Employment, Entanglement, Enlightenment, Enjoyment, and Excitement

Even though I’ve had a few recent posts I haven’t explained my absence this past summer.  Well, here is the explanation.

New Job

Some changes were made at PowerTri in the beginning of 2011 that pushed me to find new employment (I still work 3 hours a week there though).  I was extremely blessed to receive a job at Fishbowl.  We make inventory software for small and medium sized businesses, with integration to QuickBooks.

My connection with Fishbowl is actually rather interesting.  I had a good friend named Cameron Williams while I was going to school.  We actually planned to live together, but then he started having some stomach issues that he found out was a cancerous tumor.  During this time he was working as the marketing specialist for Fishbowl.  He was very supportive of my racing and he helped me work out one of my first sponsors – Fishbowl.  They helped me get to and compete at Nationals in 2007.  Cameron helped me to have one of my most defining moments in my racing career.  I will post that experience after this post.

Cameron passed away a few months later due to the cancer.  I have since stayed in touch with his parents.  His father is actually the CEO of Fishbowl.  During the first months of 2011 I had several interactions with Dave Williams that led to my interviewing for and being hired as an account manager with his company.

Fishbowl has an amazing atmosphere and I am so blessed to work there.  They have amazing benefits for their employees that are so rare these days: health/dental insurance, PTO, 401k with company matching.  People come first there.  They are not out to suck everything from an employee and spit them out.  They look to develop people that can contribute more to society whether they stay at Fishbowl forever or not.  They (and I guess I mean we) have even recently bought back the company from it’s original (silent) owner.  Once this is fully paid back Fishbowl will be giving out company ownership to all of its employees.  How neat is that!  They care!

Duathlon Nationals

Three weeks after starting at Fishbowl in April I drove down to Tuscon, AZ and competed in Duathlon Nationals.  You can read more about it in my post: Duathlon Nationals.  I did well and qualified for the World Championship in Gijon, Spain, but for many reasons decided not to go.

When I returned from my trip to Arizona my wife finally and understandably broke down and told me how hard it had been for her to support me in all that I was doing.  She was six months pregnant, taking care of a CRAZY 20 month old boy, and not getting any sleep because of not-so-fun effects of the pregnancy.  It was time for me to open my eyes and realize what was important.  That’s right, my family!

Even though I had been ramping up and was very excited for a fast race at the Boise 70.3, I had to prove that family came first.  As much as I loved triathlon, I loved my wife and kids a million times more.  For the next several months I put extra effort towards my family and trained occasionally (actually, training was practically none existent).  I did manage to place 3rd overall at the Daybreak Triathlon, which my entrance had been a spur of the moment decision the night before.

Baby Brekken

On July 10 our wonderful son, Brekken, was born.  We are so happy to have him in our family.  He will be a great playmate for Lochten in about a year… or two.  One of the first things we noticed about him (within minutes of his birth), was that he had long fingers, toes, and feet.  We were wondering if he might be tall.  At his 1 and 2  month checkups he as been in the 80-90 percentile in height.  With my wife being 5 ft 1 in and myself at 5 ft 5 in, we have grand dreams of a tall son.  We’ll see if his height stays.

The last three months have been an adjustment though.  We have found out the hard way that Brekken has several  intolerances to certain foods: Dairy, Gluten (wheat), tomatoes… and probably more.  He also has very bad acid reflux.  These combined make for a lot of sleepless nights while he cries, and stressful days when both my wife and I need breaks from children.  My wife has made amazing sacrifices with her own diet to make it so Brekken is now in a happier world and able to nurse.  It is tough for her and I love her!

Recent Racing

Adapting to this second child has made consistent training tough, but I’m getting back into the training mode.  It is great to have a new perspective of how to treat my family.  The minute that they need help, my training takes a back seat.

Even with this I’ve been able to race in the Saratoga Springs Triathlon, the Rivalry Relay, and the Suncrest Mountain Race in the last month and a half.  I have done well in each, but with the unfortunate excuse that I’m not at the top of my game.  I hate that because I don’t want to have excuses.  I hope to one day have a schedule that allows me to take advantage of my full potential.  Maybe one day soon…?