Week 17: 4/23/2018 - 4/20/2018

I haven't done a quarterly tally to see how much less I've accomplished since this time last year.  Maybe I'll put that on my to-do list that never gets tackled...  I'll add Yarn Bra for Leslie to the list too...


Monday (o)  It was beautiful out, I didn't get out for this reason or that reason.  It is what it is.

Banana bread in the foreground, dried to make banana bread french toast for dinner,
Founders Sumatra to pair!
Breakfast for dinner win!

Tuesday (4.5 + 1.8 )  Another beautiful day and I did get out and run the back side of campus down to Jupiter Point and back.  Nice south breeze, makes that a nice out and back.  I walked a bit on the way back, just not feeling it.  My knees are definitely creaky and felt every step.  Euflexxa shots start up again on Friday.

The crazy black dog, excited about a new place.
He stopped and waited for me A LOT,
So much easier to see a white dog in the woods.

Took Jax to Caonchet, for some reason I thought it was 2.8, it's 1.8.  Found out Seth was out there and we just missed each other!  Strava fly by here and now I know what Nick drives.  Jax did head down the white trail with some interest so the trail was fresh.  Seth would have been a friendly to meet up with, Jax is a bit of a wild child, Gus was pretty mellow and laid back.  Probably would have been a good experience.  I still don't think I'm ready to meet up with people, I will have to eventually.

Wednesday (3.1) It was supposed to rain and I had to drive to NJ.  I didn't make it out of Groton on time to make it for dinner with the group in Short Hills. I wasn't completely disappointed.  The run was nice one of those soaker rains you are happiest in when you wear a hat.  Germaine didn't and she regretted her race walk, she lives 1/2 mile from campus too and said she kicked herself for not stopping by home to pick up a hat.  She was glad to keep me in her sights, not exactly hard with international yellow shirt and hat.  I really have a thing about not blending in with the road.  Germaine blended in, I tried to be kind, but she knew she shouldn't wear back and blue in the rain.    Kinda sad my pace is so slow a race walker can keep an eye on me.  I enjoy my conservative run and if it doesn't meet someone's expectations of acceptability, that's on them not me.

Finally starting to look like spring, it is a month late!!

Thursday (2.6 + 2)  I was going to meet Faith at Beer'd for the 5K but I kinda let the Imaginary Husband down, I felt like that, he didn't seem to think I did.  I offered to take Jax on a hike so he could get out on the bike.  It was scheduled to rain on Friday and rain and mountain biking is bad for the trails.  What's not to love about someone who cares for the state of the trails?  I messaged Faith that there was going to be a change in plans, we'd be hiking with Jax.  She's been getting over a serious chest cold and this was her 'easy day' and I really don't think she cared much what we did, just that we did something and went to dinner and then to a book signing.    We did a bit of the hill and a bit of the flat at Riverwood.  Jax was lagging because of the heat, but happy to have our undivided attention. 

Colleen, Sean, and one of their pups Sneaky Pete!
Sneaky Pete was tired of me and Faith petting him.

We went to see Colleen Alexander talk about her book "Gratitude in Motion"  She was run over by a freight truck when she was on her bicycle and this her story of reconstruction back to a fully functioning human and then to a fully functioning triathlete.    Truly amazing story.  I highly recommend it for being able to get inside the mind of someone at death's door and how they came back to life.  The part that touched me the most was her husband Sean's never-ending support and dedication.  You could see the love and respect he has for Colleen when he looks at her.  That was as overwhelming as what she overcame/worked through being shredded outside and in and mentally from a freight truck.  I am far from a romantic, brutally practical when it comes to most things, I have a very big heart.

Friday (2.6 + 1) Ro and I got out just as the rain started, hoping the skies wouldn't open up, we had a ton of catching up to do.  We got about 1/2 mile in and ran into Germaine who really wanted to talk about returning to running and really needed some company.  She's a sweet gal, a once upon a time super runner who had to give it up due to back issues.  The never-ending pain with each step brought her to race walking.  She tried running again, one mile off her usual 6-mile loop and the pain was unbearable and she was hoping it would recede.  Probably not...  she is still going to try, it may be better for her to start with the one minute run 9-minute walk routine and adding one minute each week or every other week until you are running for 10 minutes.  

Found on my walk.  Gus would have been so psyched, a trip to DQ for him and Grey Sail for me!
I am very sad it never dawned on me we could do both in one trip.

 I wasn't supposed to exercise as it was my first of the Euflexxa shot series.  The 2.6-mile walk doesn't count as exercise, right?  Neither was the walk downtown and back, right?  They are only miles?  Two more shots will do me for 6 months.  I think now that the joint pain due to the Lupus is under control I'll see some more results faster.  I won't be running more than 10ish miles a week but I can run and that is fine.  Walking fills in the gaps and biking will take over the big adrenaline rushes.

