I’ve been at my new job a little over two months now. There’s so much information to digest that we call it "drinking from the firehose". I’ll be drinking even more over the next couple of weeks, as I am in Seattle for some intense technical training.

 

All in all, I love my new job. Microsoft is an amazing place to work, and the ISVs I work with are extremely interesting. I’ve got a ways to go before I really hit my stride, but I look forward to adding a lot of value for my customers and for Microsoft.

 

I started a new blog for work today. Check out http://blogs.msdn.com/patrick_foley.

Start my new job today!

I’m not running 8 miles tomorrow … I’m exhausted! I think I’m going to sleep in and not run at all. I don’t want to try to come back too quickly.

 

Besides, I have to work this weekend – I only have a few days to complete all my commitments from my old job.

In my entire life, I have never been as sore as I was on Monday, the day after the marathon. My legs were burning, and I was very proud of the way they felt, because I knew pushed them as far as they could go (my right calf was completely cramped for the last 6 miles. The left one joined for the last 3). I had to leave work at 2:30 to go home and sleep. I was so tired.

 

Tuesday, my legs felt a bit better, but they didn’t really work. About every third step, I felt as if I were about to buckle.

 

Wednesday, I took a 30 minute walk with my Uncle Frank. Started feeling better.

 

Yesterday, I ran for the first time – just 20 minutes. It was brutal. I was barely moving, but I had to start somewhere. It was also the first day that I could walk down stairs without waddling.

 

Today, I ran about 4 miles with Francine at lunch. I had a hard time keeping up, but I did.

 

Tomorrow, I’m running 8 miles in the morning with the running club. I’m back!

 

Now I’m thinking pretty seriously about running my first ultra December 30 (HUFF – 50K trail run). We’ll see!

I was 44th out of 87 in my age group.

I ran my first marathon yesterday, the Grand Rapids Marathon. It was awesome! We had perfect weather, a perfect course, a perfect marathon staff. What a blast.

 

After 22 weeks of training and thinking that my maximum sustainable pace was between 9:30 and 9:40, I ended up pacing 8:53/mile! I was 20 minutes faster than I expected at 3:52:39.

 

Team Foley was there to greet me at mile 17 and at the finish. They made feel like a king. Thanks, guys!

I’ll be working for Microsoft soon! I start on November 20th. I’m very excited.

 

This is a major change in my life. I’ve been a consultant for so many years … this will be different. It’s a great challenge. I can’t wait.

 

Before long, any technical or work-related blogging I will do on the Microsoft site. From now on, my personal blog will be just that – personal. What’s going on with my life. Turns out it won’t be interesting to most people, but if you happen to be a friend of mine, this space will let you know that I’m still kicking.

 

More soon.

It was show-and-tell day for Gus at daycare today. Paula and I took him in together, then Gus and I played Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star together on our violins. Much fun. Gus was very proud, and his class really liked it. Gus kept telling his class that the black things (the pegs) were for when the violin’s battery died. Not sure where he got that from, but it was awfully cute.

For reasons that will be more clear soon, I’m moving my blog to Live Spaces.