Wife Mother Runner Blog - Wife Mother Runner

#EpicSummer2014 Just Got More Epic!

September 22, 2014

This summer and this year I had set a personal goal to Grow. As the kids got out of school for summer vacation I wanted to set up the summer to be one of MANY memories and I wanted it to be Epic. Then the #EpicSummer2014 had become a “thing” for us. In late June I learned that the President of the company I work for was “retiring”. He was the last of the legacy of management to “retire” from our division. The moment I read that email I knew a big change was happening. I felt a shift in my world.

Within days of that happening we had a Town Hall meeting with our new business leader and I was contacted by a company in North Carolina for a possible job with Lowes at their headquarters. They are hiring a huge IT staff because they are bringing their IT support back to the US from overseas. It was a pretty positive connection with an interview to be schedule. It got the wheels turning in my head. The wheels were turning so fast smoke was pouring out of my ears! Within the 4 days of when they contacted me for my first screening call I had researched houses in the area, reviewed the relocation package Lowes had to offer and thought about how we would sell our house. It was nuts. But in all reality I couldn’t imagine driving away from my house in CT to a new location, and starting over. I can, but I can’t imaging leaving my CT family. I know I could easily make friends and the kids would adjust to living in NC, but they would miss their grandparents and cousins.

Just days after my screening call and the possibility of an interview I received an automated email that my application for the job was reviewed but they decided to select another candidate. I was crushed. But the whole experience opened my eyes to my new future. It made me realize that I am valuable. Companies were reviewing my skills and I realized that could be worth something outside of Honeywell. I realized that while it wasn’t time to move out-of-state, it was time to leave my current job.

On July 3, I was contacted by New Horizons about a SharePoint Trainer and Account Manager position. I hadn’t considered a job doing SharePoint. I just updated my resume to include my SharePoint experience, but I hadn’t planned on going into a job to do SharePoint. It is a task that I am good at and I feel I am stronger at that tool than I am in the actual web design. I am a stronger coder than I am designer.

So after the first phone call with New Horizons, they told me they would schedule an interview. I had my first interview a few weeks after, then was told I would hear from them soon. Shortly after I was contacted to come in and do a presentation on any topic I wanted to discuss. I decided to do a work related topic so it would be kept on the professional level. I had to take a few hours off from work to go up to Bloomfield and do a 30-minute presentation. I felt confident on the way there, but when it came time to present, I didn’t feel that I was presenting as smoothly as I had wanted to. I am comfortable giving presentations, but I am out of practice. After I presented, we sat and talked and Carlinde and Joe asked me some questions. It was a very comfortable conversation and I felt confident about the way things were looking. One question Joe asked me was “what is the future looking like or the goals for Pam Frost?” That was a great question. I told him about my one word resolution that seems to be a factor in all aspects of my life. I told him how I came to the resolution to GROW this year and by looking to leave my company that I have been with for 24 years to branch out and give myself opportunities that I will not receive if I remain at my job, that’s my goal to grow this year.

A few weeks later, I was contacted again to come back for a third interview and to give a mock training class on some elements of SharePoint to Heidi, Joe and Carlinde. Due to some scheduling issues, I had to hold off on that presentation until late August. I studied up on the elements they wanted me to teach and actually taught myself a few new things that I wish I had known in my job at Honeywell because I could have designed our sites in a whole other way had I been taught that. But again, this is how I grow. I presented to them on August 28th. After the presentation I was hoping to hear news by the end of the week, but no news came my way. On September 3, Carlinde contacted me to schedule a call for later in the week so I arranged it for September 5. I was contacted again that something came up and we had to move the call to the following week. I was on pins and needles, but Carlinde assured me that something came up with HR and she was waiting on some documentation. That put my mind at ease that things were looking positive and it was all just a matter of time.

The call came Monday, September 8th. Everything was positive and the offer was what I was hoping for. The company can accommodate my needs to get my kids off to school and I was happy with the terms of the offer. We had to iron out a few details and questions I had and I received my final offer. I couldn’t notify my boss because he wasn’t in the office that Monday.

