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Tokyo Update – February 24, 2010

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Keiko and I had a wonderful trip to Japan. The good feelings about the trip started when we arrived at New York’s JFK airport. Delta had changed equipment and our previously selected bulkhead seats disappeared. At the gate I asked the agent if it might be possible to correct the situation. She did get us reassigned and asked why we were traveling to Japan. I mentioned a family visit and running the Tokyo Marathon. When we went to board the aircraft another agent said we had been upgraded to Business First …. with good luck on my run! It was an absolutely fabulous beginning to our journey.

We spent Thursday evening, Friday and Saturday relaxing and visiting with family and friends. A special treat was being with some dear friends, former colleagues from Avaya Japan. The photo shows some members of what we call “The Kamakura Gang”, members of my Avaya FIFA World Cup team who introduced me to the pleasures and excitement of Japan. They have remained good friends and we never visit Japan without seeing them. Thank you Kase, Chiho and Miki.

7 Days to Tokyo Marathon

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On Wednesday (2/24) we depart for Tokyo with the marathon set for Sunday (2/28). It has been a long, cold winter of training and I am looking forward to running in the more temperate weather predicted for Japan. My goal is to finish the event in good health in 5 hours or less. How much less will depend on the weather and, like any athletic competition, what I bring to the party that morning. If I am able to build on my 11:30 training pace, a time between 4:30 and 5:00 is possible. But 26.2 miles (42.1 kilo) is a long way and many factors can impact my performance.

For those who are around next Saturday evening or can’t sleep, you can visit the Tokyo Marathon web site and check my 5K splits. The starting time of 9:10AM Sunday Tokyo time means a 7:10PM Saturday time on the USA east coast.

Winter Marathon Training!?

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The Tokyo Marathon is 42 days from today. Training through the Maine winter for this event is proving to be likely more of a challenge than finishing in the event itself!

With six weeks out, my training program called for an 18 miler today …. 24F, 5-10 mph winds and a hilly course. The 13:28 splits were consistent with my plan to break 5 hours in Japan. I am hoping that the weather will remain cooperative so I can do the 40-50 miles per week outdoors instead of the treadmill or indoor track. I tried the treadmill in Montreal––boring. I did a 15 miler on the UMaine indoor track two weeks ago and thought they would need to unscrew me from the floor!

Spring Semester 2010

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The first week of the new semester went much better than I had expected given the short preparation time I had due to the Montreal excursion. A few observations worth noting.

First, the students in my three courses seem far more engaged and responsive. I focused the first week on student engagement and employed some new techniques shared with me at a gathering of marketing professors hosted by McGraw-Hill. The “What Do You Know?” quizzes appeared to be most successful.
Second, the contribution of an energetic, committed teaching assistant is invaluable. This academic year is the first time I have been offered a TA and Nicole Gogan has exceeded my expectations.
Finally, I have deployed some new technology and learning support systems to provide my students with greater access and support for course content, self-learning and assessment tools, lecture podcasts and other techniques. Since I have been tasked with developing some on-line courses, I am hoping the use of these systems will both enhance the in-class experience and assist in the development of the on-line or hybrid courses for the future.

Molson Update

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I regret the delay in my Molson updates. Once the competition began, I discovered that finding the time to blog was far more difficult than anticipated.

Without question, the current team is the best prepared and most competitive team the University of Maine has sent to this competition. However disappointing the results may prove to some from a win-loss perspective, the UMaine team has done very well in this very competitive environment. I have no doubt that they will leave Montreal stronger and more confident.
Visit the Molson case competition website for complete results and details– (http://www.mbacasecomp.com/)
This afternoon we were honored by a visit from Dean John Mahon and Professor Harold Daniel. Their presence boosted the spirits of the team as they prepare to take on the final case of the competition tomorrow morning.