Year: 2021

Career in Tech

Reflecting On Three Years At Google

I recently finished my third year at Google and so I wanted to take a chance to reflect on what I’ve learned and see how I’m progressing along the goals I set for myself when I joined. You can see previous updates for my 2nd year, 1st year and upon deciding to join. Things I’ve Learned During Three Years at Google 1. Things can Change Very Quickly or Very Slowly My first two years at Google were pretty stable in terms of the team around me and our mission. Our team grew a lot, which meant new people were joining the team, but there was very little attrition, especially from my management chain. My third year was a completely different story. In a period of six months I experienced churn in my SVP, VP, Director, manager, ENG manager counterpart, ENG TL, and TPM counterpart. I would have a hard time

Physical Challenges

Adventure Report: 24 Hour Max Steps Attempt 2021

Every October, some Google employees host a walking competition called Walktober. The idea is to set a walking goal and see if you can hit it. It predates me by a decade and as of 2021, over twenty-five thousand Googlers participate. In 2020 I helped create a new category of competition for most steps in a day by walking and running for 24 hours straight. I set a record but later in the month, someone broke it and raised the bar. In 2021 I returned to try and break the record again. On October 30th 2021 I walked 204,371 steps in one day. This is the adventure report. Strava link – Walktober – New Record for Most Steps in a Day (204,371) | Run | Strava Goals Results Get other Googlers excited about the single-day record – ACCOMPLISHED Have some coworkers and friends follow along online or in person –

Physical Challenges

Walking 250k Steps in 24 Hours to Raise Support for ME/CFS

On October 30th, I’m going to attempt to break a record in Google’s annual Walktober competition by walking 250,000 steps in a single day. Not only that, but I’m using this event to raise awareness and support for ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome). What Is Walktober? Every year Google has a walking competition for employees where over 20k people form teams and see how much they can walk. It is mainly a fun event that gives us all some motivation to stay moving as fall weather sets in. There are various categories to compete in for individuals and teams. My eyes are set on the record for most steps in a day. I actually held this record for about a week last year. I had done some research to find out the most anyone had ever recorded in a single day of Walktober (134k) and I realized I

Yearly Focus

2021 Focus: Three Quarter Year Update

Better every year. That is my goal. I believe that through focused effort I can keep improving and ensure my best years are still in front of me. With that in mind, at the start of a new year, I take the time to set my focus for the coming year. By being selective about where I direct my energy, I can achieve results that are exponentially greater than if I split my attention. I detailed my 2021 focus here (read that first if you want more context) & did a quarter year and half year update as well. Here is how I’m progressing. 2021 Theme: Together 2021 Challenge: Setup A Contact Reminder System I made zero progress here in Q3, I need to test out the second app I identified. 2021 Habit: Weekly Reach Out I was only 9 for 13 in Q3. Three of those weeks were when I

Physical Challenges, Yearly Focus

Race Report: Cascade Crest 100 2021

On August 28th, 2021 DNFd the Cascade Crest 100. I dropped out at mile 35 after 9.5 hours and 8k ft of climbing. Here is the race report Goals Results Don’t die – ACCOMPLISHED Enjoy being outside – ACCOMPLISHED Finish the course (even if after the allowed time) Officially finish (under the official 34 hour cutoff) Finish in under 30 hours Top 50% of finishers Finish in under 27 hours Top 25% of finishers Finish in under 24 hours (my bucket list item for this year) Tactics Be in last place at the start – ACCOMPLISHED Don’t exceed 140bpm in the first 26 miles – Failed No mile in the first 50 faster than 8 minute pace – ACCOMPLISHED 5 minutes or less at aid stations and stops – don’t stop moving – ACCOMPLISHED No single mile (and mid-mile stopping) is >30 minutes – ACCOMPLISHED 400 calories an hour for the first 50

Physical Challenges, Yearly Focus

Thoughts Before My 100 Mile Debut

This wasn’t the plan. The plan was probably not enough anyways, but now we’re certainly in not enough territory. I’m not really sure how this will go. After a month of lower-than-expected training (injury and illness), I’m just feeling good enough to run again and I’m going to attempt to run the Cascade Crest 100 this weekend. This is one of the harder 100 mile races in the country on account of the vert, amount of single track trail and sheer ruggedness of it. One section of the course is so steep that there is a rope you have to use to navigate up and then back down it. Over the course of 100 miles, run mostly on the Pacific Crest Trail, we’ll cross streams, climb 23k ft and descend about the same. Technically this year the race is 102 miles. They had to adjust the course due to fire

Yearly Focus

2021 Focus: Half Year Update

Better every year. That is my goal. I believe that through focused effort I can keep improving and ensure my best years are still in front of me. With that in mind, at the start of a new year, I take the time to set my focus for the coming year. By being selective about where I direct my energy, I can achieve results that are exponentially greater than if I split my attention. I detailed my 2021 focus here (read that first if you want more context) & did a quarter year update as well. Here is how I’m progressing. 2021 Theme: Together 2021 Challenge: Setup A Contact Reminder System After beta testing one application to help with this, I have identified a second app I want to try out. 2021 Habit: Weekly Reach Out I was 11 for 13 in Q2 on reaching out to someone weekly. Some of the

Physical Challenges

Race Report: Gulch Countdown 2021

On Saturday June 19th, 2021 I did not finish the Gulch Countdown race, getting disqualified after ~30 miles. Out of 46 runners, I finished 7th overall. This is the race report. Goals I ran this race in 2019 and wanted to beat my result there, where I was DQd on the 12th lap Make it to the 12 lap (26.2 miles) – ACCOMPLISHED Make it to 14th lap ~50k – ACCOMPLISHED Make it to the 16th lap (Previous Race Record) – Not Accomplished Be the last man standing – Not Accomplished Successes What am I proud of from race day? Excellent restraint early – had covered a half marathon before my heart rate went over 140 bpm Had a lot of fun meeting other runners and talking on the trail Failures What areas could I improve for future races? Failed in the exact same way as in 2019, didn’t push

Yearly Focus

How I Plan To Run 100 Miles Training Three Days A Week

This year my bucket list item is running a 100 mile race. Specifically, I want to finish the Cascade Crest 100 in under 24 hours. If you know anything about me though, you might have guessed that I also have a stretch goal. That stretch goal is to end up on the podium, finishing in the top 3 spots. That will likely require me to finish closer to 18 hours. Either 24 or 18 hours will be quite a feat as this particular race features over 20k ft of elevation gain (running up mountains), which really makes it more like 140 miles of flat-course equivalent. This is probably something I should train hard for. The trouble is, I’m a busy guy. I have 4 kids and a job leading a team at Google, so I don’t have as much time to train for a race like this as I would

Yearly Focus

Early Thoughts on Relationships

This year I am thinking about the theme of relationships, as I described in my Yearly Focus 2021 plan. I haven’t been great about doing anything with the theme the last few years so I’m going to attempt to change that by writing some more – to encourage me to think. I haven’t had a lot of time to write lately though (I still owe an update on a 135 mile adventure I did 9 months ago…), so I’m going to time box this and see what I can get on paper within an hour and just go with that. Relationships Who Needs Them? The simple answer it is seems to me everyone successful I have studied as a part of my yearly exemplar has a handful of critical relationships. They come in all sorts of forms, but what is consistent as I read the biographies of people I want