On Tuesday, September 9th I tried to meet with my boss, but he was on constant meetings and I wasn’t able to get in to talk with him. I finally had to set up a meeting request for 1:00 p.m. When I went into the office to meet with him I think he was completely caught off guard. It wasn’t how I envisioned it would be and it was very uncomfortable. After a short 15 minute meeting, he went to our department manager and shut the door to hash out the details. Thirty minutes later I was called back into my boss’ office and the tone was much more relaxed. Steve and Jack talked with me, wished me well, and told me this is a good move.

As the next 9 days of work unfolded, many things were happening. My job tasks are being shipped over to India, my co-workers may feel the pain of my leaving with assuming some of my old tasks. One of my biggest projects that I hated and part of the reason why I left was finally being removed from our department. There are many reasons why I am leaving, but the sad thing is when people say goodbye and tell me I’m leaving at the right time. The company just isn’t the same. Management has changed and the greed of the shareholders has taken over. There is no more appreciation for the people working there. The personal touch is gone.

I am leaving because it felt like my time to go and this opportunity fell into my lap at the exact moment when I felt the shift in my life happen. I was sitting in my car on the phone with my husband crying and I told him, I can’t explain what is going on, but I had to leave the job. I had to leave the 24 years I was there, 4 weeks vacation, all of my friends that I worked with, and my boss who I think of as a great friend and mentor. But I can still keep in touch with the friends and I plan on it. Now I can move into a new role where I can make a name for myself. I won’t just be seen as headcount and have to explain why I should remain an employee in the company. I won’t just be an EID who gets a good score on my 5S chart for keeping my cubicle neat and tidy. I will be Pam Frost, a SharePoint Technical Trainer and Account Manager. I will teach people and I will show New Horizons how I can be an asset to their business.

It was an Epic summer for me in many ways. But this was the icing on the cake. I needed this. I am happy for this change and I am embracing it. To be honest, the decision was not difficult to leave everything I had at Honeywell. I may have a new commute of 40 minutes versus the 3 minute I had at Honeywell, but I am going to gain so much from it. My kids will also gain from this. I will be happier.

Packing up my office was weird. I went in one evening to do my photographs and personal items because I wasn’t sure if I would be emotional doing it in front of everyone on my last day. Well, come to find out, on my last day there were absolutely no tears. The only time I had emotion was the day I gave my notice. But I think most of that was just a culmination of all the anticipation adding up and the stress of giving my notice.

I packed up my boxes on Friday, turned in my badge and walked to my car with my boss. We will be meeting for lunch on Tuesday and I know I’ll be seeing him around.

As I have my week off between jobs I am looking forward to getting myself organized and preparing for my new journey. I need this break and am also looking forward to putting in some training miles towards my Dopey Challenge! I am going to hit the ground running. This is what 24 years working for a company ends up looking like. Nothing exciting. Just a few boxes.

Goodbye Honeywell. I’ll miss the people there and the job, not the recent culture. On to New Horizons.

Training for the Disney Tower of Terror 10 Miler

September 17, 2014

The Disney Tower of Terror 10-miler race is the first night race of the Fall season. It begins at 10:00 p.m. at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and runs toward the Animal Kingdom, back around to the ESPN Wide World of Sports and ends back through Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I ran this race for the first time last year and loved it. However, I did not understand with confidence, how to prepare for a night race. Now that I have done it, I know what to do to prepare.

The mileage wasn’t an issue for me because I was preparing for the WDW marathon weekend. But if this is your first time doing a night race, I recommend that you put in the miles prior to the race so that you don’t have to worry about running a night race PLUS running that distance for your first time. Prior to the race weekend I had listened to the Mickey Miles Podcast Episodes 102 and 103. Jeff Galloway had discussed with Mike and Michelle some tips on preparing for running a night race. He did mention scheduling a long training run for the time of day similar to your race. Where I live, it is a very rural area, and I just wasn’t comfortable doing a 10 mile run on my dark country roads in the open fields. I also didn’t want to do a 10 mile run at 10:00 at night on my treadmill. However, I don’t think it is a bad idea.

Another important element for preparing for the night race is your nutrition. I feel that this is equally as important as the actual running mileage you put in for the race. In my experience the third most important thing is resting prior to the race. Last year, I made it a point to eat a turkey sandwich late in the afternoon and rested in my hotel room for several hours. I could not fall asleep, but I was off of my feet and resting (not walking around the parks).

