shower.
Eat my free breakfast at the hotel.
6:30 Head off to work.
4:15ish leave work and get my miles in.
5:30 - come home and find a place to eat dinner (no oven to cook and only a makeshift stove)
6:00 - 9:00 ... wonder what the hell to do in a 2-room hotel with 2 other people in it.

There are some pros to hotel living:

Free breakfast:  Typically I'll inhale a waffle, a yogurt, some fruit, scrambled eggs and a muffin.  I'll probably gain weight as a result.  You put unlimited food in front of me and I'll eat it -- a lot of it.  One of the nice things is I have noticed I snack a lot less at work as a result.  I feel filled until 11AM where as before I'd start hitting the cookies at 9AM.

No utility bills -- Enough said.

Clean towels and linens -- every day fresh stuff.

Close to food and shopping.  I "live" right across the street from Target and have plenty of fast food choices.  While money is a bit tight right now, I am not indulging too much.

Negatives:

My rent has effectively doubled.  Yup, from $1100 / month at the apartment to about $600 / week.  

Have to go to the post office and wait in the Christmas lines for my mail. I felt really "low rent" when I told the guy at the post office that my "home" is a hotel.  Argh...

Cramped -- there is less than a 1000 feet of living space here and the living room is primarily filled with a pull-out bed. Austin is camped out there and sometimes he is studying.

Schedules:  I am an early bird.  I get up at the crack of dawn to go to work or get my miles in.  I've always been that way.  Austin is a night owl.  I am also the noisiest person in the morning so I know I wake everyone else.

Internet: Remember Dial-up?  That's about what the wireless is like here.  I've gone to some speed tests sites and I've never seen it faster than .5Mbps and I've seen it as low as .10.  I tethered my phone to my PC and used that but there is so much cement here that that usually is just as worthless.  Watching a streaming video is an endeavor in Herculean patience.

Bored: You don't really have a place to "hole up" and "hang out" here.  There's always someone else in the room and with the computer worthless you are relegated to watching TV.  I am not a huge TV person so it is frustrating.  I've been tempted to go to work just for the entertainment (luckily it is just down the road).

Overall the hotel is nice and clean.  I have no major gripes about it... it is just tough living in it and from the looks of it I'll be here until January sometime.  Running, right now is my only solace.  Sadly you can only do that for a while before your body begins to break down.

The Breakfast Area

Master Bedroom

The "living room"

The Kitchen

Upcoming Races for 2014 and #RWRunStreak

First off, I still  haven't picked a spring-time full marathon.  I am flirting around with doing the Salt Lake City Marathon.  I got a coupon for $10 off and while I haven't committed to it, it is ruminating in the back of my mind.  Problem is, that is one week after the Summerlin Half...  I really need to jump onto Marathon Guide and find one that is close by yet still an adventure to go to.

That being said, for 2014 I am committed and have paid to enter into the following races:

Sweet Hearts 5K in Bountiful, Utah -- http://sweethearts5k.com/ - mid February

Last year's picture

Summerlin Half Marathon - Summerlin, NV - www.desertskyadventures.com/summerlin2014/‎ April 12

Last year at the Summerlin Half Marathon

Las Vegas Full Marathon - Las Vegas, NV -- http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/las-vegas‎ - November 16 (this will be my 6th year in a row!!!) - I got in for $99 + service charge

Modeling my cool Marathon Shirt

So far this winter training has been going well.  I've reduced my mileage a little and have been getting in 2 - 3 speed sessions a week.  I am really hoping to knock my times back down to 2011 levels.  

In addition, I am doing the Runners World Magazine Running Streak (#RWRunStreak).  So I am logging at least 1 mile every day between Thanksgiving and New Years.  So far, everything is going dandy.  I just make sure I take my "easy days" easy...

After work, I've been doing most of my running along 1000E, Sandy Utah.  I am not thrilled with the location, but it is flat and it is on the way home.  Plus the Wasatch Mountains are in view.  Here is the parking lot near the park where I run:

18 Months of Apartment Living Retrospective

As many of you know, about 18 months ago I left Illinois after spending the last 17 years there.  It was a good run, but I needed a change and the state, in my opinion was going downhill.  No job opportunities (unless you were willing to drive an hour in heavy traffic), high taxes, and I had my sincere doubts with the leadership at every government level.  I've met dozens of people out here who are former Illinois who fled from the corrupt state.

So what do you think happens when you go from a 3000 square foot home with an acre lot to a 2-bedroom apartment at Pinnacle Highlands Apartments in Cottonwood Heights (corner of Highland and Bengal)? What would you say if I honestly said I miss the apartment?

The apartment living actually was a blast and it really got me thinking about home ownership.  Let's look at the positives:

1) It was a LOT cheaper.  My rent was $1100... period.  My house payment was significantly more and thanks to McHenry County taxes, I had to stash about $700 a month just to keep ahead.  Plus home owner's insurance, repairs, shoveling, lawn maintenance -- our house was a money pit.  I had to replace the roof, the well, the furnace, both water heaters, plus upgrading the heck out of it.  While I got a tax write-off and earned some money on it, I certainly wasn't going to become a home flipping millionaire there.

2) The apartment had a wonderful gym.  3 high-quality treadmills, ellipticals, weights, bikes, etc... it was my refuge when the weather was bad.  I logged many a mile watching kids play in the pool or watching the snow fall.  Often times other runners joined me and I devised solid interval workouts.  While I am not a big fan of treadmills, at least it was mildly tolerable.

3) The pool.  I practically lived at the pool, especially in the summer.  It was a social meeting ground and a place where I met many of the residents.  I was also a habitual Jacuzzi denizen too.  I could go there and get a few greetings from people.

4) The people.  I know... most apartment complexes you sort of avoid looking people in the eye as you walk by.  But it wasn't the case here.  By the end of my term there I was known by name or sight by many residents.  When I went for my walk it wasn't too unusual to have a few "Hey Eddie"'s from various people.

5) The location.  The apartment has consistently been near my jobs as well as the freeway.  Also walking through the complex (about .75 miles) was visually pretty.  They did a great job with landscaping there and it wasn't too unusual for me to go for a walk on warm nights.

6) No charge for repairs.  Just about everything in that apartment broke.  We had the furnace go out.  A pipe for the ceiling fire extinguishers ruptured in the winter (luckily the water output wasn't catastrophic).  We had a window that refused to close nicely.  All of these things were generally fixed that night or in a day or so.  I never had to shell out money for repairs.

Sure apartment living had some down sides.  If you didn't grab a parking spot by 5pm, you had to park a ways away from the apartment.  We nicknamed our upstairs neighbor "Stompy", because we could tell where this guy walked at any given moment (no, he wasn't a fatty either).  He also seemed to have a propensity to drop bowling balls (or what sounded like bowling balls) on his floor too.  In fact, our fire alarms and kitchen ceiling light had become dislodged because of his heavy walking.

So even though I am (soon) going back to home living again and I'll have a sense of "ownership" once again I will truly miss the last 18 months of apartment living.

The Pool

Those treadmills were my running buddy on cold or super hot days

Mail Drop off

Late fall Pool View

Moving Day

Well as most of you know, I am now moving.  After about 18 months in the Pinnacle Highlands Apartments we decided to build a house.  Initially they said the house would be done on December 1, then it was the 15th and now the 20th.  My guess is we won't be moving in until January.

So initially we took the builder's word that they would be done on the 1st and set our exit day for the 8th.  By the time the builder made his correction, our unit had been rented.

So now I am living in a 3-room hotel at just about twice my rent.  Granted I now have Showtime for free and my utilities are paid for and I get a free breakfast, but to put it bluntly... this SUCKS!  I really miss the apartment.

Either way, today was moving today and all throughout the week we've been getting stuff in order.  Granted we never really unpacked when we arrived in Utah, so it was much easier this time.  I spent most of Friday night boxing and tearing apart TVs and futons.

Originally I was going to do the move with just me and Austin (I could've enlisted some friends I suppose).  I am glad we hired Helping Hands Moving Utah.  They sent out 3 guys and a 23 foot long truck at about 8:30 AM.  We had everything moved and in a storage locker by lunch time.  I helped move boxes and light stuff but it was nice to have some muscle with the heavy stuff.  Granted it did set me back about $500 though, but if me and Austin had done it, we'd still be busting our humps as I write this.

The weather wasn't very good for moving -- it was chilly -- in the upper 20's to lower 30's depending upon who you ask.  It was also snowing off and on, so it certainly made the task of emptying the apartment messy and challenging.  Again, most of our stuff was ready to go and I was the 4th man, so it went very fast and the guys I worked with your half my age but knew what they were doing.

So now I am in a hotel a few miles from my old apartment, a few miles from the new house and a hop skip and a jump from work.  Plus I am within shouting distance of Golden Corral.  The internet here is slow (.5Mbps) but it'll suffice.  The hotel is nice though and they were cool about our cat situation.  Plus we are right near a lot of restaurants and shopping. So there's pros and cons...

Friday Night Packing

Managed to get in a quick run Friday night. I got in a lot of trouble for it too.

The Apartment Garage pre-move

Extra Space Storage Shed - 10 x 30 before I arrived

Master bathroom at the house

Kitchen at the house

Storage Shed fully loaded

Storage Shed fully loaded

Fireplace in the new house

Living room in the new House

Loft area of the new house

Guest bathtub

Loft area

Austin's Computer area / Kitchen at the Hotel

Shari prepping Austin's sleeping area / Living room of hotel

Master Bedroom at the Hotel

At least they have treadmills!

Austin's Apartment bedroom - empty

Master bedroom Apartment - empty

Looking down from the house

Lots of work still to do on the outside of the house.

Dining room area of the Apartment, cleaned up.

Living room of the apartment, virtually done.