Will Walk for Sushi

Its so nice to be back to the office with Hirono again. I was sharing with her tales of Omaha, how great it was, how sick I got and the time I did manage to get my walks in. She was really proud of me! Between catching up and filling me in on what I missed- which included some very big news for Hirono- she agreed to walk with me to our Sushi place in Empire Center.

We as we walked we talked about things- like the tornado, the class, the weather in Omaha. We talked about past colleagues and how they are doing. And then we addressed the elephant in the room.

Hirono had told me the last week I was in Omaha (though I promised I wouldn't say anything till it was public) that she was going to be leaving Yahoo! and taking a job in the Healthcare industry as a trainer/ instructional designer. It sounded like an AWESOME move for her, as she would have people reporting to her, continue to do what she is incredibly good at (ID) and be challenged everyday. Not to mention that she would be working with people she knew from past jobs, so there was definitely a comfort level coming into that job.

I know I will miss her madly. She and I have gotten incredibly close since the RIFF in Dec. With it being just the two of us at the office as part of our small team, we have learned to rely on one another. She has been my cheerleader and my confidant. She's been to my house, on a road trip with me, knows more than almost anyone at the office about my true nature and continues to inspire me, as well. I hope I have been to her even half of what she has been to me.

To and from the sushi place today was 2.42 miles and took us 46.5 mins. Leisurely and nice- gorgeous weather, a little hot, and lovely.

It looks like she will be leaving a week from today on 4/7- so everyday that we are at work together I am going to try to get her to come to lunch with me and get my Hirono fix before she leaves. I have never been more inspired in my marathon training, than when I am running with Hirono. It will be weird without her...

Tornado warning!

I dropped my husband off at the airport this morning before I came into work. The day was warm and seemed a little cloudy- but nice. Not too humid- but became increasingly more so as the day wore on.

Now, I have not spent anytime in the Midwest, aside from this trip, so I didn't know this is what they typically refer to as "tornado weather".

At 5:15pm, the class and I were in the room on our headsets, all on a conference call. They were receiving feedback for the mock calls they had completed that day. All of a sudden I heard a loud horn/ siren coming from outside. I looked up and caught the eye of the trainees with a question on my face. One of them said- TORNADO. (This was the moment I wished my husband was around, so I could tell him all teh "speaker" looking things on top of the buildings downtown really WERE siresn, instead of microwave towers, like he kept saying. Oh well- guess my "i told you so" will have to come later)

So I said to the people on the phone as calmly as I could muster, while my adrenaline started pumping, "We have to go- there's a tornado"

I grabbed my purse and my phone and started following the Nebraska natives to the hallway. I realized the trainer in the room next to me was just standing in her class- next to the window. I know she is from Portland and used to stormy skies, but I also knew she hadn't spent much time in the Midwest. I said to her "Its a Tornado. We need to go. Do you hear the sirens outside?"

She said "Yes- but I didn't hear anything in the building, so I figured it was more suggestive than directive." I was like- "I'm following the trainees. They've handled this before. We're headed to the staircase. I think you should come." She said "Ok- but let me grab our manager" - who is from Burbank, like me, and probably didn't have any idea what was going on.


I didn't want to loose the trainees who headed to the staircase, so I pushed ward. Down 6 flights of stairs and into a room that was used as a gym. There was a TV and a bathroom there in case we had to be there a while. There was also a treadmill. While I thought about walking for a little bit, I didn't have my shoes- so I refrained.

At this point the internal building alarm system started going off telling everyone to get to the "core" of the building. I figured we were comfortably there and just kept watching the news in anticipation of feeling the building rock or shake or lift off the ground.

Needless to say, after the first 20 mins waiting- I started getting impatient and realized that this might be the only tornado I would be in. The news said that the funnel was over Boys Town (where we were) and so a few of us snuck out of the room to see the clouds through the windows. I took a couple pics and then headed back.


We waited it out for close to an hour before the news finally said it had passed and the building announcements stopped. We headed back up to the 6th floor. Most of the trainees took off, but I had to hop back on the phone for my daily debrief and that's when the real weather began.

The roof of the parking garage looked like someone had a pressure hose blowing particles off the top of it. The hail was gumball and golf size- alternating as it hit the windows next to me. And just as quickly as it came- within 25 mins it was gone and the sun came out as the clouds passed along in the sky.