Hydration is also a critical component to having a successful race. Even though the race takes place at night, it is usually still quite hot and humid in Florida. We were pretty sweaty early on in the race. So it is important to have a lot of fluids throughout the day and also during the race.

When it was time to head out to the race, we hung out in the corral area for a while prior to lining up in the corrals. I had some apple sauce prior to the race. Mentally, my challenge was realizing that it was 9:30 p.m. and I am usually getting my family and I ready for bed, and here I was preparing to begin a 10 mile race. That was a little bit of a head trip. Once the race got going, the adrenaline gets pumping and you don’t realize what time it is. I really enjoyed the race and the location of it. Running at night was really fun. For some reason, I feel like I run faster in the dark. I can’t explain it, but it is the way I feel.

I was hungry after the race. That was weird, because by the time I got back to my hotel it was after 2:00 p.m. and I didn’t necessarily have “food” to eat. Not to mention that I had to shower and get some sleep before waking up early for my flight home.

The points to take out of this when preparing for the Tower of Terror 10 miler is to be aware of what you eat the day of the race. I had a hearty breakfast of pancakes the morning of the race. During the day I made sure I wasn’t eating anything that would cause me any upset late in the day, and in the late afternoon I had a turkey sub with chips. I felt successful with my food intake the day of the race. In regards to resting, I also feel that I made smart choices by making it a point to be in my room, off my feet and resting. If you make a priority to do these things you will be successful in this race.

Read my Tower of Terror Race Recap from 2013.

Dumbo Double Dare – Day 2 The 10K

September 14, 2014

By far, this was my HARDEST day in my racing history. I hadn’t slept that great the first night in California (typical after a day of travel and anticipation of waking up for the race). I woke up prior to the alarm going off in a sweat and I felt that feeling in my stomach that I might throw up and I had a migraine. I quietly got out of bed and went into the bathroom where I begged and pleaded with my stomach to settle down. I had all those throw-up-about-to-happen signs. It wasn’t good. I laid on the cold bathroom floor for a few minutes and tried to calm myself down. Then the alarms on all of our phones began to go off. It was time to get up for the 10K race.

I tried very hard to get ready. I had to lay on the floor a few times to just try to quiet things down. But I did everything in my power to get my butt out the door to that start line. When I brushed my teeth things didn’t go well. I just about hurled. But I didn’t! I got out the door with the girls and made it to the corrals. That was still a shakey time for me and at that point I just wanted to start the race so I could get my body moving, the blood flowing and hopefully it would ease the pain.

We finally got to start the race and I began to feel better when we started running. The 10K course if my favorite. We got to run through California Adventure and then into Disneyland. We had the chance to take a few pictures along the course.

Photo by www.makermothermarathonrunner.com

After the race I went back to the room and showered, had a Coke and some cinnamon bread and took a nap. The nap was critical to helping my headache feel better. After my nap I went to the expo and met up with Laurel and Dan.

Then I walked around the expo to pick up a few more things. I bought some Sweaty Bands and Beecause charms for my Cinderella sneakers. After that I went to downtown Disney to buy gifts for my family at the World of Disney and had a snack at La Brea Bakery. I also picked up my Disneyland Alex and Ani bracelet there!

Beecause charm

I met up with Laurel, Dan, Dee Dee and Meg along with the Magic Milers at the bakery and hung out for a little bit. It was getting close to 5:00 and I needed to meet up with everyone at Disneyland for the pasta in the park party.

My pasta in the park party ticket had a ticket to the park after 4 PM and the dinner was from 6:00 to 8:30. I met up with Becca, Gail and Kim and we went into the party at Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree. I enjoyed the party. They had pasta, salad, bread, vegetables, dessert, water and lemonade. They also had a cash bar but I only had the water.

There were Hawaiian dancers and character photo opportunities. I enjoyed the event but if I had to purchase it on my own I would not have participated in it. The price is too expensive for such an event.

Photo by www.makermothermarathonrunner.com

After the dinner we went on some of the classic rides such as Pinocchio and Snow White. But it was getting late and I was beginning to get my headache again. I left early to go back to the room and rode the monorail so that I could get ready for the race the next day and get into bed early. That was a critical move for me. I really wanted to ride the rides with the girls but I knew I had to get back when I did.

