NumPy and Pandas -- the Start of Summer

Summer has begun and with that comes warmth, ideas and of course goals!  Realizing it's been almost a full year since we've moved back to the US is kind of wild and to think how much my life has changed in the last year.  I mean I'm contemplating a marathon, I like my job again but the part of me that wants to look and analyze data hasn't left.  Instead it has definitely gotten stronger!

In the last week I've been taking a more in-depth look at Numpy and Pandas, both libraries that work with Python.  The more I learn of how these two work together the more intrigued I am. The ability to work with numerous libraries is what helps to make Python interesting and insightful. As I dig deeper into the various libraries Python uses, the more I realize it really can be somewhat intuitive to work with.

This doesn't mean I don't make mistakes but in order to fix these mistakes it is much easier as I have a greater understanding of what the code means and how to adjust the writing to make it work.  Finding bugs in code is part of the process, in the case of Python I am finding my bugs before I need to ask for help.  That, to me is a huge step in the direction I want to go with coding.

The second goal is to run a marathon, we still don't know if New York is happening but I've decided not to run it, even if it is.  It wasn't an easy decision but a decision that had to be made.  I'll run New York at some point but it's just not in the cards at this point.  

That leaves two marathons that are available in October - Grand Rapids and Detroit.  I'm still debating between the two as I'd love to run Detroit as it goes between Canada and the US while Grand Rapids is a hometown marathon that would be a fantastic first marathon.  So I'm waiting...but while I wait I started a new training plan that should help get me to the finish line because that's really what it's about at this point, getting to the finish line.

This training plan is all time based.  You work towards completing the time given.  For example, the long run this week was 50-60 minutes of continuous running. In the plan there are also days with fartleks, intervals to keep things varied.  It's a great system but hard...yet at the same time I know if I can get through it, I'll be able to finish the marathon which is the goal.  

So there we have it, I'm working on learning to code more (still want to do a career change this year) and changing up my training plan.  Crazy goals and might be a bit ambitious but my goals nonetheless.  

The next week, I'm hoping to start a part-time job (wish me luck), go on to the 2nd week of the training plan (increased minutes and some more strides and fartlek work) as well as working through some data analysis.  It's going to be an amazing week!