Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Knowing when to Quit


Sometimes knowing when to quit is a hard thing to figure out. Other times you know before hand when it is time. I am working on a hollow vessel that I started a while ago. I worked on it for several hours and then put it away for about a year or 2 ago. I finally got it out and started working on it again yesterday. I have no idea where I was going with it since I haven't thought about it in a while. I am trying to decide how far to go with it. I am committed to opening up the slots now that I have started cutting them I drew pencil lines on yesterday and figured I would think about the piece overnight and see if I still wanted to go that far with the carving. This morning I am still liking the idea. I am now trying to decide if I should keep the hard edges or go for a more rounded look. Many times when I go out to make a piece I have a pretty clear picture in my mind of what I want to make. This really helps me know when to stop. With a project like this I have no clear vision, I am just along for the ride. Hopefully I will know when I am done...

Saturday I did a 26.2 mile training run. It took a really long time. I was having a rough day. They say you have good days and bad days. I was determined not to quit no matter how long it took me. It took about 1 hour longer then I thought it would take. I even turned down 2 rides. My legs were very sore when I finished but I finished and was very happy that I stuck it out. The people I usually train with were long finished but I got the same satisfaction they did for finishing.
I even look pretty good in the picture.

Having a clear goal helps you decide when you are done. Now I am going out to my studio to finish the Walnut Vessel.


Friday, January 15, 2010

Don't make em like they used to

We have an outside laundry room. And the light gets left on a lot. We were burning through regular light bulbs left and right. So they had these new CFL light bulbs that were supposed to last a really long time. I broke down and spent the $13 for on light bulb. That was a lot of money for one bulb. But the increased life and lower running cost made it worth a try. Yesterday with much sadness I went to start a load of laundry and the light had burned out. My light bulb had finally died on us. I replaced it with a new CFL bulb but the new ones are only supposed to last 8000 hours which is still a long time. In the picture on the bottom of the bulb I wrote the date I installed the bulb 12/31/2001. 8 Years on one light bulb. When I bought this bulb everyone was saying to replace all your old bulbs with CFL's like most people I wasn't going to throw away perfectly good light bulbs so as the old ones died I upgraded my lights it took a while but eventually we got them all changed out. The manufacturers have figured out that if they kept making the bulbs last as long as my first one they would eventually go out of business. So like everything else they wear out quicker. The good news is the bulbs are now cheaper. I can buy an 8 pack of CFL bulbs for less money, The bad new is I burn through all 8 and my original was still going strong.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Slow week training busy week turning

So I was pretty busy with my wood turning this week. I finished this bowl. It started out as a regular bowl, I then cut out all the leaves and then did some wood burning and finally airbrushed the color onto the leaves. I used transparent paints because I like to be able to see the wood grain in my finished pieces. I also mad a giant bobbin for a customer to wrap copper tubing around. Thursday evening I taught a pen turning class at Woodcraft. Today I started another leaf bowl. This is a technique I am definitely going to explore some more. I have several more themes I want to bring to life.

My training is coming along. I didn't get much running in this week but I am ok with that. I went swimming twice and Spinning once and I am going again in the morning. This morning I got in a 7 mile run in very cold and windy conditions. After last weeks 23 mile run I wanted to take a few days off from running. The marathon in about 6 weeks away and coming up fast. I am looking forward to that. I am also looking forward to warmer weather. I like training when it is warmer. It looks like at least another week of cold weather. I will just keep training.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

23 miles

Yesterday we did a 23 mile group training run on the rail trail. It was very cold when we started at 6am and it never really warmed up. I had a little cramping in my leg and walked the last 4 miles with Shannon. We were both struggling a bit at that point. I did complete the full 23 miles. My legs are feeling better today. I am trying to decide if I want to do any training today or just take it easy. That is the furthest I have ever run before. Only 3 more miles to go to hit the marathon distance. In a month and a half we will be running a marathon. I started training for this August 1st so it has been a long journey. I have worn out 2 pairs of shoes since I started running about a year and a half ago. I currently own 2 pairs of shoes that I rotate on my runs. I would have never believed that I would have 2 pairs of running shoes. Basically I have one pair for shorter runs and the other for my longer runs. The first pair is lighter and with less cushioning the second pair is a bit heavier and has more cushioning. 5 hours and 23 miles is a lot of repetitions of your feet striking the ground. I may not be fast but I am out there putting in the miles.