Stay tuned for the half marathon recap next!

Dumbo Double Dare Day 1 – Travel Day and Expo

September 9, 2014

This year’s Dumbo Double Dare was probably my favorite runDisney race to date. The trip began as I got my kids onto the bus for their 2nd day of school. My daughter did great, no tears for school or because I was leaving for a few days. I finished up my packing and headed up to the airport. My flight left at 11:50 and all went well with my travels through Chicago.

I flew over the Grand Canyon. It was amazing to see from that angle! The nice lady sitting next to me took pictures for me and they were amazing!

I arrived in Santa Ana around 4:30. I picked up my rental car and I arrived to the Disneyland Hotel by 6:00 p.m. Traffic on Friday night of Labor Day weekend always takes about 45 minutes to an hour but the return drive back to the airport is always 15 minutes easy. When I arrived to the Disneyland Hotel, Rebecca, Kim and Gail were still out to dinner so I checked my bags with the bell stand and headed over to the runDisney Health and Fitness Expo.

The Expo this year was fantastic! I walked right in and got my bib and coast to coast wristband. Then I had to head upstairs to get my race shirts. After that I went to the official merchandise area and checked out what I wanted to purchase this year. I didn’t go nuts purchasing many Dumbo shirts, but I did make sure I got a 2014 Coast to Coast shirt. After checking out with no wait, I went over to the vendor area and took my picture with Jeff Galloway and talked with his wife Barbara. They are such sweet people. I could stand there for hours and talk to them!

After that I went to the New Balance booth where I was able to walk right up and try on shoes with no wait! I even found a pair of the kid size Minnie shoes that fit perfectly and saved me $50!

I went over to the Tangaroa Terrace and grabbed a bite to eat for dinner and sat down outside to talk with the kids on the phone. It was late back home and they needed to get to bed.

After dinner I went up to the room and met up with the girls. I was starting to feel a little tired from the trip and was beginning to get a little bit of a headache. It was good to see all the girls and we ironed our costumes and laid out our clothes for race day the following morning.

It was time to go to sleep and start off the races!

Stay tuned for Part 2 – the 10K race!

I Am A Member Of Team Chocolate Milk!

August 28, 2014

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you everyone who voted for me for two weeks to help me get onto Team Chocolate Milk! I am so excited to be a part of the team. My family, friends and I have been voting for the two weeks after I found out I was a finalist to be on the team. I had to religiously make sure I put my vote in each day and had to remind all of my friends (hopefully not enemies now) on Facebook to please vote. My son, especially enjoyed placing his vote each night. I love when they get excited about things that I get excited about.

The hard work of asking (begging) has paid off! After the voting period closed the waiting period began. It closed on Tuesday night and I was on vacation. While having lunch together on Friday my phone chimed that I had an email. I checked it and it was my announcement that I had made it to the team! My kids and husband were cheering and smiling from ear to ear. They knew this was important to me and they were so excited I made it. I had to print out 30 pages of paperwork to fill out and then send in to them to make it official. As soon as I got home from our trip I submitted the paperwork and received this email yesterday:

It’s official! I am so glad I have the opportunity to be a part of this team and I look forward to what is yet to come for me this year. I’ll keep you posted as to what there is coming up for me with this new team I am on.

I Was On The Dreamers Podcast

August 27, 2014

I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Joe Pardo over the summer. He is the host of the Dreamers Podcast and I came across it when my friend Eddie McCoy was interviewed by him. Since then I have been hooked on it and have listened to almost every episode.

If you haven’t heard of it, please go check him out on iTunes and his Facebook page. His website has links to everything at http://howtodream.co/. When I need some inspiration or when I am questioning a decision I am making about something important in my life I listen to the guests on his podcast and I see that many people have gone through the same fears and doubts, but learn that those fears and doubts are just a state of mind and that we have the power to overcome them to achieve our dreams.

Listen to his episode with me here or download it from iTunes. I felt weird downloading it and listening to myself talk. When we recorded it, I felt like I was rambling on for hours. But he did an awesome job of editing it and summing up the important points. I’d love to hear what you think of it!