Adventures in Interviewland

I had an interview in Detroit on Monday. Normally, this would be exciting, and it was, until I had to actually get there.

My interview was set to begin at 3 pm, and in situations like that, I am very particular about being there at least 10-15 minutes early. Knowing that one of my greatest talents is getting lost, I arrived in Detroit at 2:15 to give myself plenty of time to figure out how to get to the office. As it turns out, I did drive around for about 15 minutes before I found what I believed to be the correct building and the parking structure across the street, as described in the email I was following. Great.

Enter my inability to understand driving directions.

I walked around this particular monument about 4 times..

I exited the parking structure and crossed the busy street, walked into the building and loved the sound of my heels clicking against the marble floors. I spoke to a very nice gentleman at the reception area, who assured me I was absolutely not in the correct place. In fact, I was four blocks away.

Fantastic.

Four blocks isn't too bad, I thought. Oh, how wrong I was. That four blocks turned into 1 mile. Keep in mind that it was 83 degrees outside, the sun was relentless, I was lost, and I had 20 minutes to walk a mile in heels across the city, and that 20 minutes would put me at the office at exactly 3 pm.

By the time I arrived at the correct location, my feet were bleeding from the blisters that both formed and popped in the first 10 minutes of my trek. My shirt was nearly soaked through with sweat (something that has never happened to me, incidentally, even after half an hour on the treadmill, I never sweat that much! Gross.) I was 4 minutes late, and my stress level was out of control. My hair was matted to my head and I was the epitome of a "hot mess" at that point.

I imagine this was the general additude of my
blistered toes by the time I arrived home.

Frankly, I was amazed they let me join the interview given my appearance and tardiness. I did the best I could to answer the questions and appear unphased by my body temperature (I must admit, I was impressed with my self-control as I resisted fanning myself or attempting to clean my bloodied feet). In the end, they were very kind about the whole thing.

I'm not sure if I'll be called back for a second interview, but regardless, this was an important learning experience. I know that I have a strong drive to make things happen, and I think that came through as I practically ran to get to the interview on time. I know that next time, I will definitely make sure I drive by the proper office a day or two ahead of time.

The walk back to my car was one of the most painful walks in my life...paying $17.50 for parking was offensive to me as well. I'm not sure I can think of any parking structure that is worth that fee for an hour and a half.

So was the Journey Through Interviewland from Hell.

Running Through The Vehicle City

Here's a bit of irony for you: on Saturday was the annual Crim Festival of Races came to Flint, a city which boasts the name "Vehicle City," as if to suggest it is the younger, more scrappy brother of Detroit, the Motor City. Just last weekend was a huge car show known as Back to the Bricks, and this week, running aficionados found themselves flocking to the brick streets downtown. Interesting that a city based around driving as a major form of transportation also supports the opposite: the use of no vehicle at all!

My friend Tobi was in town, so we went into the city in the morning on Saturday. Of course, neither of us run, so we stood by the buildings and watched as the runners took their marks, and eventually returned as sweaty, smelly, and hunger-driven. Thousands of people showed up to run, and thousands more showed up to watch. I had never been to the Crim before, and I had assumed that several people showed up, but I never would have guessed it would be on such a large scale. The race featured everything from a Teddy Bear Trot for the little tykes out there, to a 10 mile race.

In the end, a Kenyan man named Julius Kogo won the 10 mile race for the second year in a row, this year completing the race in 47:15. Personally, I'm not sure how that's even possible, but kudos to the people who are so well-conditioned who can do that! (Nerd alert: Kenyans are sometimes stereotyped as being excellent runners, and as it turns out, they actually have a high proportion of fast-twitch muscle fibers, which may contribute to their ability to run long distances more efficiently...so, they're genetically predisposed to being great runners! Additionally, they train using low mileage and high intensity.)

While I don't dream of being a long distance runner, I may up the ante on the treadmill this week. Maybe someday, I'll participate in the Crim instead of watching...maybe.