So much better

Truly, I am amazed at how much better 2017 has already been than what 2016 was. At work I got promoted to being a team lead a few weeks ago. The software we've been building since last spring has gone live and we picked up a few hundred customers in the first week. This is huge! So huge, in fact, that I got named Team Lead for another team as well. It's a new team formed to do the same process to another piece of software. So now I'm leading 9 other engineers on 2 separate teams on 2 separate pieces of software. It's a crazy amount of responsibility, but I'm loving it so far. Really getting to use the leadership skills again.

January was largely wonderful. We got some snow, I got some stories.

Swim: 31,950 yards, 10 swims
Bike: 62.2 miles, 5 rides
Run: 15 miles, 2 runs
Yoga: 10 times
Strength: 8 times

Actually I thought I swam more often than that. on 1/17 I wrenched out my lower back picking up EG, so I lost that entire week. Chiropractor and acupuncture took care of that. However I am still dealing with some constant pain in my right foot. I have not run a mile since Jan 12 and there is no end in sight. To help fix that, I was stepping up the crosstraining by doing more core work and getting back on the bike. I'm actually enjoying the bike a bit more these days. I usually lift weights before I ride, and I can actually feel the muscles around my right knee strengthening. That's going to help the foot heal. However, I've been dealing with this foot pain for about 4 months now. It's time to see an orthopedist. Yoga also really steps up the foot pain, so that's out for a while too.

12 in 12 update
Well, as you might imagine this whole goal is really down the drain. My next round of marathons was supposed to start in March. I cut the Myrtle Beach marathon back down to the half, and just deferred the Tobacco Road marathon until 2018. Also I added the Javelina Jundred 100k in January. So I got up to 11 marathons in 13 months, then back down to 9. 2017 will end up with 6 marathons or ultras, plus that half. And I'm going to knock 3 more states off of my list.

It's also time to add in some swim races. Something unique is coming up the first weekend of June. The US Masters Open Water Championship is going in Chattanooga Tennessee. I'm going to swim the 2.4 mile race on Saturday, then kayak for my buddy Tom when he does the 9.2 mile swim on Sunday. Add in the 3 open water series races here in Raleigh and that should fill out my race schedule for the year. Might throw in a 5 mile swim near Richmond, but I've looked at that one before.

Pictures
We got some snow in January, so the kids got to play in it! I got pictures of the snow, and of the kids playing, but not both at the same time #dadfail

I did go run in the snow

Have yak trax, will log easy miles

Made it to the state capital! 10 miles in the snow was amazing.

Walked to the chinese restaurant across the street like this

My favorite yoga studio had a grand opening for the new owners

While drunk, I bought a small drone on Amazon. The kids destroyed it quickly.

My little ham has started digging bacon

But she's still a ham. and an Evil Genius.

We're building onto the back of the shed!

We need to add some partially protected space to the back of the shed so I added this pad in the last weekend of January. Felt good to flex my landscaping skills again. We'll add a couple of walls to this, then move the kiln out there so it will be well ventilated but still out of the rain. Kelley is looking forward to firing some pottery without having to go down to the studio.

So that's it! I'll be sure and post what happens to this stupid foot. Looking forward to a fun and exciting February here.