Hawai'i: Update 3

I truly believed this was going to be a much different update, but that's not the reality.  The reality is that we're not moving to Hawai'i.  I didn't get the job.

Shocked, let down and disappointed would be the best way to describe my feelings.  The longer I spent here, the more I saw how the good outweighed the bad, and how we could really settle here.  Yes, there are other jobs, and I've applied to a few, but I have a couple of great opportunities elsewhere, and while Hawai'i is our first choice, it's not a 'make it work at any cost' choice.

I drowned my sorrows by going for a swim.  In fact, it turned out to be one of the best swims yet, just under 3k in 40mins at a moderate effort.  That's a 1:23 per 100m or 53min for the 3.8k of an iron-distance swim.  That put a smile on my face :)

With any failure, there is opportunity to learn and improve.  So, I'll go back over my preparation and make sure it's better for the next set of interviews.  In the schedule are interviews for jobs in San Fran and NYC.  I can't guarantee I'll get one of those jobs, but I can guarantee that I'll be better prepared.

As Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude says, "Every adversity has the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit."  So, we move on in search of greater opportunities.

Perseverance

Had a tough swim yesterday, but broke it down into small pieces and slowly finished.  It felt great!

Ala Moana Beach Park
pic from www.to-hawaii.com

Being new to ocean swimming, I'm still getting comfortable being out there in the waves, in the vastness, sometimes all alone.  It's getting better, but there are still some fears (slightly unreasonable, I know) of being swept out to sea or bitten by something.  Anyway, yesterday was a mentally off day.  I wasn't 100% focused but had already decided to go for a 2k+ swim.

I got in the water just fine but within a few hundred meters my mind was battling, 'why are you doing this?' 'is this really enjoyable?' 'why don't you just quit?'  To fight off the negative thoughts, I decided to swim to the other end, 1k, and then stop and see how I was feeling.

Made the 1k and was feeling better, more relaxed.  So, I picked out a buoy and decided to swim there.  Got to that buoy, felt good, 'okay, let's go for the next buoy.'  After the next one, I decided to pick up the pace, 'wow, this is great!'

Finally, the shore where I started was within sight and the full 2k+ was completed.

Physically, exhausted.  Mentally, ecstatic!

Moral that I'll take from the day (also applicable to my job search), just keep going.  Break it down into little goals and pick them off one at a time.  You'll get there :)

30/30/30 Goal
Swim 15
Bike 4
Run 30+

Hello?!?

Earth to Carlos... Earth to Carlos...

Uh, yeah, sorry for the extreme delay.  It's been a hectic couple of months.  I'll get to that more in a future post, but here's some recent stuff.

Diana Nyad actually did it!  She swam 100+ miles from Cuba to the USA without a shark cage.  Insanely awesome!

Also, this Sunday, Sep 8th is the Ironman 70.3 World Champs in Henderson, Nevada.  Check Ironman.com if you want to watch or follow live.

Lastly, I just gave my first motivational/ informational presentation on MdS to a group of 50 people.  I think it went okay, and I had an awesome time!  I'd love to do more of this in the future.  I'll have to find some tougher stuff to keep the material coming :)

Swimming Inspiration

First, Annaleise Carr, a 14yr old Canadian, recently completed a 31.6mi solo charity swim across Lake Ontario for charity.  She finished in about 27hrs.  Amazing!  Read more from Annaleise's site or CNN article.

Second, Diana Nyad is again attempting the Cuba to Florida swim.  You can follower her on twitter, @diananyad.  Would be amazing if she made it this time!

Well Done Penny Palfrey

Despite not reaching the Florida shores, Penny Palfrey swam an amazing 40+ hours from Cuba before having to end the attempt.  An inspiring effort.

Penny's blog.
CNN article.