It has been 6 months since creating this blog, and it seems a fitting time to look back and review accomplishments and gaps in “execution” of my plan.
But first let me briefly sum-up the last 3 months since my February update:
- Family and Friends
- “The Guys Turn 40 Trip”- From March 31st to April 9th I had the amazing privilege to join 6 of my closest lifelong friends (~20 years) on a journey to Hong Kong and Vietnam. We had planned this trip for many months, and like most dreams we were all skeptical about our ability to pull it off and actually do it. To celebrate our 40th birthday, all 7 of us, taking a break from the hectic pace we all live at, was not an easy task at all; Coming from family, work, and other life ”obligations”, not to mention geographical locations (SF Bay Area, NY, Paris, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv), we actually all made it to HK by April 1st! We had all been in touch over the past 20 years but it was never as a group, so I was understandably afraid of being disappointed by the group dynamics after so many years….however, from that first evening through an amazing week in Vietnam (see pics) and all the way back to HK for a last day it was truly an experience of a lifetime. The most significantpersonal revelation for me was how much I love and respect these guys, and how fortunate I have been to meet them and share 1/2 of my life withthem. The location of the trip was definitely incredible, and I could write / talk about it for hours….but with this group of people it made no difference where we were, and I hope we can repeat it at 50, 60, 70 and beyond!!!
- “Family Time”- it is getting better and better, after the initial adjustment period (see my Dec 9th post) I’m finding my place in this complex social network that is called a family. I’m learning that I don’t have to ‘lead’ or ‘manage’ it in order to contribute to and receive value from it. I’m comfortable with, and appreciative of, Inbal’s amazing capabilities as the true leader of our family unit, and in my “dad” role I can support her and complete the unit pretty well…even if I say so myself…:o)
- “The Kids”- Gal had her 9th birthday on April 21st, and it wakes you up to the speed at which your kids grow-up. We expect things to move a lot slower, as they did when we grew up. But unfortunatelywith our kids things move pretty fast, and if you miss a chapter in their lives it becomes a void that is hard to make up. Gal is definitely growing up to be a unique individual, and we are so proud of her! Eden (now 7) is our “Energizer Bunny” from the moment she wakes up to the moment she collapses to sleep she is non-stop talking, joking, signing…she reminds me of my older sister Yaella (sorry Yugz…:o). Dylan is almost 1 year old, and it seems that the ‘DNA thing’ has repeated pretty well with him…he is already running around the house, and trying to “fix” everything he can get his hands onto. I guess when they say it costs about $250K to raise a kid, they include property damage of about $100K in the first year.
- Ironman
- “At the Races” – Since February I have competed in 3 milestone races, and am happy to have achieved or exceeded my planned times. First was a pure run at the SF 1/2 Marathon (13.1miles) in which I set a personal best of 1 hour and 19 minutes. Then came my first triathlon race of the season (March 30th) at Oceanside, which I completed exactly (to the minute) as planned in 4 hours and 48 minutes. Finally, after a 10 day rest and trip to Vietnam (see above), on April 13th I set out to do my first Ironman in Arizona. On race day the temperature was over 96 (35 Celsius) and winds up to 25mph (40kph), which was not looking too encouraging for my goal time of 10hrs:45min. However, as often happens with adrenalin and extreme focus I felt surprisingly good for most of the race and, aside from one ‘desert-enduced’ vow (mile 99 of the bike) never to do this again, I kept myself well ahead of target. Finishing in 10hrs:24min was definitely a great surprise, especially given the conditions and the high overall drop out rate (~400) among the field of over 2000 starters. I do have to admit to having an ‘unfair advantage’, as I had my entire family (including mom, dad, and 2 nephews from Israel!) cheering me on with custom “Jason’s Team” shirts and all!!!
- Training – as I continue to increase my volume of training, besides minor aches and pains, training is going well. My volume now stands at 12-16 hours of training per week, and half the season is behind me. The weekly routine of long Saturday workouts (>6 hours) is becoming more comfortable, and I’m enjoying the bike training much more. The long hours spent training allows me not only to think about training but also about life in general, which is the purpose of a midlife crisis after all…
- Coaching- at the end of March I parted ways with my coach Lisa Engles, who helped me build my training plan for these 2 first events. I have no doubt that Lisa was a great coach and had been a key factor in my successes so far, however, I felt the need to work with a team of triathletes rather than alone. Therefore, I recently joined a great team called Kain Performance led by husband and wife team Pete and Shari Kain. So far it has been a great experience working with them and learning from others on the team…and I really hope to gain from this type of group work another dimension of the sport.
- Work
- Sterna Technologies – things are progressing well since the launch at DEMO’08 in January, and we’ve built a US pipeline of over 30 companies. Although I have not yet closed a contract with any of these, almost all are progressing through the sales and evaluation cycles (2 have completed successful ‘proof-of-concept’ projects) and I hope to close 3-5 by the end of the year.
- Backflip Software - last month we hired John Kish as CEO, and I’m really confident that he will be able to lead this exciting company forward. Although Backflip is in a difficult situation, playing in the intersection of 2 major industries (enterprise software and communications), I think it has the potential to become very successful.
So all in all, I’m pretty happy with the mid-point status of this “Managed Mid-Life Crisis”, and all I can wish for is that the second half goes as well as the first!!
2 more weeks until my next 1/2 Ironman in Hawaii….as they say, “life is good!”
Tags: BackFlip, Demo08, ironman, Kain Performance, managed midlife crisis, sterna