Saturday (3.5 + 2.6)  Met up with Jess to mountain bike at Rockland in Madison, CT.  About an hour away for each of us.  It was mostly laughing and at the Jess saying "Jeasus Beth, if no one has ever seen you road ride they'd think you didn't know how to ride a bike the way you handle your mountain bike."  I thought that was pretty funny.  I feel like a fish out of water on Barney, clearly, I look like one!  She did say that same as road riding I make hills look like a piece of cake.  (I think she is too kind, there are plenty of people who murder me on hills)  Bottom line, we all have different skills.  I think years of riding dirt bikes with her brothers helped her off-road skills a lot.  I need to learn to go a bit faster.  Ok, a LOT faster.  It will come in time.  I don't ride off-road often enough.  I may be better off looking for more gravel grind than single track rides till I can handle Barney a bit better.  Or I'll just keep plugging away at it tire rotation by tire rotation, as is my MO.  

And I'm off and not falling over or walking my bike!
Photo by Jess

Slowly I'm coming to the realization biking is going to be my go to rather than running.  This is a hard pill to swallow.

Me and Jess
She is brave, no knee pads!

When I got home Dave let me know he went on one of Bill's 50-mile single track/gravel grinds and please please please would I take Jax on a hike?  Sure, I was really beat and really wanted a shower, but I put on some non-biking clothes and took the crazy boy out to Riverwood.  As we approached the gate, usually locked, it was open.  Oh christ on a cracker.  The family was out in the yard and the guy said: "Yeah the cub scouts are having an event."  I said "Do you know if they are all over the woods or in the campground?"  he said that they usually stay in the campground.  He did have to tell me though that about 20 minutes before the cub scout families arrived the Westerly PD came screaming through chasing a suspect who was on foot.  He grabbed his mountain bike and rode down (from his house it is 1/4 mile to the trailhead) the police asked him to just go home they had the dogs coming.  The suspect was apprehended and then the stream of cub scout family cars came through.  He said it was all rather exciting.

What on earth are all these cars doing in my woods?  -- Jax

Jax and I did our flat loop and by the time we got back to the trailhead all the cub scouts and families were gone, the fire completely out and soaked with water.  Jax scoured around for some tasty things, and found none, good campers!

Well, they could have at least left me some tasty things.  -- Jax

We did see a long black snake, and it slithered off into some brush.  We did try and see if we could find him, we did and, he was rattling his tail at us, I don't think there are Rhode Island Rattlers, but all in all, it was best to just keep moving.   I'm pretty sure snakes can move pretty fast and I didn't want either of us on the wrong side of this guy, even if he is harmless.  It's more the shock than anything.   Jax kept wandering back to the brush pile, I guess the tail made a noise he could hear, to investigate.  It took a while to get his attention back to staying on the trail and moving forward.  

In the brush is a 5 ft long black snake, he was waggling his bum at us so we decided to move along!

Jax is crashed on the couch snoring up a blue streak.  I'm glad, he got enough activity after being alone for a few hours today.   It's scary to have a soon to be 8-year-old boxer knowing their lifespan, and yet it's nice knowing he can get enough activity with a short hike and not go bonkers at night.  He was darn near impossible to wear out his first 5 years!

Sunday (2.7)  Not a good start to the day and even after the sun came out and I got some gardening done, still not quite sure. An off day sums it up. It is what it is. 

Dave and I took Jax out on an adventure in Riverwood, no snakes, no cub scouts, no bears, no turkeys, pretty boring, just a bunch of rocks and trees.  I felt human after, yeah, me!

I love photos where you capture the subjects unaware, ambling along doing their own thing,
The few after this Dave knew I was taking pictures, oh well.

Dave was productive:

The fleet is organized and won't topple over on to each other or crash through a window.  I've been giving the task of finding out if my old Dolce (Dolly) can accommodate bigger tires to make her a gravel grinder.  Dave is hell-bent on getting me OFF the roads.  I'm good with options, the first one being road biking.  Running is something I won't be able to do often or for long distances.

Knitting:

A bit of progress on the Red White and Blue socks.  Not a lot of downtime this week to knit.

Books:

The Thousandth Floor
by Katharine McGee

Well, it's a YA novel about NYC 100 years in the future.  I was more drawn to NYC of the future, this was the same old same old drug-addled rich kid poor kid stupid teenage crap 100 years in the future with genetically perfected girls, blonde, blue-eyed being idolized for their perfection.  The NYC of McGee's future has a 1,000 story tower where most everyone lives and the higher in the tower, you guessed it, the more well off you are.  Those not living in the tower live in the shadow of the tower.  1,000 floors it has to be a couple miles high and imagine the size of the base of this tower plus the mechanicals to keep it climate controlled. I'll pass on the rest of the series, not my thing. 

Sincerely,
Beth, clearly there are very few dull moments in my life, and I kinda like it like that!