First week of retirement! It's what we all look forward to, that culmination of working year after year for most of our adult lives. I liked many aspects of my job and had a lot of flexibility, but it was always a means to an end for me. Life is short and I want to maximize it by spending less time at the office and more time in the great outdoors.
After working full time for the better part of four decades, I retired on July 1. I had long envisioned retiring around age 60, but then last year when I was going through five months of cancer excision wound treatments, and recalling my own Dad dying from cancer (albeit a very different cancer) at age 58, I decided to hasten my retirement and plan it in earnest.
A quick look back. Although I aspire to spend less time on the computer, the reality is I will probably always be a statistics geek. Accordingly, here are a few stats as I look back on my career:
- Number of jobs held (excluding part-time, temporary, etc): 7
- Longest tenure: 13 years at Fidelity Investments
- Shortest tenure: 1 year (company in Norwich, CT went Chapter 7, i.e., bankruptcy and closing)
- Number of states worked in: 14
- Number of countries worked in: 7
- Favorite country I worked in: UK
- Least favorite country I worked in: India
- Number of continents worked in: 4
.jpg) |
| Best office view: from my office at Fidelity Investments, looking out at the Boston Harbor |
 |
| My favorite office: working from home for the past two years, I upgraded our wi-fi system and worked outdoors whenever the weather allowed |
Monday: 6 run, 0.5 swim
4th of July group run at Burlingame, with a lollipop from the picnic area. Four of us. Easy pace.
Followed this up with a "group" swim. Buoy to buoy and back. When I got out to the buoy 1/4 mile away, I looked up to see Tom and Paul well on their way back. Hope I didn't inconvenience them with my slow as usual performance, but they didn't seem to care.
Tuesday: 1 walk, 7 run
AM: Westerly, RI. Helped clear the Rathbun Cemetery, a historical cemetery on the orange trail at Wahaneeta Preserve. In places the overgrowth was chest high, and this was a moment of satisfaction for sure.
PM: Groton, CT. Midday run with Matthew at Haley/Bluff. Almost 80°, but got it done.
Wednesday: 9
AM: Charlestown, RI. 5 miles. Easy run on Burlingame Trail loop with Brady in the heat (upper 70s), and had a nice soak and swim in the pond post-run.
PM: Westerly, RI. 4 miles. Westerly Fun Run #6. 18:36. T5K asked me how I was planning to run today, and given the 82° start, I told him maybe 6:30 pace in the heat. Five runners went out fast ahead of our trio (Tommy, Nick, me) and that might have pulled us along. When we saw the Mile 1 clock at sub-6 (5:50 pace on Strava), I said, "Well, I guess 6:30s are out the window!". I actually felt pretty good, and continued on at similar pacing for the rest of the run. Not all out, but certainly not slacking either. Eventually two of the five fast starters (Tyler, Paul D) came back to us while the other three in the lead (Sebastian, Jake, Randi) sauntered on and all went sub-18.
 |
| Coming through Mile 1 split with T5K and Nick Faster than planned! |
Thursday: 8
Westerly, RI. Road / beach combo from Weekapaug Breachway. 3 on local Weekapaug Roads with shoes, before 5 barefoot. Plan was 10 miles on the beach, but between low tide not until 8:40am, dogs having to be off the beach by 8am per Westerly Town Ordinance, and my feet not being acclimated to the beach yet, this worked out just fine. Brady and I finished up with a nice refreshing dip in the ocean, while Matthew soldiered on for two more miles on the road.
Friday: 12
Charlestown, RI. CCW 10-mile road loop around Watchaug Pond with Matthew. Since I was coming from a meeting (didn't I retire?), Matthew and I drove separately and used the gap time to run a 2-mile road warm-up first. It was neither super hot (73°F) nor super humid (66%), but yet I felt hot and especially dehydrated throughout. Lesson learned that during the summer stashing water or Gatorade/Powerade might not be a bad idea. The post-run dip in Watchaug Pond was near heavenly. Water temperature not as cold as the ocean yesterday, but still quite refreshing. Ponds, lakes, rivers, and oceans in New England are just great in the summer. Definitely underrated.
Saturday: 7 run, 1 kayak
AM: Fun WTAC group run at Arcadia on Richmond "95" trails. Biggest group in a while at 11 runners. Fell once and bashed my knee bloody, as I tripped over one rock and landed with my knee on another. What a clod. At least it didn't hurt or cause any significant injury. Ran mostly with Nick, but then caught up with others over iced coffee at Alaina's post-run.
PM: My niece's birthday party was on a pond in SK. Took out a kayak and gave short rides to my young niece and nephew and Brady, then a solo jaunt around the pond. I would have gone longer, and only went for 17 minutes, but felt I was already probably being anti-social. Swam a little bit as well, and then just felt wiped out from my outdoor day of activities.
Sunday: 13
Solo roads run. 6:55 average pace felt very comfortable. Temps in the mid 60s. Last MLR before Laugavegur.
Weekly mileage: 62 run, 2 walk, 0.5 swim
Weekly highlight: Beach run and ocean dip. Have to do more of these.
Weekly lowlight: None. Great running week.
No comments:
Post a Comment