Something I have learned about the Midwest being here, is the wind blows fast and hard and it takes things it has been collecting from one state to another- whether its freezing rain, clouds, or debris. My dear friend told me before I left, "if you don't like the weather in the Midwest, just wait 20 mins" and only today do I understand what that means.

I left for the hotel around 7:30pm and the sun was only starting to set. I guess it didn't get dark right away since the clouds had reversed and the sun was below them. The air was still warm and electric and it was humid. I was hoping I would get to hear some beautiful thunderstorm when I got back to the hotel- but so far nothing as I get ready to sleep.

Who knows what the next few days will bring before I head home on Sat 3/28. My friend Tara was flying in tonight and I so grateful that even though she was delayed in the air for 30 mins she made it in safely. She said she say the funnel cloud in the air from the plane! Amazing world. Amazing day.

Yahoo! Go Games

Today was the closest thing I got to another run in during the sales conference. We did a thing called "GO Games" where they broke all 850 of us into 85 teams of 10. Then they gave us a cell phone and had us do an activity that was across between the Amazing Race and a Scavenger Hunt. We had cell phones provided that we downloaded our next clues from and answered some trivia on as well as digital cameras to take pics and video answers to some of the clues. We also interacted with actors who were playing specific contacts at different locations in the hotels. It was really fun!
It was also really exhausting in the heat (90+) to be running from one place to another. So I brought my iPod with me and my running shoes and thought I could calculate how far we ran as we did all the activities!
Well- the lesson I learned during that experiment is that inactivity pauses the Nike+ sensor. So when we ran from one place to another it counted the distance- but when we stopped for more than a minute without intentionally hitting the pause button, the sensor paused itself! Since I didn't know that, I didn't unpause it, nor notice this till after 3 hours- and presumably a few miles. The end result on my sensor was 0.14 miles... BOOOO! Well- at least we had fun. Plus- I was actually able to run and keep up with the other people on my team who appeared to be in much better shape than me!

I think I will have a 10K for dinner, please...

Hirono and I arrived for the sales conference about 15 mins late, due to some undesirable traffic in Palm Springs. Well- it was undesirable because I took a wrong turn off the freeway when I should have stayed on the 10FWY instead of getting off towards Palm Springs... but that's besides the point... The point is, that from the moment we arrived at 11:15am- we were involved in prep exercises, lunch and then sessions started at 1pm! We had a full day of sessions and the plan we had of doing a run that day- in the daylight was almost lost...

Thank goodness Hirono was up to gearing up and going for a run before dinner. She was originally thinking that we could quickly kick out 3 miles (even though my goal was to go 8) and then make it to our team meeting for cocktails. But we both got so inspired by each other and motivated by each other that we ended up running (and I can honestly say running here- because I ran more than I ever have with her alongside me) for 1.35hrs! We ended up going 6.44 miles and wrapped our way around the Renaissance Esmeralda hotel about 6 times. We were taking part of the golf cart trail and watched them set up for dinner on the back lawn, smelled dinner and when we saw people lining up for dinner- we both decided we were too hungry to go the full 8 miles.

What was so great about this run, is that it was a little before twilight when we started, we saw the sunset, and the stars arise. We heard the band warming up for their dinner performance (like a Surf Punk band without vocals- think Dick Dale's song on the Pulp Fiction Soundtrack) and found our groove together. There were times she was running ahead of me and times I was running ahead of her (which I never thought I would do). It felt like we were there for ourselves- but we were definitely in it together. I knew we were both safe- even as it got really dark.

One thing I discovered on this run is that my shin splints always hurt like a bitch when I start- but they actually WARM UP! By the 2nd or 3rd mile, they stop hurting and I can stop and stretch them out. I used to think that pain would never subside and I would have to just live with it- but I can actually run through it. Then other pains arise- but at least I am recognizing them and none of them seem like emergencies.

I am hoping to get another run in before we drive home on Wed 3/4/09. I found out recently that I will be flying to Omaha for a month on Wed 3/4/09- in the afternoon- so it will be good to get some runs in before I head out. If my experience in Manila was any indication of how it is to open up a new office, then I doubt I will get much work-out time while I am there. And from what I hear about Omaha weather- I doubt any of it will be out doors.

But for tonight, I got in a 10K before dinner and then feasted guilt-free on the fine buffet they had for us, with roast beef, garlic mash, shrimp, pasta and all the fixings. Oh and salad.