An Ironman Cooks!: May 2012

This has been a crazy whirlwind of a month. I got back from the UK April 27^th, and then was heading back to Glasgow/London May 12^th. In between, I didn’t actually unpack from the two trips and my life was in a bit of a limbo (here but not enough to settle back in). During my two weeks home, I hit training pretty hard, knowing it would be difficult to get back to it once I left again. I was reminded that the humidity really affects me (my 50 mile ride in high humidity was much more difficult than my 72 mile ride the week before, although it was more enjoyable since it was with Graham catching up).

I started off my 2^nd trip with a 45 mile bike ride/6 mile brick workout that went awesome. It was on the same roads as the week before but I felt so strong the entire time. My flight to Glasgow was at 9 at night. I discovered the key to me being able to sleep on a plane is a 4 hour hard workout, a beer before the flight, and flying at my normal bedtime!

Glasgow was cold/rainy. The first night there, the winds were so bad that my friends big, sturdy umbrella completely broke. Workwise though, Glasgow was awesome. I was going in a new role within my team, and I quickly discovered that I love the role. We basically met with the head of the departments there, walked through their business processes (updating process flows), and did risk assessments of their processes, identifying the key things they do to address the risks. Being the nerd that I am, I love that type of stuff and it suits me really well. I am also energized by interactions with people and in my other role, I mainly stick to my desk and don’t interact with people outside of my group too often in a work capacity.

The people in the Glasgow office were great! I discovered that I love Scottish accents more than British, and everyone was very welcoming. The last day, the head of the group that had been hesitant about our trip before we came (we were taking over from another group that had been difficult to deal with), was so pleased with us she brought us big blocks of Cadbury’s chocolate and even hugged us when we left. Success! Also, while it was cold/rainy, we had some great meals and the hotel had a legitimate gym (lap pool and everything) so I am looking forward to going back.

We flew to London Friday night. My manager, Melonne, and I went out dancing Friday night. Then Saturday I woke up and did my 12 mile run in Central London. It took FOREVER due to time at stoplights/dodging tourists. Sadly, I was legitimately TRAPPED in front of Buckingham Palace for 10 minutes with about 1,000 tourists with no way to escape (they blocked off the exit paths and a barrier separated us from the street). I was definitely a bit traumatized (both of Buckingham Palace and running in London in general). In the afternoon, I hit up the Tower of London, which I had missed the last trip and it was pretty cool. Afterwards, I used my family genes to navigate to an awesome gelato place I had visited before, only vaguely knowing the name (I had it wrong) and the general area. Melonne and I ended the evening hitting up Punjab, my favorite Indian restaurant I went to before.

Tower Bridge, NOT London Bridge as most people (even Londoners) assume

Sunday was a genuine tourist day. Melonne and I did a day trip to Windsor Castle, Bath, and Stonehenge. Needless to say, I would go to Bath again but am good on Stonehenge. Here are some pics:

Windsor Castle - For some reason in my head I did not think of it being a fortress

Bath - the entire city was rebuilt at the same time so it all works together very well

There are actual Baths (Roman) in Bath

Chapel in Bath

Apparently there are stones in Stonehenge

The second work week was definitely different/more challenging than the first, but ended up going really well. We were in a difficult position going in, as the office is super busy and has had loads of random visitors taking up their time (like me previously). Also, there have been consultants there for the past two months mapping out the operational process we were also there to walk through so people were concerned that we would waste their time doing the same thing. Fortunately, after a rough start, we managed to turn the week around and really won over people there.

It was weird. I was there for nearly three weeks before, and in the one week I was here this time I met way more people in the office and really got to know some of them. Again, the office has great people. The role I was sent in before was more of an auditor without a defined mission statement. Since everyone was super busy and was not really interested in having me there, I was never really introduced to people and felt generally uncomfortable. This time was very different and I am grateful for that. I had a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth from the last experience, and was really not looking forward to the return trip. After these last two weeks I’m looking forward to going back and building on the relationships/connections I made. But first, I am looking forward to settling back into home and really kicking up the ironman training.

I am also pleased to report that other than the swims and the 80 mile bike ride, I managed to get in all my workouts. I will be making up the 80 mile ride tomorrow and will truly get thrown into the humidity. Luckily, after 4 weeks of awful weather, I had three 75/80 degrees days in London to end the trip/somewhat transition.

Here are some more random pictures from the last night I was there: